Make your own cloth diapers UPDATE

I recently did a post on how to make your own cloth diapers and I wanted to give everyone an update. I haven't had a chance to finish my diaper, work has been very hectic nowadays, but I have made good progress and I wanted to share what I learned. I decided to make the all-in-one diaper. First off I got all the fabric I needed at my local Joann's store except for the PUL. I could only find PUL on ebay. They have lots of different colors online and the price wasn't bad, I paid $10 for one yard. I used 1 layer of knit fabric for the outer layer along with 1 layer of PUL. Joann's sells fabric to make cloth diapers it's cotton and it's similar to the old style cloth diapers. I used 1 layer of this fabric to make the hidden inner layer. For the soaker I decided to experiment a little. Joann's sells bamboo batting which is made of 50% bamboo and 50% organic cotton. They sell this in bags and I bought the craft sized bag since I was just experimenting. It is a little pricey $15 regular price but it was on sale for 50% off the day I bought it. I used 4 layers of this material for the soaker. I then used1 layer of the thinnest fleece I could find. Joann's doesn't sell micrfleece but the fleece I found was fairly thing but a little softer to the touch. It's an important note that I bought a yard to two yards of every fabric, depending on the width. Based on what I have cut so far I estimate I can make around 3 large diapers with all the material I bought. I decided to use velcro instead of snaps because they are easier to fasten while my daughter is squirming around. You will probably need 1 yard of velcro per diaper if you plan on having laundry tabs and double sided tabs. I decided to make my soaker much wider then what the pattern called for. I liked the shape of the soaker the pattern provided but I felt it was to thin towards the middle and top. So far I have been following the picture instructions without any problem. I am new to sewing and it hasn't been challenging for me at all. I will post pictures and another update when I have made more progress.

Free Girl's Dress Pattern

I have decided to start using the sewing machine that I bought a couple of years ago. It's been sitting around collecting dust in my craft room and I finally decided to use it. I have been looking for some good easy patterns to begin with and I found this free dress pattern at Little Comet Tails. It comes with a sleeve add on pattern as well. The pattern is very simple and it is easy to follow. It only comes in a size 2T I believe but you can set the scale on your printer to make it slightly bigger or smaller. You can use a variety of different fabrics so I decided to start with a piece of fabric that I had lying around since I am just practicing. I haven't been able to finish the dress yet, I only have time to sew when my daughter is sleeping, but it's going well. I will post an update when I have finished my dress.

Making your own cloth diapers

I really love my cloth diapers and I would never switch back to disposables. I am using the Flip cloth diaper system during the day and the Thirsties AIO diapers at night. My daughter has been growing so fast that she has outgrown her diapers. Since the AIO are so expensive I decided to look into making my own cloth diapers. I am no expert at sewing but I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I found some great free cloth diaper patterns. Little Comet Tails has a good pattern for AIO, pocket, and fitted diapers. She also tells you which materials to buy and she has picture instructions. You can use snaps or velcro using this pattern. An added bonus is she also has a simple dress pattern on her blog. You can find a variety of cloth diaper patterns at Celtic Cloths. I think that the Little Comet Tails pattern is simpler so its easier to follow but Celtic Cloths has more free patterns available. I bought all of the fabrics I needed at Joann's except for the PUL. I could only find PUL on ebay. I am currently in the process of making my first AIO pocket cloth diaper and I will post an update once I am finished!