I'm past the baby stage but I have several friends who are pregnant. One is really wanting to use cloth diapers. She saw some fitted ones that was homemade and asked me to help her make some. Does anyone know where I can find a tutorial or a good pattern for making them? Forgive me for my stupid questions,but I've never used cloth diapers so I'm not too keen on how they work... Is there some sort of insert that should go inside them to help keep them from leaking through?? What do you take in the diaper bag to place the soiled diapers in? Just asking because I'm thinking I could make a gift package for her. Both friends are due in November so I have plenty of time to plan... Thanks for your help. Angie
There are about a million different methods for making cloth dipes. If you google "making cloth diapers" you find, not only tutorials, but also links to places that sell the supplies. e.g. If you are going to use "velcro" closure for them, you'll use A LOT more of the loop than the hook, so the suppliers sell them seperately (so you can buy like one yard of hook and five years of loop). You can find a couple of free patterns online (e.g. ottobre designs) or instructions for making your own pattern. That depends on what sort of diapers you're making. Pocket diapers need a seperate soaker that goes in the pocket. Fitted usually have at least a small soaker sewn in, with another soaker than can just be laid inside. Some fitteds and all-in-ones have a full soaker sewn in. The problem with that is it increases drying time. For soakers, you can use a wide variety of materials or you can buy packs of just soakers for relatively little money. That would be called a wet bag. These can be made from fleece (which is only water resistent, not water proof) or PUL. PUL usually has to be purchased online. That being said, wet bags can usually be purchased inexpensively enough that it may not be worth the effort to make one. This is a GREAT idea. The one thing you haven't mentioned are covers, also called outers. The plastic pants Gerber makes are horrible and should not be used. The upside to outers is that you only need 2 or 3 for a day's worth of diapers because you don't have to change out the cover unless it gets mess on it. Covers can also be purchased inexpensively if you buy them used. Otherwise, you need to either make all-in-one diapers that have a layer of PUL on the outside, or make PUL covers. If this mom doesn't mind a little extra work, wool covers are the best choice. These can be knitted or purchaesd. But wool requires special care and is more costly to buy than PUL covers.
Here is link that was helpful for me when I started making diapers. http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/how-to-make-cloth-diapers/ I also really liked the ottobre designs pattern that Amie gave you. I actually used that pattern as a basic and then changed it to what I wanted and made pocket diapers. I used PUL for the outcover, and I found recently that JoAnn Fabric sells PUL. They call it "utility fabric" and it is usually in a weird place...not with all the other fabrics. They sell it for $9.99 a yard, but if you have a 40% off coupon you get it for $5.99 a yard which is a really good price for PUL. Everything Amie said is good info.
Don't forget that you can use your home school discount on any fabric you buy at Joann's You need to watch, because sometimes what Joann's calls utility fabric is more like raincoat material, which is NOT what you want (stiff, doesn't hold up in the wash, bulky, doesn't breathe). Just be sure it's really PUL, which, of course, it sometimes is. Just depends on your store.
Thanks Amie for clarifying about the PUL at Joanns! I did forget to mention that you have to make sure it is the actual PUL, not just waterproof fabric. The sign at my Joanns said "Utility fabric" and then under that in small letters it said "PUL". Amie- can you use a 40% off coupon and a homeschool discount combined??
I wish I had you people 10 years ago when I was desperately trying to find this info (course I didn't have a computer so.....) Ok-I'm gonna research some of this - new baby might be able to go cloth (omg omg omg excited...have been trying to figure this out-don't get me started-there have always been assorted and annoying reasons....) So joanne's by me closed. um...can these fabrics you're speaking of (PUL?) be ordered online? I knit-any patterns (you know, offhand hahaha) for the covers you're referring to? Any yarns you would recommend? Um...if you don't mind-could you explain just a little more what the different diapers are (pocket diapers? and soakers?) Lastly-I use youtube alot for learning (im a visual) - any youtubes that you're aware of that would be beneficial? I TRULY appreciate your help with this!!!
if you are going to knit soakers try the yahoo group for wool soakers, use 100% wool yarn, and be sure to lanolize well. as for the diaper types you have flats (the old fashioned squares of cloth), prefolds (again old fashioned pre folded and sewn to be thicker in the middle), fitteds (basically just like a sposie diaper just washable and needs a cover), pocket diaper (usually doesn't need a cover but you have to insert the soaker into the pocket of the diaper), AIO- All In One (pretty self explanitory needs no cover and goes on just like a sposie). My personal favorite are prefolds with snappis, or my RRPs (Rita's Rump Pocket) that I made both need a good cover ( I prefer PUL with a soft inner).
yeah, round here we just call them rumpies....DH knows if I'm asking for rumpies it's time to do diaper laundry (every couple of days), and he'll just grab the dirty bag and toss them in! It's getting harder though to use my cloth because little man doesn't like to sit still for diaper changes anymore and cloth takes a smidge longer than sposies because it's a two step process.
YES. Actually, usually that's where you have to order it. Just like I said to the OP, there are myriad stores online that specialize in diaper-making supplies. I am not a knitter, nor do I use wool. But the moms I know that do are as varied in thier preference of cover pattern as they are in their preference of diaper style. (I prefer fitteds with PUL covers, myself). Anyhow, for a starting point, you could use the free pattern from Ottobre Design. I think Birbitt answered these questions wonderfully for you. I know there are youtube videos, but I don't know links or anything. I would guess that you'd do best to Google specific things. Like, instead of searching "cloth diaper video tutorial," look for "using a Snappi on a prefold diaper."
Soakers are another term for a pull-on cover. I knit wool diaper covers professionally. I have developed my own trademarked knitting patterns for things, but a really basic, really awesome, free knit soaker pattern that's fits a great range of sizes is the Curly Purly Soaker pattern. Are you on Ravelry? It can be found there, or just by searching "Curly Purly Soaker." In order to have the waterproof properties that make knit covers to awesome, the yarn needs to be 100% wool. Many mamas start out knitting CD covers using Patons Classic Merino, Lion Brand Fishermans Wool, Hobby Lobby's I Love This Wool, or something similar and readily available at craft stores. I have found that the most economical way to make really leak-proof soakers is to use Peace Fleece. Some people don't like it as much because of the mohair content, but it really is phenomenal for making water-proof soakers. I also like 100PureWool and Cestari for lovely, yet economical wool. HyenaCart and Etsy also have a wide variety of yarn dyers and vendors who sell gorgeous premium wool yarns.
If you plan on making fitted diapers (which are probably the easiest) this is a great beginner's site http://www.diapersewing.com/ These are not water proof so you would need some kind of cover. I believe the PUL that you get an Joann's is not what you want, if you want to make your own covers, this is what you are looking for. It comes in a wide variety of colors. You can alway buy covers too though. Thirsties covers are probably the most popular PUL cover. Another popular one that I love because they are made from a WAHM are Fluffy's http://www.etsy.com/shop/FluffysDiapers?page=2 GL!
I used the Sew Darling pattern which is sold as pdf file from their website for $12.50. http://www.darlingdiapers.com/buyddu.html I thought it was worth it, because it was the easiest pattern I found. Once I had them cut out, I could just whip through them on the sewing machine. #1 I don't like PUL. It's pretty, but if you put the pretty side up moisture can be wicked from the inside to the outside. I ordered ProCare fabric from Wazoodle.com. I ended up making them with the plastic-y side up, because again, the fabric side wicked moisture. That was perfect for my purposes, though not as pretty as the ones they sell online. (ProCare comes in white and blue--so not very exciting aesthetically.) #2 Those yellow towels that they sell in the auto department of Walmart make great liners. They are super absorbant. I made my liners with three layers, but two would probably be enough. The do make a mess when you are working with them. Little yellow fuzz gets everwhere, and you really need to serge the edges or at least do a good zigzag over them. #3 Whatever pattern you use, make sure it has a way to protect the velcro (if that's waht you are using) so that it doesn't get filled with lint during washing and drying and thereby loose it's adhesiveness. #4 Flushable Diaper liners are a life saver. Gerber stopped making theirs, but I found some Kushies brand at Walmart's website. Just lift the poo out and flush.
For a prettier PUL, you can use it layered with a nicer outer material. Thats how my pockets are. The outer is two layers- One PUL and one a nice print.
