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{guest post by my amazing niece, and new mommy - Dianna, tips on how to make your own cloth diapers}
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As much as I love the ease and convenience of a disposable diaper, I don’t so much love the price of them. I decided I’d probably do some cloth diapering to offset the price of disposables, but even prefolds are expensive. Fortunately, you can make your own!I picked up some fleece fabric from a secondhand store for about $2. I also picked up a towel from the store for about $2 as well.
First thing you need to do is measure out the liners. I used the towel for my liners since I figured they’d be most absorbent. For my project, I used a 5 inch by 14 inch piece, but you can experiment with sizes. If you are using towel for the lining, it’s a good idea to use a serger along the edges. If you don’t have a serger (I don’t), use a zig zag stitch. If your liner is made of non-fraying fabric, you can probably skip this step.
Then you need the fleece cut out for the cover on the liners. These pieces are 23 inches by 15 inches.
Next up, fold the cover over so that the 15 inch edges are together (or “hamburger style” if that helps) and place the liner with a 14 inch edge against the cover’s 15 inch edges.
Sew these edges together. You should be able to do this with the diaper after you’re done.
Next, shift the liner so that it is in the middle of the cover. It will look like 3 sections: cover, liner, and cover.
Sew up the top and bottom of the diaper, making sure to leave a hole to turn it right side out. The liner doesn’t have to be sewn down into the top and bottom seams, but it can be if you like.
Now turn the diaper inside out. You’re going to sew two lines down each side of the liner. The best place to start is by following the seam from the first time you sewed the liner down. The second line can be done by eyeballing the first line, or measuring it out if you’re a perfectionist.
Remember to sew up the hole, and ta-da! You’ve made a diaper!
The best part about making your own diapers is using whatever fabric you have around the house. You can be creative and experiment with different liners for the most absorbency – t-shirts, sheets and blankets, old towels, I’ve even seen some people use old jeans for liners.
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I really want to try cloth diapering, but am also kind of a sissy about having to clean them. However - I do think cloth diapers would be a great addition to emergency supplies for those of us who aren't brave enough!
Have any of you amazing readers done cloth diapering? Have any tips to share on how best to use/clean them?
yay! i was so excited to do this! and i wanted to put a little in about how i was dealing with cloth diapering, but didn't want to make the post too long.. so here's a mini guest blog in your comments..
ReplyDelete(disclaimer - my baby is completely breastfed and only 2 months old, so i can't speak to formula fed babies or older babies!) what i did was purchased a secondhand "flip" brand diaper cover. these are one size fits all covers that you put a liner in and then just wipe it out between uses. they have special liners you can use in them, but they are pricey, which is why i made my own liners.
since my baby is so young and breastfed, even dirty diapers are easy to deal with. i just have a new liner ready, whip out the old one and put in a new liner. then i take the used liner to our bathroom, use our detachable shower head to spray off any solid stuff, and put the liner on the rail in our bathtub to dry just a bit. then in an hour or so i put it in a garbage pail we bought especially for this. it has a little baking soda sprinkled in it but nothing else. then every 3 or 4 days i run a load of diapers only in hot water! it's been really pretty easy. no idea if it'll be that easy when he's bigger.
sorry to write another blog for you! :)