Quick diaper advice please! - Page 2

[tuffykenwell]

Here is a link to a bunch of PDF downloads for cloth diapers including "draft your own diaper pattern" (third on the list) which I think is excellent!

Good luck!

Steph

[LeosMama]

once you get a diaper pattern shape that you like and plan to stick with for awhile, i recommend tracing it onto cardboard and using an exacto or box cutter to cut it out. this way you can skip all that pinning and just trace around it then use scissors to cut it out. so much faster! i use my son's washable markers to trace with.

[muttix2]

I'm glad I checked back in here before doing my cutting. I haven't tested the dipe on the baby yet. So, no more cutting for me today, I'm going to try and get the one I have cut sewn together when they go to bed tonight.

Thanks for the links, I downloaded a few of them and will look at them when I have more time. Took a quick glance though and they seem cool. The cardboard idea is a good one, I'm going to try it out when I find the pattern(s) I like. What would I use to trace it, a fabric pencil? Or would just anything work since I'd be tracing outside of the part that I'd be using? Kids are up from nap (not that my older ds ever actually napped he's just "up" from quiet time ), I'll check in later.

[LeosMama]

i use my son's washable crayola markers usually. sometimes i use a sharpie and make sure to cut inside the line or that it will be a T&T diaper (I use a pale color too) or on the inside of the layer. but the washable markers is the best.
except one time i put the diaper on him right after making it and carried him around the house (no cover on, dumb) and after awhile dh said "What happened to your shirt?" the orange marker which is water soluble had bled all over the diaper and my shirt!
now i'm sure to wash them first and no more orange problems!

[beepsmnms]

Trace? I don't trace. I cut out around the diaper, pin the diaper together and sew it up. UGH, I really need to take a sewing class.

[LeosMama]

why would you need to take a sewing class?! read the email i just sent you about everyone doing it differently and one way not being better or smarter than another.
you know how to do what works for you.
personally, i can't stand pins and don't use them when making diapers. hate pins hate them hate them hate them. dh thinks i'm nuts not to use pins as he pins everything when he sews. he says i need to take a sewing class! (he taught me to sew, so what does that say about his teaching? )

[beepsmnms]

Originally Posted by LeosMama

why would you need to take a sewing class?! read the email i just sent you about everyone doing it differently and one way not being better or smarter than another.
you know how to do what works for you.
personally, i can't stand pins and don't use them when making diapers. hate pins hate them hate them hate them. dh thinks i'm nuts not to use pins as he pins everything when he sews. he says i need to take a sewing class! (he taught me to sew, so what does that say about his teaching? )

your husband sews? Maybe I don't need a sewing class, maybe I need a husband.

[LeosMama]

if it's something you can make with your hands, he can do it (except he doesn't seem interested in knitting so far, but if i asked him to help, he would probably teach himself). He doesn't seem to be concerned about what any other man would ever think of him. He has his own standards of what is masculine and manly. I like his version better than the standard cultural expectations.
Sorry to gush, can't help it sometimes.

[muttix2]

I'm going to have to find ds' markers so I can use them next time, that a good idea. (we learned that "washable" isn't so washable when applied liberally to carpet ).

How do I sew the curves of the diaper? I've got it all pinned together ready to sew (have already sewn the soaker in and am very proud of myself ) but I don't want to mess it up on this step. I'm using my sister's machine and it doesn't have fancy things, just a straight stitch and a zig zag stitch function. She doesn't have the manual. So, should I just go straight and then move the fabric? And if that's so, I can see why people buy sergers!

[muttix2]

And that is so cool that your dh sews! Mine won't so much as help me pick out fabric

[Jes'sBeth]

I have a wife and you think that might be helpful with things like sewing... not so much here. She was banned from the sewing machines in gr 7 or 8 home ec because she kept breaking needles after 6 needles, she had her priviledges revoked!

She's VERY enthusiastic about the diapers I make though and she does let me know when she likes or dislikes a material and she gives me good suggestions for what does and doesn't work which have all made my diapers better.

She also keeps me fed. I'd starve or have scurvy if it weren't for her!

so, that's way off topic.

To get back on topic... I use chalk on dark colours and marker on light colours. I usually use something permenant (i hadn't thought of crayolas being washable! what a GREAT idea!) and cut inside or turn and topstitch.

when you're sewing the curves, just feed the material into the machine the way you want it to go (move the fabric around so the machine takes it in as if it were going in straight.) it won't take you long to get it right.

You have to do the same with a serger. In fact, I find things trickier with a serger than my sewing machine, but I've had my machine for 8 yrs now and the serger is borrowed from my neighbour.

[Seie]

I have sewn 4 CDs in my life - I only just started last week. But I have written down my favourite pattern. I have copied it off a onesize kind of diaper so this pattern should fit a wide range - and is very easily adjusted for bigger or smaller babies. It is T-shaped - a shape I really like for the simplicity and the way it is so easily adjusted to a good fit. Another good thing is that it is easy to draw and sew.
I have tried to make the instruction as simple as possible - and the diaper can be made of an old towel (preferably a soft one) and some flannel (could be old sheet or duvetcover) or jersey (I used an old sheet). If you are out of fabrics then find a secondhandstore and look for old towels or sheets - those usually sell very very cheap.
Take a look here for the pattern

[boscopup]

Originally Posted by LeosMama

if it's something you can make with your hands, he can do it (except he doesn't seem interested in knitting so far, but if i asked him to help, he would probably teach himself). He doesn't seem to be concerned about what any other man would ever think of him.

Are you sure you aren't married to my dad?!?