hoping to make some diaper covers

[Nourishma]

I've decided I would really like to make diaper covers for my second baby...not due until late Jan so I have time to learn but I have no experience with sewing and do not consider myself to be gifted with crafts....
that being said, I think it would be fun, and would mean a lot to me....
I have several questions....
I used prefolds with my son, PUL covers during the day and fleece at night, but I've always had a problem with the fleece holding odor, and the PUL covers do not seem to wear well....I was thinking I would like to use all wool covers as they are obviously a wonderful absorbent material....
I'm concerned however that wool would be itchy. I heard that cashmere is a kind of wool and have several cashmere sweaters that I no longer wear that are really soft. Is cashmere as absorbent as wool? Has anyone used it and had it work well for day and night use? Is there anything I would need to do to prepare the material such as washing and drying like I would with a wool sweater? Do I lanolize it the same as wool?

Also, I was wanting to stick with wrap style covers but most wool patterns I have seen are all pants, and since the baby will be born in the winter I want something that is easy to change without removing pants. Does anyone know if you can use a sweater to make a wrap?

sorry so many questions, any response would be greatly appreciated.
TIA

[love2bmom]

If the recycled wool (sweaters) are itchy feeling you can soak them in hair conditioner over night. Just add a good squirt of conditioner to warm water and soak the sweater. Give it a squish now and then. When finished, gently squeeze out water, roll in towel, lay flat to dry.

I'm curious what you mean when you say the PUL covers haven't worn well. What in particular?

[Nourishma]

I used bummis SWW wraps and actually I loved them-no leaks, fit well, were easy to use, seemed comfy....but over time the leg gussets have fallen apart and the velcro has worn out such that they sometimes come off randomly. Definitely they will not make it through another baby without being repaired or replaced...I'm not sure if it would be worth the amount of time it would take to repair them or if they would ever be in top shape again. But I did like them.
Really fleece has been much more of a problem with just stinking no matter what I do so I decided to just get rid of anything synthetic and fleece and just switch to wool.
the reason I was thinking cashmere is because I already have the materials.I just didn't know if it had the same absorbent and naturally antibacterial properties that sheeps wool has. If it doesn't, and would not work well, I will just acquire some wool.
Thanks for the tip on the conditioner! I will do that if I end up with something scratchy.

[Nourishma]

does it seem that someone as little experience as I might be better off letting the pros do the work and just supporting them in their skill?

[love2bmom]

I don't know about cashmere. You might try asking in Yarn Crafts about the fiber and it's properties.

[thixle]

Ok, I made DD a couple sweater pants out of cashmere last year... worked the same (as far as I can tell) as the other 100% wool sweater pants I made. Just not as thick, even after lightly felting (ahem, washing in hot water and running through the dryer once). I had a drying rack set up out of the way and just left all the covers hanging up between changes. I don't think I would use thin wool (or cashmere) for overnights, but I just don't like to be peed on at night None of them got stinky, though I would hand wash them once a week (or so) with baby shampoo and then lanolize them (with the Lanoish samples from the lactation consultant)... The lanolin keeps them soft. Kinda sticky if you put too much in or don't have the water hot enough. Keeps the "waterproofing" qualities.

PS-- cashmere comes from a goat, not a sheep. I think it might be slightly more absorbant than sheep wool of the same weight, but you always find cashmere in thinner weights than wool.

You CAN make wraps with sweater material. I just don't like them They are, IMO, too bulky and you have to put babe in the next size clothes up... And, to get a good snap, you would need a snap press. Or you can sew velcro, which adds more bulk. I prefer sweaterpants in the winter because they stay so nice and warm.

I also have seen, just recently, that you can make wool "sleepsacks" to use instead of pants or wraps!!! DD was born in the summer, so I didn't have the joy of trying to put infant rubber-legs through pants holes. I plan on making wool sleep sacks for this babe (due late Oct/early Nov) to stay nice and toasty and keep my own sanity. Really, it's just a big wool pillowcase with the bottom of a sweater being the waistband... definately do-able for a complete novice seamstress. If using thin cashmere, I would probably make the back part double layered, just in case of soak through.
HTH

[Nourishma]

thanks so much!!!
this was exactly the info I was looking for. I also heard the same thing from one other source, that is, that cashmere (and angora) can be used the same as sheeps wool, and cared for in the same way. They have the same ability to dissolve odor and their absorbency is dependent on their thickness, but they can always be layered if they are just super thin. Like you said, cashmere comes from a goat and angora comes from the angora bunny, but they are still wool and therefore work as such.....
I think I will stick with the pull up design as a pose to a wrap. They seem much easier to make, I don't want to use velcro nor do I have near the funds to purchase a snap press. I live in texas, so winter will be short enough and I will just make longies for during that time, or the sleep sacks that you mentioned.
I'm assuming I can still use my prefolds with a snappi as a pose to purchasing fitteds.
Thanks again.