Cloth Diapers - the sewing phase

(lots of pictures below)i mentioned earlier that we are looking into cloth diapering once we move to our house. it is mostly a financial decision (80+ bucks every month or so in diapers...and that is buying in bulk from sam's club!). but, i must admit, i like the opportunity to buy something! we've been buying only the essentials for a while now because of the house, so it was like an adventure to go and hunt down the perfect fabric for cloth diapers. yes, that is right. not only are we going to try cloth diapering, i am going to be making them. i bought a few diapers from a store in Menominee Falls, just to get an idea on the fabrics and make of the diaper, but the rest, my mom and i are making.



(if you haven't ever seen a 'modern' cloth diaper, google cloth diapers sometime...it is pretty amazing. brands like gdiapers, bumgenius, fuzzibunz [yes, fuzzibunz] and even a brand called happy heinys are among the more common brands, but there are hundreds out there)

Anyway, cloth diapers cost anywhere from 18-28 dollars each (not per dozen, each), so i quickly realized that getting what i needed for two kids up front was going to be a challenge. (cloth diapering is still cheaper in the long run, just more money up front). hence, the making it myself idea.
i went to salvation army family store and for the price of one Kissaluvs All In One Diaper ($22.95) i got two flannel sheets, a Nautica bath towel, 5 t-shirts, a hospital bed pad, a floor mat, and a windbreaker jacket...out of which (plus a flannel sheet set i already had and one from my mom) we were able to make about 18 medium diapers for Elijah, 16 large diapers for Sydney, 3 diaper covers for Elijah, 4 diaper covers for Sydney, a large stack of inserts and a pile of cloth wipes. all for about 30 bucks when you include the elastic from WalMart.

I SO ROCK!!! and SO DOES MY MOM!!! (i did the cutting and she did the sewing)

front, back and then the cover of a Sydney diaper - made out of a junior's tee shirt

front and back of a tee-shirt diaper for Elijah, complete with army tank to carry his loads :P


this windbreaker will become 3 or so covers for Elijah's diapers

Here are some of the diapers made out of flannel sheets:

ducks for Elijah and flowers and purple stripes for Sydney

this pattern is called the Quick Snap Flap Wrap

(no, i did not come up with the name, but i love the concept)

when the pattern is cut, it uses only 2 (or you could use 3) layers of fabric (which means it washes out better and drys faster when you clean), but when it is folded up, it becomes 6 layers for better absorbency.

lay it flat, place an insert (for additional absorbency) in the center

fold the right side, fold the left side, place the baby

hold together with a little thing called a snappi, you could use a pin, but i don't feel like poking the babies, or more likely, myself!!

here is a cover, with waterproof interior from the hospital bed pad

that goes on top of the diaper, secures with Velcro and ter-done! (as Sydney would say)

these, along with about 8 diapers i bought from the baby store, and another 10 i bought off eBay (still have not arrived, they are coming from China!), i think i have enough diapers for both kids for the rest of their diapering days, all for around $100 total. (not bad considering Sydney is absolutely refusing to be potty trained and Elijah still has a solid two years of diapering ahead of him).