Sewing a fitted...

[Sandra Dee]

I have a yard of hemp fleece on the way, and with our new switch to wool, I'm thinking I'll try to make my own nighttime diaper for DD to go under her woolies (she only has regular fitteds, nothing terribly absorbant, so she's been in FBs at night still)

Anyway - I think even I can manage to cut straight lines (okay : I can't - I have a rotary cutter! :LOL) and maybe make a prefold. Can I make a hemp fleece prefold? I mean, HOW do I make a hemp fleece prefold? (Layers-wise?)

Two outers and one inner or two inners?

Also - if I had a HoneyBoys pattern, can I use that to make a fitted? If so, how? (Layers issue again)

[stafl]

Not sure if this will answer your question or not....
but I made my own fitted dipe for DD, and it seems to work just as well if not better than any of the fancy ones I have. It's not as pretty, but inside a wrap, who will ever know?
I took a fitted dipe that fit DD ok, but not perfect, laid it out on a piece of newspaper and traced around it, stretching the elastic as I went, to get an accurate pattern. Then I adjusted it accordingly (made it more narrow through the crotch, longer and wider in the back) and added an extra 1/4 inch or so all the way around for seam allowance.
Then I folded it lengthwise, just to make sure I had both sides the same and cut it out.
I then used the pattern and cut two of the same
Sewed waistband elastic at the top (back) and leg elastic where the leg holes are in the wrong side of one of them, pinned both pieces together, wrong sides out, and stitched them together most of the way around.
Then turned them right side out, attached velcro and stitched up the open spot I used to turn them rightside out.
Very easy! So it doesn't look so great, but works as long as I use a doubler (which I also made myself) in it.
She had it on all night without any leaks last night!!! (with a good cover)

For the prefold, I'd probably take one that works for you, rip the seams out to see how it's put together. Or just try something, and you can always change your design accordingly.

edited to add: I'd suggest you practice on some old worn out clothes or other source of free fabric first!

[Aster]

http://www.diapersewing.com/

Have you seen this site? It pretty much covers most of the basics of sewing dipes.

Happy sewing!

[didelphus]

Yes, definitely check out diapersewing. It will answer all your questions!

[Sandra Dee]

Yep - I diapersewing.com

However, what I'm not really sure about is hemp fleece - how many layers do I need in a prefold or fitted to be absorbant enough?

Thanks!

[Charmie981]

For a hemp fleece prefold, I wouldn't do a center panel with more layers...I'd just sew a rectangle of 2-3 layers of fleece into the size you want it. If you have a serger, this should be SUPER easy. If not, you can turn and topstitch the square to make it look cute.

If you want to make it snappi-able, take a birdseye diaper (like the useless Gerber ones) and serge it on the outside of the hemp.

Oh, and FYI...I like diapersewing.com, but her directions for prefolds SUCK. The EASIEST way to make a prefold (only two cuts involved) is to cut a piece of fabric 36" by 27" (or one yard of diaper flannel). Fold it in half so that it's now 18" by 27", then take a pencil and divide it into 5 equal sections. Fold the fabric in such a way that section #2 is on top of section #4. You will need to stitch both sides of the center panel down and serge or bind around all four edges, but in the end, you will have a 2x6x2 prefold. You can add an extra square or two to the stack (more cuts involved, though) if you want a 4x8x4.

[lkblair]

the way I've seen hemp 'prefolds' made:

cut out 2 rectangles the size you want your prefold to be (or one really big one folded in half. Cut out smaller rectangles the size of your center panel. Serge the smaller rectangles (2 for a 2-4-2 prefold; 1 for a 2-3-2 prefold). You can serge all the way around or just the long sides; you'll see why in a sec.

Position your smaller rectangle on your larger one where you want it and pin. Now serge all the way around your larger rectangle so that you include the ends of the smaller one, as well. This will give you a prefold with only the ends of the center panel sewn in. I like it this way because it dries faster, IMO. If you don't like that, then just stitch down the sides with your sewing machine.

Geez, that probably makes no sense. If I make some this week like I plan to do (the best laid plans...) I'll take a pic.