Diaper Covers

I love cloth diapers. I have been using them for a little over a year now. I tried to think about what it was that I liked about using cloth diapers - is it the environmental aspects? money saving? bragging rights? Yes, yes, and yes. But it is more than that. I just like using cloth diapers. I can't say it is fun to clean them, not that it is hard to do but really, who likes to touch things with poop on them? Anyhow, as I was thinking about it I realized that I like it for a lot of reasons, which is probably why I have stuck with it this long and don't foresee myself stopping. I like to think it gives me "Old Lady" clout.

Now that baby number three is on her way I need more diapers and covers - I started with cloth diapers when my son was 7 months old so I am lacking the smaller size. A few friends threw me a baby shower and they were able to get a group of people together to chip in for a snap press. Let me say, it is wonderful. I am able to put industrial plastic snaps on everything. It is so much fun! Last week I went to Mill End Fabrics here in Portland and was able to buy some PUL. I would have preferred white but all they had was navy blue. I decided to get a yard and give it a try. It was really easy - it took only about 45 minutes from start to finish. I used this pattern, also from my baby shower, but instead of using the velcro, I used snaps.

Now, you may be wondering why I am so into snaps. I bought a whole set of diaper covers for my son with velcro and after about seven months the velcro stopped sticking. I was, and still am, ticked off that I paid $11 each for these diaper covers that are supposed to last through "multiple children" and they haven't even lasted for one child. So, that is why I am sold on snaps. I put snaps on all of my son's covers and they work like a charm - and they don't leak, which was a concern that was brought up.

Back to the cover I made, I couldn't find fold over elastic (FOE) here at Mill End and I didn't want to drag a toddler around town looking for something that I wasn't sure I would be able to find so I settled for a 1-inch cotton swimsuit elastic that I just folded in half and sewed on as I would have done with FOE. It is soft and works fine - no wicking. I used two layers of PUL because one side is plastic and one side is polyester. I thought that having the plastic up against his skin would be uncomfortable and I didn't want to use any fabric that would absorb moisture or wick it to the outside. The PUL doesn't slide around or anything. Next time I am going to mark where I want the snaps to go before I sew on the elastic because it was difficult to get them in a straight line once the elastic was attached. Overall, I think they turned out quite well so I am excited to get some white PUL and make a whole set for the baby to use.

Cloth Wipes

I made cloth wipes. I have yet to use them but they are finished. I stayed up until midnight (much to my husband's consternation) to get these bad boys done. I tried them with a binding but I didn't like how it turned out. I think the flannel was too thick and my husband brought up the fact that poop would probably get stuck under the binding. So, I decided to use a zig zag stitch. This was a very easy and quick project. First get a soft flannel fabric and cut an even number of 8-inch squares (you could also cut a piece that is 8" by 16" and fold it in half). Place the pieces right side together and baste around leaving a gap that will allow you to turn it right side out. Clip the corners and turn it right side out being sure to push out the corners. Make sure the raw edges where you turned it through are folded in and sew all around to finish. Like I said, I used a zig zag stitch but you could just top stitch if you like that look better. I had matching threads so I used different colors for variety. They look really good. Today I made a solution so, tomorrow I will get a squirt bottle and give this whole thing a go. I am really excited. I think I only used about 1.5 yards of fabric to make 15 wipes and I got my fabric on sale so it only cost about $3 for the batch. And to make this all a little bit better, if I fold them in half all of my finished wipes fit nicely in a plastic wipe box.