Fitted or Fancy

Fitted diapers are a diaper that is made to look like a disposable but does not have the outer water proof layer.  As a result it is necessary to have a waterproof outer to go with the fitted diaper.  I think they get passed up a lot in favor of the fancier more advanced waterproof diapers, however, I am developing a newfound love for them.  For a few reasons.  There are a lot more cute cotton prints, they are a heck of a lot easier to sew, typically you can find the materials to make one lying around your own house, and last but certainly not least- they don't leak!!! or wick.  Having a surefire way to prevent leaks and wicking really makes them a dependable dipe that I am starting to love more and more.  The other thing that I like about them is that I don't have to stuff them and I never have to strip them because they don't seem to get the same buildup that the polyester does.  Pretty awesome!  So maybe our parents had it right more than we realized.  Although I don't know if I really trust myself with a square thing and some pins.  Here is a pic. of an all in one fitted that I made (size medium/largeish):

This is the first time I have succeeded at the blind elastic ruffle stitch.  The inside is a layer of micro-chamios, the outside is some left over flannel I had from a baby shower gift that I made, and then there is an inside hidden layer of flannel that I sewed the soaker to.  The soaker is made of 7 layers of different flannels and jersey knit.  The jersey knit came from an old sheet and I think the flannel was from some old fabric remnants.  This diaper probably cost me $1.50 to make and even for the novice this is an easy sewing project.  It is also a great way to recycle or clean out your fabric box and to save money.  

As I mentioned earlier it needs an outer layer.  So I Just learned about "soakers" which is a weird name for it but a soaker is a diaper cover basically.  These are made out of wool (with some extra care) or fleece.  I had an old fleece blanket that I trimmed down by a foot and made a couple to go with the fitted diapers that I have.  This is also another great way to get rid of some fleece remnants or old wool sweaters.  The wool has to be treated to keep it water proof (with the natural stuff that gets taken out of them in the first place) but I hear you only have to wash them once every 2 or 3 weeks which would be awesome.  You can also knit them, but anyway here is my soaker:

You can treat the fleece by washing it with fabric softener because that helps repel the water (which is what you want to avoid with your regular diapers).  I haven't used the fabric softener yet but this did great without any leaks, even without it. 

Reason #7 I love cloth diapers

They are so cute! Really, changing diapers are such a big part of a baby's life.  It feels like making wonderful lemonade out of lemons.  Basically a necessary evil becomes another way to indulge in cute prints and soft fabrics.  And it is such a necessary evil it is almost always a very justified indulgence.  Here is a shout out for loving those cute diaper prints!!!

A lot learned

I have been so busy the last little while but I have learned quite a bit more about diaper making.

First of all I made some super trim diapers that fit my boy like a disposable.  they are just so thin and nice and they don' get wet.  I sewed them with a ruffle like elastic that was sewed into a casing.  I think that that helped prevent wicking.  I also had some cute cotton prints left over so I just sewed them on like a little appliqué.  Here's a few pics.  These are all one size, pocket diapers or medium sized diapers.  Even the one size are super trim.  They are all made out of one layer of micro-chamois and pul, polyknit elastic, and plastic snaps.  Each one was about $2.50 to make.

Here are some pictures of the turquoise:

And this is one that I made out of a diaper cut of cute robot pul:

Here is a cute white one with a giraffe on the bum:

I made a couple more in red that are not shown here but they follow the same basic pattern and have cute appliqués as well. 

So many dipes, so little time.

A friend of mine is expecting soon and is going to cloth diaper.  She had her shower yesterday and when I asked her what she wanted she said she would like one of those cloth diapers that I make.  I have never made one for someone else but I tried to make a cute one for her.  It is an all-in-2 diaper.  I thought it would be nice for her to try.  I also thought up a name for "my diapers" (just living the dream here) and called them Sunny Bums for my nickname, plus a cute diaper twist, and then what it was made out of and care instructions.  She is having a little girl so I got pink minky.  I love minkey because it is really good at never wicking and helping the whole outside of the diaper stay dry.  So I made the outer shell out of pink minkey and then did a hidden layer of white PUL and then an inner layer of micro-fleece, which is also pretty good at keeping the diaper from wicking too much.  I then made the soaker out of two layers of bamboo fleece that sandwiched a layer of microfiber.  I did a test on it to see how much it could hold and the soaker soaked up about 150 ml.  I looked it up and little babies pee like 30 or 50 ml at a time, so I think that it should work pretty good.  This is how it turned out:

After I finished making this one for her I really wanted to try making one for my little boy.  I did almost the exact same thing except I used different elastic on the legs and instead of minky I used this super cute cotton fabric.  I have only tried it once but it really worked very well.  I love the print so much, I can't wait till the summer when he can just wear his diaper.

If you look close you can see the cute little camouflage snaps that I got for free from kam snaps. 

Here is the all in two soaker thing that snaps in.

And then I made some nursing pads from the scraps.  I really like the bamboo fleece better than the flannel but they both seem to work pretty well.

Reason #8 I love cloth diapers

I love how reusing cloth diapers makes me think about how my life style impacts the environment.  Mostly I think about all the trash that I throw away.  If I can reuse diapers what else can I reuse... sandwich bags, baby wipes, nursing pads, trash bags- also cleaning with vienegar and baking soda instead of buying cleaners that have lots of chemicals and packaging.  Nothing too big but it has just made me realize more of what it is that I am using and what I am doing with it.  I don't know what all I can do but I hope that a higher awareness will help me to do better with that sort of thing.

Getting the hang of it...

I have only been cloth diapering for a little over two months now.  I feel like I am really figuring it out though.  The leaks, stink, and all that stuff.   A couple of days ago I made a red minkey with bamboo as the inner.  I tried it with my new lastin elastic, and I think I didn't do it quite right but it still turned out pretty nice.  It fits like a dream and is so trim. I am afraid that the ruffle does not work so great with the bamboo because the bamboo doesn't wick but I love it anyway.  Here's some pics:

My Own Cheap Dipe

I received some fabric that I ordered from cool cloth diapers online today.  I have wanted micro-fleece that was more plush than the stuff that I got at Hancocks and I found this stuff for $6 a yard.  They call this stuff micro chamois and I think I found just what I was looking for. I also ordered some bamboo fleece to make some more inserts.  I like putting it together with microfiber for a lot of absorbency.  They are both super soft.

Then I made a simple medium sized pocket diaper. I decided to make medium instead of a one sized diaper because my baby boy is so big right now even though he is only two months old he wears a medium, but once he gets more active he will get smaller and be able to stay in the same diaper.  I also put Velcro instead of snaps because I think it may a little more convenient than snapping him up and I have never tried one.  Last but not least  I used fold over elastic for the elastic.  It was a really quick project and it cost me about $2.50 to make. Here is what it looked like when I was done.  The outside is some turquoise PUL that I purchased earlier. Now I will just have to see how it works =)