[ChasingDreams]

Good Morning from the land of ice and snow! Being cooped up this week has been very productive in my cloth diapering research and I was wondering if anyone else is going to try using cloth diapers and not disposables?

Before going back to school I had my own custom sewing and alterations business so I am planning to make my own CD. I think I may have gone a little overboard in purchasing PUL fabric... :grin: Goodness, this stuff is cute! I'm still awaiting a couple of the materials to arrive (and the pattern ) then let the sewing begin! I don't know why, but I am super excited to start this project!

If you sew your own CD what do you use to line them? Alova? Buttersuede? Fleece?

Also what do you use for your inserts (assuming you are using pocket diapers.) I have ordered Zorb, but I'm reading that Hemp and Bamboo might be better. Opinions?

Have a lovely day!

 

[NaturallyKait]

Land of ice and snow, sounds like here too! We're planning on cloth diapering but I'm not making any so I have no advice there! I do have a few friends who sew diapers and they seem to use a mix of fleece or cotton velour/bamboo velour depending on the type of diapers they make. Those who do pockets seem to prefer bamboo, hemp or cotton for inserts. Most of my friends make fitteds though so it's a little different

 

[RonnaLeigh]

we have a thread going on in the May Due Date Club, and a couple moms who sew their own over there if you want to pop over and read up ! I'm also planning to cloth diaper for the first time with this baby.

 

[SummerStorm22]

I have no advice on making cloth diapers but I am planning on cloth diapering although we'll also do disposables since my DH is NOT on board. I'm sure he will on board be soon after the diapers from our shower are gone and he sees how expensive disposable diapers are, it's not like he'll be doing the laundry.

 

[Emanresu]

I have a bunch of homemade diapers, and new boy ones for this little baby. Most of mine are modified from the free Rita's Rump pattern. My mom sews the diapers and made them in different sizes. She never got the hang of the pul, so I only have a few homemade pocket diapers. The Rita's Rumps are fmostly flannel and they are pockets. When baby is tiny, I stuff with homemade cotton/flannel inserts. As baby gets bigger, I use homemade flannel/cotton inserts, washcloths, flat diapers, prefolds, microfiber cloths, I did have a few zorb but I didn't love it, and then lots of the stirebought inserts I've collected over the years. We used store bought covers and mostly diaper pins to close.

For stay dry inner layers, we have used thin fleece, suedecloth, and my favorite was a polyester flannel. I haven't been able to find that for years.

I browse fabric stores for thin 100% polyester fabrics to use as stay dry lining on our fitted flannel pockets. So we have a lot of random ones. Our local fabric stores also carry diaper fabric, which is great for inserts and making your own flat diapers.

Have fun sewing! All cloth diapers are cute, but homemade ones are the cutest!

 

[ChasingDreams]

I first started considering CDing due to the chemicals they put into disposable diapers and I had severe reactions to them when I was an infant...a long time ago... Anyways, I can't use disposable feminine products and can only imagine the allergies I will pass along to sweet baby. So I started looking into CD'ing and it's fascinating!

@NaturallyKait, I'm sure we don't have as much snow as Canada, but 10-12" ontop of a 1/2" of freezing rain is unusual for my little corner of the midwest this late in the year (February it would be completely normal, but not March.) The time inside has given time for spring cleaning and sewing projects galore! :grin:

Thanks @RonnaLiegh! I will pop over to the MayDDC

@SummerStorm22 I hear you on the expense thing! The expense was the second thing that really interested me, after doing the math I will be spending roughly $3.50 on materials per diaper (and that includes buying a $70 KAM press) it will only get cheaper from here. Cool stuff!!!

@Emanresu I've been looking into liners and did a quick search on Etsy to see if I could find polyester flannel. There are a few shops selling it! And yes, I love the look of homemade diapers! I will be using a pattern like "Wonder Unders" as I know the former owner :thumb So I will be making a combination of fitted and pocket diapers. :grin:

Now if the postal service could deliver the other half of my materials... <twiddles thumbs...> Oh well, I'm off to work on the baby quilt in the mean time :love

 

[perkier]

We are doing cloth but I had sort of ruled out sewing my own for some reason. I don't love sewing with PUL and it's not super easy to find here, even online. I hadn't thought about just sewing inner fitted diapers and then using commercially made covers. I could do that, though, I guess. That Rita's Rump pattern looks fairly easy.

I was considering making liners/stuffers for pocket diapers rather than buying, and making them out of bamboo and flannel. I'm also planning to make some microfleece liners.

I am totally new to cloth and feel a bit out of my depth really. There are so many options and I don't want to sink a lot of money or time into something only to find out that I've made the wrong choice.
@ChasingDreams What is zorb?

 

[NaturallyKait]

@ChasingDreams I just happen to be in the area of Canada that's had the ridiculous snow fall lately. Not normal for us this time of year either! No matter what, I think we're all ready for the snow to just be gone. Bring on Spring please!

 

[ChasingDreams]

@perkier Zorb is an extra absorbent formula made of tangled cellulose fibers from bamboo/cotton/viscose and poly micro fiber, the same fibers found in virtually every AIO diaper on the market. It's absorbency rate is incredible (10x its own weight,) so you can use fewer layers, keeping your diaper thinner and making clean-up/laundering easier!

According to pro-diaper makers, to get the same absorbency of 2 layer of Zorb you will need:

• 8 layers of flannel
• 6 layers of French terry
• 5 layers of cotton fleece
• 4 layers of sherpa.

Sooo I will be making my inserts of Zorb Although I may buy some Hemp later as Little Miss grows. We shall see if the Zorb lives up to its claim to fame.

If you want to order, I would recommend ordering directly from the manufacturer--it's soooo much cheaper, about half the price of Etsy stores or ebay! http://wazoodle.com/index.php/fabric/zorbfabric.html

 

[FyerFly]

Wow I'm so impressed @ChasingDreams with your plans to sew your own (and others too ) I'm not planning to sew my own, but we're totally on board with CD'ing!

We actually went to a "Cloth Diapering 101" class at a local store last week. It was pretty interesting and made me realize how much research I've already done () but I also discovered a few things I wasn't expecting - mostly that I don't think I want to do pockets! I had registered for a few types of pocket dipes, but I've now made some changes and am planning on mostly prefolds/fitteds with covers (and a few pockets just to try them out and see). I'm just loving the thought of being able to pull the whole prefold/fitted out to throw in the wash, and not have to wash the "whole" diaper every time.

I also fell in LOVE with these (ridiculously expensive) overnight fitteds http://sloomb.myshopify.com/collections/cloth-diapers/products/obfs. They are so super soft, and made me much more curious about bamboo.

Our registry is more than half CDs and cloth-diapering-related things (cloth wipes, wet bags, etc.), but regardless of gift-ing, I think DH is fine with us buying the stash that I'm creating. IF we do receive a lot of CDs as gifts, my plan is to give it a few weeks, see what we like/what seems to fit/work best for our little guy, then order more (and larger sizes) of whatever one or two kinds we really like.

 

[ChasingDreams]

I also fell in LOVE with these (ridiculously expensive) overnight fitteds http://sloomb.myshopify.com/collections/cloth-diapers/products/obfs. They are so super soft, and made me much more curious about bamboo.

How fun to attend a Cloth Diapering 101! Do you sew @FyerFly? You could make the fitted bamboo fleeces you linked above for a fraction of the cost. The fabric is $10-13 a yard, but you could get atleast 5 diapers from each yard. They would be quite simple to assemble, especially since the edges are surged and snaps are not very difficult to install.

Do you plan to use wool covers or waterproof covers?

 

[FyerFly]

I like your train of thought, @ChasingDreams ! I do sew, but not very expertly - inherited my grandma's singer sewing machine from 1952, which does VERY well with straight lines on thin fabric, but not as well with anything much more complicated than that. But I do have a group of friends who sew quite a lot, so I'm going to see if they might be able to help me make a few dipes in that type of material, because it is soooo soft!!

 

[lerlisha]

I am totally new to cloth and feel a bit out of my depth really. There are so many options and I don't want to sink a lot of money or time into something only to find out that I've made the wrong choice.

I feel exactly the same way. We also went to a workshop like @FyerFly and that was really helpful even just in terms of understanding all the different options and what the acronyms mean.

I love the idea of sewing your own diapers but I am not blessed with a sewing machine or sewing skills, lol, so I think we'll do the store-bought thing. I've heard there a lot of websites where you can purchase used diapers for extra cost-savings. The cloth diaper shop near us has a couple of great services that make it easier, like a "newborn diaper rental" where you pay a flat fee and get to borrow diapers for newborns instead of buying a bunch of little tiny sizes that you can only use for a few weeks.

 

[SummerStorm22]

I'm buying my diapers new because they don't really depreciate that much in my market and I have next to no sewing skills or patience at this time to learn. Check around for local natural parenting or cloth diapering groups and you can check your area's value's but in my market used diapers retain about 80% of their value as long as the elastic isn't worn out to me that was a total win because if I hate them I can always resale and get back some of what I've spent.

I'm a little worried now because I only have 12 nb and 12 all one size and everyone in these groups have such huge stashes, I don't want to invest anymore until we are sure we are sticking with it but from what I'm hearing this is only about one day in NB's and 2 in one size, I'll be forced to do laundry everyday and that is kind of discouraging.... I may get a pack or two of prefolds to bulk up our stash inexpensively.

 

[Emanresu]

@SummerStorm22, I would definitely recommend getting some prefolds or flats. You will get tons of use out of both, even if not as diapers.

I love the versatility of flats. They can be folded like a fitted diaper and be very trim, they can be folded like a rectangle and layed in a cover, used for burp cloths, swaddles, blankets, covers from the sunshine in strollers or car seats, tied on as a bib, nursing cover, etc... They are awesome! And fun to tie dye, if you are into that. I got mine from Green Mountain Diapers.

 

[FyerFly]

I almost just asked "whats the difference between a pre fold and a flat"? but then thought, come on, Fyerfly, just google it. Glad i did - this video is neat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya3sz-8y7Io

She also has a few others. I like how she uses a go-pro head camera to show different diapering things!! She seems very budget-conscious too.

 

[Emanresu]

I almost just asked "whats the difference between a pre fold and a flat"? but then thought, come on, Fyerfly, just google it. Glad i did - this video is neat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya3sz-8y7Io

She also has a few others. I like how she uses a go-pro head camera to show different diapering things!! She seems very budget-conscious too.

For some reason I just watched that whole video. Made me want to buy some more flats! (Or make some) I mostly used the origami fold she demonstrated. It is by far the trimmest I was ever able to get a cloth butt.

 

[FyerFly]

LOL @Emanresu - I know, when I saw the length of the video I was like...not watching this whole thing. But then she lulled me into a trance. Something about the camera angle and her no-nonsense approach. That origami fold does look cool! I added a pack of birdseye flats to my list of dipes to try. I'm not too sure about using receiving blankets as dipes, but the idea is intriguing. In another video, she talks about using old baby wash cloths from garage sales as cloth wipes. Pretty neat!

 

[RachelCap]

I cloth-diapered my last two babies and plan to do the same this time! I am switching up the type of diapering, though, from pockets to fitteds. I've heard great things about the Cloth-Eez Workhorse fitteds, so I will be buying a bunch of those and then making/buying PUL covers.

 

[Emanresu]

@RachelCap, I have heard good things about those diapers too. I hope they work for you!
@FyerFly - baby washcloths do make good wipes!