Um...how much am I gonna spend doing this?

[rebeccalizzie]

Okay, I just made the mistake of adding up all my diaper related expenses for the last few weeks. It comes to $120. Mostly from cheap stores like Joann, I only spent $30 at OSDS and I'm not sure if that will work well for me. I've got a big pile of stretch terry, a bunch of flannel, 12 microfiber towels for stuffing, some FOE that doesn't work right, and some microfleece that I'm praying works (Joann remnants--it *felt* like their microfleece, but for all I know it's regular fleece and is gonna repel). So I'm pretty good on fabric, but I don't have anything water resistant except the tiny bit of PUL I have coming and the nylon pants I'm going to try to make side-snapping. And that doesn't count the cuddlebuns pattern and stuff I'm going to buy to make those (haven't ordered those yet). So I'm definitely looking at anywhere from $160-200.

Okay...how much is this gonna cost??? I wasn't thinking I'd be spending this much! I'm starting to feel really guilty...I'm supposed to be saving money doing this!

[Jenilee]

*sigh* Yeah, that was my intentions too...save money. For what I have spent on "stuff" in the last few weeks I could have just bought a crap load of already made diapers! LOL Oh well, just tell yourself its also a hobby and once you the hang of things, it WILL be cheaper in the long run. At least thats what I keep telling myself. Now with that said I am dreading my CC bill coming and for DH to see it...thank GOD he drag races and his hobby is MUCH more expensive than mine

[KMK_Mama]

I am feeling the same way! I was all excited about being able to do cloth without all the "Expense." Hahaha. I ordered some stuff from Sewshoppe and Diapershop and although I got a lot of fabric, I was pretty upset about the cost of having to pay two places for shipping. Add to that the cost of the pattern, the microfleece I haven't bought yet...we'll see. I really do think you still save money in the end, but it is hard to see when you have to pay so much up front because you are buying in bulk. I just bought 6 kissaluvs and 4 covers and payed $100 and I think all the fabric, thread, needles, aplix, elastic, etc that I have bought was around $100 but I will be able to get way more than 6 dipes out of it!

[Rachel Flores]

Yep, that's how it started for me...seeing a diaper, thinking I could make it cheaper and then buying massive amounts of fabric that cost WAY more than just buying the diaper I was trying to save money making, BUT I now can sew. I enjoy sewing. I've made dd some clothes and some of my family pajama pants. And I figure that as I get better I can make other stuff too.

I think that generally, the reason to sew things yourself isn't to save tons of money (although for diapers I really think that you do) but to make it totally customizable (the exact print and fit you want). If you really want to save money making your own diapers, haunt second hand stores for flannel or jersey sheets, bags of tshirst and wool sweaters. Oh, someone here (don't remember who) used the fabric from a waterproof jacket as the waterproof barier in her diapers and she said it worked great.

Hopefully you won't have to spend too much more, but think about how much each of the fitted diapers you are going to be making would cost if you bought them ready made, they'd be $10-15 each and the covers would be around the same amount. That would mean that you would only have about 10 diapers if you bought them ready made and I'm sure you can make more than that with the fabric you bought. It think it's all about perspective, ykwim? You're spending a lot of money up front but saving money and learing (or improving on) a valuable skill in the long run.

[AinNJ]

It's cheaper. I bought my sister a NB stash from a CD store that was closing and STILL spent nearly $200. And that was just for *only* NB dipes ON CLEARANCE! Imagine if spending $12-18 per diaper for each size. Even more if you're an AIO kind of girl.

I spent alot of money at first "trying" different things. I'm not really one to do homework before jumping in with both feet, so I wasted alot of time and money up front.

I thought flannel would be great. And I thought velcro would be better than snaps. And I thought I could just trace a sposie and make a good CD.

After my ds was born, I learned that flannel *is* soft & durable, but you need a bunch of layers and that takes forever to dry. I now use hemp and velour. I can use 2 layers in the body and make lay-in, snap-in, or semi-attached soakers and they dry quick!

Velcro might have been ok, but I didn't know what "laundry tabs" were and pulled 1 huge diaper ball out of the washer the first wash. LOL!! I bought a snap press and gave my neice 10 bucks to rip all the velcro off my diapers and snap them. Haven't touched velcro since.

And I *did* manage to get a good pattern from tracing a sposie. BUT I made about 8-10 diapers and modified the pattern a little bit after each one before coming close to something I liked. It would have been cheaper to buy a tried and true pattern up front.

With all that said, I totally loved every moment I spent making my baby's diapers!! Yeah, at first I totally did it to save money. But it became so much more than that to me. I *LOVED* making them.

and washing them...
and folding them...

[Jayneysews]

I so far have spent lots on a snap press and snaps ,a bit on elastic,and the DD patterns.
BUT i am beingthrifty with my use of fabrics,trying to use re cycled.
I do think that the specialist fabric seems expensive and wonder how much better it is........ as I am in the Uk I cannot afford to get much shipped and it is loads more here!
I think to do lots of experimental stuff with the real Mc coy would be pricey!
So maybe when I settle on a stlye and stuff I love...maybe!

[boscopup]

I started out to save money too, even though I really didn't *need* to... I mean, I can afford Pampers Cruisers, which DS was wearing for almost a year. But cloth is fun and addictive. I started with FBs, but didn't like the fit. I decided to make my own so I wouldn't have to pay $15-20 for an AIO. And it's true, I don't pay that. I can make it for about $5 with the same materials - hemp, velour, etc. So I'm getting diapers with awesome materials, and they fit great. But yes, I keep spending money on fabric, and I absolutely refuse to add up how much I've spent.

Actually, I started out by selling off FBs to pay for diaper making fabric. That worked well, and mostly what I've been making has been from those diapers that I sold. And as I make diapers for friends and charge them basically cost of materials, I still pay for my materials, so I'm good... Until the databases close for the sherpa, BKT, khaki velour, and bamboo french terry that I orderd in two different co-ops. But I did order small amounts! Just 11 yards total, and the most expensive of those was $5/yd, plus I pay two shipping bills (one for 6 yards fabric and one for 5 yards). You can make alot of fitteds and AIOs with 11 yards of fabric... I will be able to pay for some of that with PP balance, but I will probably have to pull out the CC (that gets paid off every month) for the rest.

Jenilee... I'll have to remember the drag racing argument for my DH!!!! He's spending $1500 on a racing transmission to put in his Grand Prix (and that's a really good deal - it's a $4k transmission!). I know I haven't spent NEAR that much on my diaper sewing hobby, even if you include the sewing machine (already had it), serger, snap press, and fabric!!!!

Thankfully, DH hasn't complained about the fabric purchases YET... He's not seen most of the payments anyway, as it's come from my PP account. But everytime I get a package now, he's like "That's probably more fabric, isn't it?".

[rebeccalizzie]

I think I'm going to regret this one...I decided to try the snap setter thing and ordered it along with my cuddlebuns pattern. The thing is, the owner of that site said she used it for all her dipes and it worked great...so I am really hoping it works out and I didn't just waste $20 (setter and a handful of snaps).

I know it's a hobby...it's just becoming expensive and I'm getting burned out on spending money. I'm going to stop now and just concentrate on what I already have, and maybe that will work.

[CamsMama]

I know what you all mean. I'm several hundred dollars (probably $300-$350) invested in my diaper making, but I don't think that's bad considering a big part of that is my snap press. I am very blessed to have a MIL who cares about me sewing. Christmas 2004 she bought me a new sewing machine and Christmas 2005 she bought me a serger. I think she's a sew-er at heart, but just doesn't have the time.

I figure my investment is minor because I'm making an entire stash, from smalls (maybe a few newborns) all the way to potty training. There's no way I could buy an entire stash for that much money. In fact, I made my first diaper purchase in over a year to check out Swaddlebees during their big sale. I couldn't believe I was spending $30 on 3 diapers. It felt like a rip off, knowing what I could make for $30. But, DS isn't fitting into his FB right now and I only have a few Very Baby's made for him, so I need to try to add something to his stash until I have more time to sew.

Maybe I should get off of the computer.....

[StrawHatBrat]

Since the 28th of last month (but this includes the snap press) I have spent over $400.00.

I was shocked when I was loooking at my bank statement and saw all the online AND offline fabric purchases. My mom and I made a pact (she spends too much on scrapping) that we weren't going to buy anything else until March 1st. It was the best idea we've had.

I am NOT EVEN going to add up what I've spent since I've started. Including the embroidery machine, all the emb designs, the fabric I bought before, the little things I needed like new scissors. I could have sposi diapered an army.... or bought a car.

(I wish there were a "hangs head in shame" emoticon)

[mihrimah]

I did this math- if you buy all of your dipes, prefoldss and cheap covers:
$100.00 for 50 DSQ prefolds @$2.00ea- but you need 2 sizes, so $200
$6.00 ea/ $36.00 for 6 pul covers 1 size (cheap ones), so 4 sizes= $144
$344 to cloth diaper your baby (not including shipping)

Except, you want nice covers and contours or fitteds if you know they exist.

To sew my own (50 dipes), if I were as frugal as I wish I were:
Flannel, $1.96 yd on sale at Joanns (3 contours of my own pattern per yard)
17 yards= $33.32
Terrycloth for soaker pads, $.80/yard clearance at Joanns
10 yards= $8.00
So, it should only have costed me $41.32, but I have bought WAY too much fabric, so its been a lot more! Plus I refuse to figure out the cost of the covers- you need at least 6 per size- yeah, she'll have at least 12- if not more- and that's just what I have cut out and ready to sew!!

But consider if you use sposies, a moderate price I think is about $40/ mo, so that's $480 a year, so IF your child is potty-trained by three, that's still $1440 total, but potty-training is longer for kids in disposables, so that's if you have a girl or you're lucky.

And if you cloth diaper, your future children are free.

[rebeccalizzie]

yeah, this is how I need to think of it...first, it's a hobby. I've spent a hundred dollars making one quilt in the past, and they aren't as useful as a diaper. My sewing machine that I didn't use all that often until now was like $800. I've also bought tons of fabric that I haven't used for anything, and don't know what I'll use it for. At least I'm getting some use out of my fleece stash. And it's definitely still cheaper than if I bought similar dipes. I didn't want to use mostly pf's, I wanted fitteds. So I was looking at serious $ for a full stash.

I think I need to quit thinking of this as "must save money" and more "this is fun and maybe I'll save some money too!" Honestly, I can afford what I've spent so far...I just feel guilty spending this much!

I really cannot decide on the snap press thing...I hope this setter works great and then I won't have to worry about it anymore!

[bzmomof8]

Wondered if any of you have seen this? http://www.diapersewing.com/prices.htm