I learned how to sew by making diapers. My husband even bought me a really nice sewing machine (Mother's day/Birthday/Christmas present all at one time, it was a 10 year old Bernina, but still $500) for the purpose. And I totally recommend getting a good machine. Maybe not that nice, $250 should do it--just don't get the cheapest thing at Wal-mart--that's what I had at first and I drove myself CRAZY trying to make diapers on it. I couldn't imagine why ANYONE would ever sew on purpose!
(Then I got my Bernina and it was all better, but that's another story.)
Anyway, you can make good diapers for pretty cheap--much, much cheaper than you can buy them, of course, which is why I started making them. I couldn't afford the kind of cloth diapers I was willing to use when I first started doing it. (I wanted AIO's, quick-drying, no less.)
I just made a bunch of diapers and they came out to only a couple bucks/diaper. I traced around a diaper I bought used that I loved--it lasted from the time my daughter was 6 months old until, well, she's 2.5 and it still fits fine!). Then I made a bunch of pockets from that pattern--so it's just one layer of PUL and one layer of microfleece--elastic on the PUL side, and zigzagged all around, with a slit cut in the microfleece for stuffing a prefold. They work great, and they'll last a lot longer than my AIO's did because they won't need to be washed so much--if I ever get build up, I can just wash the prefolds a bunch of times, taking the delicate shells out after the first wash to preserve the PUL and elastic.
Anyway, sorry to make a short story long! I just see you as where I was a few years ago, and I wanted to encourage you to do it. I'm so glad I started sewing, and that I got a good machine that doesn't have me ripping my hair out. (Much).
Good luck!
Like the sewing maching, materials, patterns stuff like that. I would want to be able to make PF's, contours, covers, maybe learn more difficult stuff! It just all seems overwhelming to me right now!
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