Sew Your Own Diapers!
May 03 '00
If you want to use cloth diapers, but don't have much money, it might be a good idea to sew your own diapers. I am not a very good sewer, but was able to make them quite easily.
My first experiments were prefolds. I bought cheap flannel at Walmart and the cheapest towels they have and started trying to make a prefold. First washed the fabric on hot to get rid of the shrinkage. I started out with using 4 layers of flannel and then a thicker middle pad of 2 layers of towel. I found that this turned out too bulky, but it actually works well for night time because of the absorbency. Still, I figured it would be too bulky for normal in-house use, so the next one, I used only 2 layers of flannel and 2 layers of towel. That turned out to be the best pattern for us! Since then I have made lots of those and they make up quite a large percentage of our prefold stack. For younger babies, I use just a prefold in a velcro wrap. For older babies I use a prefold and a contour.
I use a prefold as an example and cut the flannel twice as big, fold it double, sew it, leaving one side open. Before sewing it together, I zigzag around the edges. Then I turn it inside out, take some terry from the towel, fold that double and put it in the middle (it comes out just a little bit smaller than the flannel, otherwise you also could sew it in from the beginning I guess. I then sew through the flannel and the terry, fastening it in the middle of the diaper. Oh, I also zigzag around the terry before putting it in, so it won't fray. Then I close the last side of the diaper and I have the end result of a kind of 2x4x2 prefold, with 2 layers of flannel and 2 layers of terry in the middle. It might sound complicated, but it is really very easy! And it is very fast too, since it is all straight forward, simple sewing.
Since those first experiments, I have gotten better at making them cheaper and cheaper. The Walmart fabric made it a lot cheaper already than buying prefolds, but now I know even better ways to get fabric. A good source is thrift stores, especially if they have '10-cent sales'. I have picked up flannel night shirts, flannel men's shirts, flannel bed sheets, towels, receiving blankets and such, for almost nothing and they all gave me at least a few diapers. Makes for a more interesting variety in patterns in your diaper stash too!
Even cheaper would be if you can use materials you have around the house anyway. Old flannel shirts of hubby, which he hasn't worn for years? Flannel sheets of the mattress you got rid of, long ago? Turn them all into diapers and save lots of money!
Later I started experimenting with fitted diapers, which aren't that much harder, but they take more time to make. I used a good fitting diaper as an example and cut the fabric a little big bigger. I used elastic in the legs, so it would fit better there and not leak the yucky stuff :-) I put in a soaker pad, attached at one end, so that it would be more absorbent, but still dry fast. The nice thing about sewing them yourself is that you can custom fit them to your liking, using the combination of terry/flannel you like and make it the absorbency you need by adding more layers or having less layers.
I also have made quite a stack of wash clothes, flannel on one side, terry on the other. Used old baby towels and flannel sheets for that. Cut them up in squares, zigzagged around them so they would be attached together and not fray. Serging would be even better, but I don't own a serger and the zigzagging works well enough too. Just doesn't look as professional.
I have found it very worth it to make my own diapers, both because they are cheap, and also because it is satisfying to use those on my baby. I feel kind of proud for having made them so many diapers and enjoy all the different fabrics when I look at my stack. Of course, my kids think that if they get a new, freshly sewed, diaper on their bum, they immediately need to poop in it, but that's another story :-) Another advantage of making your own is that you for example can make special newborn size diapers, which you later can use as doublers when the kids are older.
I also plan on experimenting with making my own wraps, but haven't gotten around to that yet. Got some cheap fleece jackets from the thrift store already though, now I just need to find the time to start experimenting.
There is a very good site about sewing diapers, with detailed instructions and pictures, on http://www.mindsync.com/diapersewing/index.htm . I studied that site before starting my fitted diapers, and it helped me to visualize what needed to happen.
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Epinions.com ID:
nursing3
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Member: Karen Plomp
Location: New Hampshire
Reviews written: 62
Trusted by: 39 members
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