Homemade Diapers

It's about that time again to make some more diapers.  I'm working on making a diaper stash for one of my friends I used to live with in college.  I'm finding it harder to do than I thought it would be because I'm more concerned about the diapers actually looking pretty and not just functional.  Of course we just visited back home this last weekend and I waited until the morning we were leaving to start making the diapers-then my machine stopped working so I ended up with 5 fitted diapers and 3 hour glass diapers.  I also am finding it challenging to know what type of diapers to make because I didn't know what kind I wanted until I tried a few different styles out with Colby.  For the diapers I used some recieving blankets I got at a rummage sale for a few cents, an old pair of flannel pants, and some cute fabric from JoAnn when they had flannel super cheap.  I used the pattern Wee Weka from here.  Colby out grew these diapers at about 4 months but they are soooo cute. 

Diapering Advice for New Moms

Alrighty!  We have made it to almost 9 months of cloth diapering, which I guess makes me a  slight expert.  I was waiting for pictures to be developed at Walgreens and the cashier noticed Colby was wearing cloth and struck up a converstation with me about diapering.  She was happy to finally meet someone personally who uses cloth instead of just hearing about it on blogs.   Today one of my friends emailed me for advice on which type of cloth to use and the ins and out of cloth so I thought I would share my advice with all.  Sorry to bore you if you have no desire to use cloth diapers, don't have a baby, or just think it is plain gross.

DIAPERS:   Flannel diapers are quite easy and cheap to make.  I've made some that are just old t-shirts with towel inside.  they sound really back roads-but they work great and are pretty soft.  We're still on the cloth diaper train right now and he's been on solid foods for almost 3 months and it isn't too bad and it is actually a bit easier since they don't go all over the place like when he was just on milk-and he only goes like every 3-4 days so solids aren't bad at all and I just have a rubber spatula I keep in the bathroom in a cool whip container to scrape them off and then I use a Lysol wipe to clean the scraper.

 There are several routes you can go with cloth diapers and we are just doing flannel homemade ones with covers.  I use thirsties covers which you can order online at target or amazon.  I did buy two bumgenius diapers-these you stuff them and they snap up to different settings so you don't have to buy different sizes.  These are alright and the fleece liner wicks the moisture away better than flannel so you can leave them in wet diapers longer.  One of the mom gals I know uses softbums-they are a Minnesota based company and she apparently only uses 4 a day for her girl-they look pretty nice here's the website:  http://www.softbums.com/  If you want to go the expensive diaper route you will probably need 12-18 ish at 20 dollars a piece.  The cheap route is the diaper covers are 12 dollars a piece and the flannel diapers or they can be made out of t-shirts and towels which I have done as well-are practically free. 

24-30 Flannel Diapers or so (Colby is still a super pee-er so we have to change a lot of diapers)
4-5 small/medium diaper covers
4-5 Large ones
Diaper pail=cat litter bucket with lid-it keeps the stink in and it fits about all his diapers before I need to wash
Pins-we did pins at the beginning but now we just set them in the cover and velcro it up-seems to work well-so I wouldn't even bother with these
Wipes-you can use regular ones but I've done some flannel or baby wash clothes too-just in a tupperware with water and or baby wash and some baby oil-you can find lots of recipes online

Next time around I'm going to buy some flat birdseye or gauze ones from Target because they are super soft for the newborn butt and circumcision. 

Laundry is easy too-sometimes I do a soak in cold then a cycle in hot with extra spin and half the detergent-or I just run a cold cycle with detergent then run a full cycle in cold to get out all the suds.  Sometimes I throw in some vinegar in the wash too for an extra boost. 

How to Make Diapers Out of T-shirts...

Yes, I know, another diaper post, but that is what I find myself mainly making.  This time I'm going to attempt to upload the pattern that I use.  I had this old t-shirt that I have been holding onto because I love the design, but with numerous stains I couldn't wear it out of the house, so not it will be a poo catcher:) 

1.  Start with  a t-shirt.
2.  Cut out 2 pattern pieces.
3.  Cut out soaker pad out of old towels-I do two layers.
4.  Sew soaker pad to one piece of t-shirt on the wrong side (not the design side)
5.  Sew both pieces of diaper together right sides together-leaving a few inch gap to turn right side out.
6.  Turn right side out.
7.   Top Stitch around edges making sure to go all the way around.
8.  Pin on baby.


Here's the Pattern

Homemade Diapers

So I finally had a few minutes this past weekend to make a few more diapers, and then low and behold, I ran out of elastic, so my diapering days are once again paused until I can make it out to JoAnn's.  The pattern that I have been using is the Wee Weka SML.  It is a great pattern and has wonderful directions.  I have tweeked it a bit to fit Colby better by increasing the flap size and making the body a bit longer and I don't bother with velcro because it just gets caught on everything in the dryer.  I make the diapers using flannel, elastic, and some old towels that the dog chewed holes in.  Word on the street is that using old towels will create little hard balls on the inside of the diapers, but I have not encountered this problem yet.  Hope your diapers turn out just as well as these-or better:)

Cloth Diapers

Our contoured diaper adventure continues with a need for smaller diapers.   I inherited a pile of contoured diapers from my childhood, but they are so over sized I have to fold over the front and the back and the crotch is so wide my child will becomes bowlegged so I have made it my goal this week to create some smaller sizes that are more comfortable for him.  One of the benefits of these diapers are that they are simple and inexpensive.  All I used were some pieces of flannel, thread, an old towel, and some velcro for the fancier version.  I'll give a short impromptu tuturoial of how to make these but I've been trying to tweek the design after seeing how they fit Colby once they are made.  I do recommend washing the flannel and drying at a high heat before making the diapers.

Step 1:  Come up with a pattern.  I used an old diaper and just traced it and made it smaller across the crotch and shorter in length.  Here's an example of the diaper pattern I used.

  Step 2:  Cut out 2 pieces of flannel using the pattern. 

Step 3:  Cut a piece of terry cloth or old bath towel into a rectangle to fit into crotch of diaper.  Leave a few inches at the top and bottom so it will be easier to pin through.  Sew rectangle onto wrong side of flannel piece making sure to sew around edges and at least once down the middle. 

Step 4:  Next sew the two pieces of flannel together good sides facing each other around the edges, leave a gap at one side to make room to turn it right side out. 

Step 5:  Turn right side out and top stitch around the entire edges closing the gap from earlier as well.

Step 6:  If you are interested in making these with hook and loop (velcro) instead of using safety pins attach the hook and loop. I recommend trying the diapers on your child and marking where the hook and loop should go before sewing it on.  I also sewed little pockets on the "wings" to cover up the hook and loop for the wash.

Diaper Pins

I've been seriously considering buying a snappi, for those that don't know, snappis are basically a t-shaped device that grabs the wings and crotch of the diaper to hold it secure so pins don't have to be used. From what I hear they don't work on flannel and I'd have to make "snappiable" patches on all my diapers. So for now, I'm opting for the old fashioned diaper pin.  I'm guessing that after I poke myself a few times I may reconsider my position.  One trick I read about on the pin package was to store them in a bar of soap and they will go through the fabric much more easily-and it will make the closet smell so much better.

Baby Preparations: Cloth Diapers

Since I am due to have the baby soon-less than 6 days!-I have been preparing more for the baby's arrival.  We don't know the gender yet so most of the nursery is neutrals which is wonderful because I've never been big on pink.  I've been reading up on cloth diapering for months now and have really heard mixed reviews about the benefits.  My "What to Expect" book frowns on cloth diapering and insists you won't save money due to using a laundering service.  After much reading I decided if I sewed the diapers myself and washed them since I will be home anyways there will definitely be savings.  For my baby shower my lovely Aunt made a dozen curved diapers that just need a cover and to be pinned.  I decided to try my hand at making some more since it is recommended to have 24-36 diapers on hand.  All in all the process was pretty easy and we'll see in a few weeks how well they work.

These diapers are really basic to make.  I bought some flannel at Walmart for less than two dollars a yard and that is really all you need other than thread and a sewing machine to make these.  I just traced one of the diapers I had already and cut two pieces.  I stitched the two pieces together leaving one end open to add some flannel for absorption in the middle.  I cut a rectangle of flannel-about 3 layers-and inserted them in the diaper once it has been turned right side out.  I top stitched around the edges and did some swervy lines around the extra flannel in the middle to add "quilting".  It is recommended to pre-wash the diapers about 5 times in hot water to soften them up, reduce the oils, and increase absorbency.