Who we are and why do we do it?

So who are we, the ladies that run the Green Living store and do all the crazy things?

Whoo boy, you don't ask hard questions, do ya?

OK, My name is R... Morana Revel as I am known online. I am a 45 year old widow with medical issues. Having ADHD as a child, my mom got me into crafting to save her sanity. So now I am a compulsive crafter, who spends as much on crafts a year as some winos do on wine.

Part of my medical issues is allergies.  A LOT OF THEM. I am allergic to all sort of artificial colorings, artificial scents and food additives.  Funny thing?  I have never found myself allergic to an actual natural, unadulterated food. So while some cannot eat peanuts or strawberries, I cannot get into elevators with women wearing perfume, wash my clothes at a laundromat or eat brightly colored Halloween or Christmas candy.

The laundromat issue showed up as a very young child. Luckily, my elderly babysitter taught my mother to make lye soap one hog killing season and the rest is history.  I grew up on natural lye soap, whole foods and only had issues away from the farm.

I started out in nursing school and studied herbalism on the side.  When I changed majors away from nursing, I kept up the herbalism studies.

Later in life, I bought a bookstore, which I loved. I started a small yarn store inside the bookstore soon after. However, my husbands declining health and my medical issues forced me to place the bookstore for sale and shut it down. I moved my yarn store and started posting more stuff online.

So, the Green Living aspect? For me, much of that has been lifelong. Mom made cloth napkins when I was a child as well as lye soap, cloth paper towels and handkerchiefs. The cloth pads came later...much later. I was on a survival type post on Facebook reading about a large movement to move to line drying clothing. As in, start now because you will have to if the SHTF. I have never been a fan of that type of posting, the over-the-top THE END IS NEAR threat type.  I was having a fun time laughing at all the ridiculous postings.  Having grown up with line drying and quite a lot of hand washing, much of what they were saying was rudimentary skills I learned as a very young child.  The discussion moved to *GASP* toilet paper alternatives. My family being farmers, hunters and campers, this discussion was also very funny.

It was when the discussion moved to alternative menstrual products that the discussion wasn't so funny to me anymore.  While it is true that there are very few leaves in KY that haven't touched my nether regions, I didn't see anything I would feel comfortable long term with my allergies.

That was the first I had heard of cloth pads.  I searched around, found Mimi's Dreams had a few Seconds for sale and I tried those. All of a sudden my allergies started getting better and my constant kidney infections stopped.

Of course, after a year of testing and experimenting on myself, I set out to convert several friends. I started Jennifer, who had already started learning soapmaking. She had many of the same allergies as I and really enjoyed the DIY aspects of some of my ideas.

We started learning, experimenting and following bloggers on Facebook to learn more.  It has been a time of great discovery for both of us.  While I am the more experienced seamstress, most of my experience if from sewing garments. We make what we like.  So while Jennifer likes a wider, straighter pattern, I make curvy styles. We are in a small town, with a small local fabric store and limited selection.  We have issues getting a steady supply of fabric we like. We order in a lot of fabric from WAHMs.  We love being able to support the creativity of other women. And this is where the fantastic hand dyed come from.  While we would love to take credit for the lush hand dyed velours and the fun and funky knits, alas, we can not.  While we have dabbled in the dye pot for yarn and fiber, we prefer  to support others. At least for now.

We are still learning. We are not experts by no means. We are constantly trying to learn new things: canning, weaving, bath salts, cough gummy drops...LOL, we are open to trying just about anything. So cloth pads are not the strangest thing we have done.

Why I chose reusable menstrual products

A journey into reusable menstrual products

I first heard about reusable pads on Facebook. A blog post popped up about surviving without toilet paper. Having been raised on a farm, having fished and hunted, I have used many odd things during nature's call, so I was getting a good laugh out of everyone's comments.

Then the comments turned to menstrual products.  I thought, "I'm screwed" because as a tampon user, there is NOTHING I could think of in the woods that would be touching those parts.

As I continued reading, people were commenting on reusable pads. WHAAAT? In this modern age? Isn't that something that women were forced to endure in the dark ages? Before the modern miracles of disposable products? Yuck!

But ohhh, so the dangers of curiosity. I Googled and I searched. Wow! So not the products of the middle ages!

The colors and shapes and styles, Ohh My! I bought ONE to try out. You know how it goes, "I'll just try it once, it won't kill me". Oh, those fateful words! I got one...and was hooked.

I had started with tampons in high school, mainly due to discomfort of everything else. Every month was a dread, when will it hit..let the itching begin. But that is what it means to be a woman, right?

Apparently not. My allergies...stopped. I seem to be allergic to everything -except cloth! Wow, for the first time in 30+ years, I am not breaking out in rashes every month, no itching and scratching like I am a pro baseball player. Who would have thought you could be allergic to something so NECESSARY!

So began my journey into the world of reusable menstrual products. I instantly became a disciple; passing out literature to friends, sending out links to products and embarrassing husbands in public.

I researched; bought products to try, read blogs and talked to other women about their experiences and needs.  Then I began designing and sewing.

Now in my third year with RuMPs(reusable menstrual products) and CSP (cloth sanitary products), each month is a game.  Will it be the Cloth Tampons, Sea Sponge, All cotton pad, the minky one... what color should I choose? what fabric topping?

I no longer dread that week.I no longer stock up on antihistamines. I haven't been to THAT ISLE of a store in three years...except to laugh at the prices and maybe the chance to spread the word to other women.

What can I say? I am the local dealer..."just try it"..."just one won't hurt you"..."what's one gonna hurt".....

Reusable tampons

When I set out to make reusable menstrual products, I was worried about comfort and allergies. I am allergic to everything, so I knew it needed to be 100% cotton.

I chose all cotton flannel for the fabric with an all cotton string.  I use all cotton thread with an overlock stitch to prevent raveling.  They are sized similar to an OB, but may be customized in length and width as well as string length. These can be in either brown flannel or white/cream.

All materials have been pre-washed in warm water to pre-shrink

Use:
Begin rolling at the string end and roll tightly. They insert like OB.

Out and About care:
I carry a small Ziploc bag to store them in until I get home. Easy trick...turn baggie inside out...grab it and slow turn bag right side out to prevent mess and seal. This can then be tucked into a wet bag.

Care and wash:
Rinse in cold water. I soak mine in Oxyclean but that is optional. Rinse and wash. I do not stain treat, I find that the Oxiclean works well, but use what you are comfortable with.

Some short fraying is to be expected. On these, I did not roll the edges to prevent it being too bulky to use. The small frays should not become dislodged inside and can be picked off before using.

It is best to wash before first use in your own washing supplies.  If you have allergies, you might be allergic to what I have washed these in.

Thank you
Morana

This store tiny when flat. I keep one or two in my EDC at all times...just in case.

A day in the store

Today was all about the store.

Quilt show this afternoon. Honestly, it was all work, really. We are told that good bargains could be had on Minky...and boy did we hit the jackpot!

Afterwards, of course, was Hancock's fabric. Ohh! the fall colors and designs! It was hard to pull myself away.

But I got a good selection of prints to cut for the fall and Christmas season. Jennifer is covering Halloween.

Afterwards, while the material was washing and drying, I made up several new curvy patterns to try this week.  Hopefully, everyone will like them as much as I do. I LOVE the curvy ones.

So tonight, I only got eight "new pattern" curvy 9 inch pads cut, two "new pattern" 13 inch cut and one old liner cut.  All in a fall swirl design with black backing.

Our green living page

Crunchy

The term means an earth momma, more than likely to use cloth diapers, breast feed, have a compost pile...

You get the picture.

Well, that is what this page is about...all the green living things we make and some of what we just do for fun.