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Links: Sewing, Knitting, Buying
IRL: Seeing and Buying Nappies "In Real Life"
Blog: OzClothBlog: news, snippets, multimedia
There are "real life" ozcloth meeting groups in Perth, Brisbane/Gold Coast, Sydney Central, Western Sydney/Blue Mountains, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, and Wollongong. Some are nappucinos (coffee mornings/afternoons), some are picnics, others are sewing meetings for beginners and advanced sew-ers. Come and join the group for more details. If you'd like to start a meeting group in your area, terrific! The more the merrier. New Zealand meetings are generally organised through the New Zealand Nappy Network.
Formal events are now held through the registered non-profit group the Australian Nappy Network (ANN).
The next big event is 2008 Reusable Nappy Week, from the 13th to the 19th of October. Join the ANN to keep up to date on nappy gatherings, seminars, and workshops near you.
A successful cloth nappy information session was held on Friday, 15 December at Clarina Community Centre. Modern cloth nappies from our Victorian advocacy demonstration kit were shown, cloth users answered questions, and a good time was had by all! Stay tuned for the next session - find out all about the alternatives to expensive, misleading and tedious compostable single use nappies and suspended nappy recycling services. In the meantime, for cloth nappy information and all your questions answered, do please feel free to join our discussion group.
An excerpt from the first expo day report from Co-ordinator Pip:
"Hi everyone, Just a quick update so far on the stall the the Parenting Australia Expo here in Perth. We had a fantastic response yesterday and it will no doubt be busier today and tommorow. 38 people entered our prize draw for a Baby Beehinds bamboo nappy, kindly donated by Michelle. It was won by a pregnant lady planning to use cloth and I am very happy we have been able to start her modern cloth journey off with a fantastic nappy. Most people didnt enter the raffle until after we had spoken to them for about 5 minutes and they then had an idea of what they might win! Todays prize is a beautiful bright yellow Green Kids pocket with a medium Hemparoo stuffing, kindly donated by Sasha (and Ruth,but I'm not sure Ruth knows she has donated yet!!). Sundays prize will be an Itti Bitti AIO, kindly donated by Sue."
"We had a range of enquiries and reactions. A mum bought her mother over and asked me to explain why she didnt need to soak and use Nappisan, then said "There Mum, I told you so!". We had a dad to be that bought his wife over to show her our 'goods' and was very proficient in explaining - he had been doing some net research. We had a mum to be bring her mother to get sewing tips so they could make a stash for her upcoming twins. I had a mum come and ask about night nappies as her son wets through a disposable at night and she had heard cloth was better at night. We had a smattering of already cloth using parents explain loudly to their friends " See those cute ones, they are the ones I use" and others who asked where to replace their plastic pilchers with PUL covers. I cant wait to hear what great comments we get today!"
WOW! What an amazing turn out! When we arrived, we found Lucy swamped by a big group of people, avidly asking questions and having a look-see at the nappies on display. It continued in this vein until about one after which there were only one or two people at a time. Thank goodness Mary arrived when she did to have an extra person to answer questions! Jarrah was hungry right when the biggest crowd was there so I fed and changed him, then gave him a breastfeed all while answering questions :) and Lucy was the non-stop nappy advocacy whizz that we know and love.
Amazing turn-out - about 30 or so people? incredible enthusiasm even after two wet weekends where our melbourne weather has been as discouraging as possible about the possibility of line-drying, meeting people with great ideas for cloth advocacy, etc etc. Also a few people found out about the session from MX so it pays to have an event to advertise when there is a cloth nappy article in mainstream papers.
It would be great to have more volunteers for the next event as word gets out and we go from strength to strength.
Congratulations to Lucy Westerman and all the other organisers of Real Nappy Week 2006!
There were nappycinos, promotions, sewing workshops, knittycinos and other special events across Australian and New Zealand. Stay tuned to the modernclothnappies.org website for details of what's happening next with cloth nappy advocacy in your area.
If you would like to participate in organising next year's Real Nappy Week event, come and join the steering group here.
For more information about Real Nappy Week and about modern cloth nappies:
Sixteen clothie families drove from as far as two hours away (and one fly-in, Jamie!!) to participate in a Brisbane gathering on March 22nd. The children enjoyed the paddle pool at Lesley's place, and somehow there was even a cheesecake left over! New nappies inspected and admired included the Baby Beehinds Bamboo, Pixie Pants hemp, Pookey pockets, Poochie's, Monique's pockets, a Peenuts, a couple of Honeyboys including one custom made for the Sunrise TV program with their logo as a Real Nappy Week promotion; as well as some of Kaz's Girly Bits pads.
Ozclothnappies celebrated the huge milestone of five hundred members with the biggest nappicino ever held in the Southern Hemisphere! Groups across Australia and New Zealand held a party, and a good time was had by all. Many thanks to all the hard work put in by local co-ordinators. Stay tuned to the ozclothnappies discussion group for details of the next nappicino in your area!
The Perth Nappy500 meet was held on Sunday 6th November at Burswood Park childrens playground. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, just perfect for a picnic.
We had a very good turnout with over thirty people at one point which was fantastic! There were members not only of Oz Cloth but also people who learnt about our nappy500 from Nappycino, Essential Baby and the Kids in Perth diary.
The littlies participated in a nappy fashion parade showing off their cute cloth bots, and afterwards we all enjoyed our celebratory Nappy500 chocolate cake.
We held a prize draw consisting of a Baby BeeHinds Plush Comfort, Green Nappies pocket, Cherub's Kiss Honey Boy, a fitted nappy from Granny Jen's and a $50 dinner voucher from Sienna's Pizzaria & Restaurant. Lara was chosen to draw the winning ticket and after saying "I can't do the draw, I'm entered!" proceeded to draw herself as the winner which gave everyone a good laugh!
[The draw was closely scrutineered, I promise! ...ed.]
Everyone had a great day and enjoyed the opportunity to look at a variety of different nappies and enjoy the company of like-minded clothies.
[many thanks to Michelle for co-ordinating the Perth Nappy500]
The Canberra Nappy500 group met at Black Mountain Peninsula park, near the kids playground. Three of us were able to make it, myself with my 7yo daughter Dian, Liz with Katie and Rebecca with her two, Elizabeth and Benjamin. Rebecca brought along a huge stash of all sorts of nappies, which was great as Liz and I hadn't seen a lot of different ones before. We had a good chat about the different sorts and peoples reactions to cloth, using them in Day care etc.
From left to right in the photo... Rebecca with Ben, Dian, Me, Liz with Katie and Elizabeth in the front with the hat on. The big pile in the middle is all the nappies. :-) Rebecca's other half, Chris, took the picture and looked after their kids most of the time so we could talk.
[Many thanks to Melinda for organising the Canberra Nappy500! And many more... ed.]
The Adelaide Nappy 500 was reluctantly relocated on the day due to the threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms, but in the end it didn't rain til later in the day anyway! Quite a few people cancelled at the last minute, due to the weather and the change of location, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.
There were six mums and a dad, and 9 children in total, and we took over the back corner of the State Library cafe. It was great to meet some new faces, and put faces to names from some of the online cloth communities. It was great to see what everyone else is using, and some of the creative things people have been sewing.
It was also good to get some positive responses as a result of promotion of the Nappy 500 around Adelaide. Quite a few cloth nappy users came out of the woodwork here in Adelaide, and Clare got some encouraging responses from a couple of the hospitals that were contacted about the day, wanting to know more infomation about modern cloth. It would be great to see a short section on cloth nappies included in antenatal classes.
The cloth nappy community in Adelaide is getting better connected and growing, and we are looking forward to having some more regular OCN get togethers in the future.
[many thanks to Monique for organising the Adelaide Nappy500...ed.]
Well there were only three of us in Tassie (Carolyn, my mother Heather and I). But it was a nice sunny day, and we sat on the grass by the beach and compared nappies. It was great for someone new like me to meet a mum who had been using cloth for a while, and got to see a pocket nappy 'in action' on her little boy. I don't know about Carolyn but Heather and I both got sunburnt because we all got talking and forgot about the sunscreen! Its amazing how long three women can sit discussing nappies and craft for!
Lucy :)
[many thanks to Lucy for organising the Tasmania Nappy500...ed.]
For the detailed Nappy500 Press Release, click here.
|
Region |
Date | Time | Location | Contact |
| Alice Springs | Monday 7 Nov | 11:30 | Royal Flying Doctor Service Cafe | Christine |
| Christchurch | Wednesday 2 Nov | 9:30 | Private address, but all welcome - email for details | Stacey |
| Perth | Sunday 6 Nov | 10:30 | Burswood Park near the children's playground | Michelle |
| Brisbane | Sunday 6 Nov | 10:00 | Newfarm Park | Karen |
| Gold Coast | Thursday 3 Nov | 9:00 | Kropp Park, Pacific Parade Gate, Enter via Wagawn Street, off Gold Coast Highway | Pen |
| Toowoomba | Wednesday 9th November | 10:00 | Laurel Bank Park playground (In case of wet weather, please ring 0429 344682 or 4634 4682 for new venue.) | Em |
| Inner Sydney | Wednesday 2 Nov | 12:30 | Victoria Park | Di |
| Northern Sydney | Saturday 5 Nov | 9:30 | Wahroonga Park | Di |
| Western Sydney/Blue Mountains | Saturday 5 Nov | 11:00 | Duke's Oval playground, Park Street, Emu Plains | Caroline |
| Wagga Wagga | Thursday 3 Nov | 11:00 | Playground in the Victory Memorial Gardens, Baylis Street | Alison |
| Newcastle | Monday 7th November | Midday | Jesmond Park | Brooke |
| Canberra | Sunday 6th November | 2:00 | Black Mountain Peninsula (BYO picnic) | Mel B |
| Melbourne | Sunday 6 Nov | 11:30 | Jells Park, Wheelers Hill, Stringy Bark Picnic Area: Enter off Waverley Rd. Melways: 71K7 | Lucy W |
| Tasmania | Saturday 5th November | 2:00 | Blackmans Bay beach (playground and picnic area) | Lucy K |
| Adelaide | Sunday 6 Nov | 1:00 | Glover Playground, Lefevre Tce, Nth Adelaide | Clare |
Melbourne PBC Expo
Two Ozclothnappies WAHMs held a stand at the Melbourne Parents, Babies and Childrens Expo in October, 2005. This is one of the biggest parenting Expos in Australia.
The Weewuns/Finnstarz stand at the Melbourne Expo.
Craigie Market, September 2005
Five ozclothies joined forces to present modern cloth nappies to the Perth community at the Craigie Baby & Kids Market. The stand featured a variety of eye-catching posters, the modernnappies.org brochures and sheets of links to WAHM and sewing sites, a pile of "show and tell" nappies, lanolising balls, and Green Nappies. The punters were intrigued to learn about modern cloth, and it was clear that a lot of people are still not aware of the variety out there. We're doing our best to spread the word!
Sasha demonstrates how easy it is to use pocket nappies.
