Pampers now designer?

I was shopping in Target, for the first time in a few years and paused when I saw what looked like decorated Pampers. I laughed to myself as I picked up the box of colorful disposable diapers to take a picture. I did not even bother to really read what the complete description of these things but I did noticed that the diapers feature "Dry Max". Without further ado here are the photos I took via camera phone. Still not enough to sway me from cloth diapering.

Playing catch up

These past few weeks have been quite hectic. We are preparing for a move, and it seems that the more  accomplished the more things seem to build up. On another note as I noted before we are expecting our third child, we found out that this awaited gift is another sweet little girl. I had already started a diaper stash but since I was insisting that our little  bundle of joy would be another boy, I  refused to make girl diapers until the ultrasound showed other wise.  I figure...Hey...a little girl can get away with wearing boy diapers.

Since the discovery that I was so wrong and we are in fact going to welcome another baby girl into our family I sat and did some sewing, which turned out to be very therapeutic considering all the headaches that come with preparing to move.

The pictured blue dipaer are an actual "Little Joey" diaper

I was looking at cloth diapers and came across the Rumparooz Little Joey diaper, which I had seen before but I have never personally purchased or used one. I notice the gusset that is made into these diapers and thought how great it would be to add this feature to my baby's diapers. By sight and guessing I made a diaper and attempted to  accomplish this goal, I am positive that it worked in my favor. The diaper that I made is pictured below.

I used to make this diapers Suede Cloth for wicking ability, Micro Terry for absorption, PUL for a leak resistant layer, Woven Cotton for the outer. *I must note that a lot of diaper makers will say to be careful when putting a cotton as an outer layer of a diaper when using PUL because the diaper may wick to the front and leak badly...and they are correct, but I have learned that with a good absorption panel and good leg casings you can make the diaper function great.*

Since making this diaper I have found a tutorial  for making this sort of gusset Check out this link at Diaper sewing Divas (note you have to be a member to view the forums)

Catching up on some sewing!

I took a break from sewing diapers after the last diaper I made. I had the fabric but I did not really have I guess the motivation. I decided to go to Jucso (A sort of shopping mall here in Okinawa Japan) and found what I thought to be very motivational fabric to make a diaper out of. The patterns on the fabric to me were so unique that I could produce a very one of a kind cloth diaper. I have not decided on the color snaps to place on this diaper so I left an opening so that I can come back to it, overall I like the outcome of my work.

For this diaper I used

• Fleece for the most inner part
• Microfiber Terry for the sewn in soaker
• A hidden layer of PUL
• Outer fabric is a Poly-Cotton 70% polyester and  30% cotton
  
  

Fabric choices for this diaper

• Fleece -Next to skin fabric to wick the moisture away from the baby's skin and to keep the baby's skin feeling dry.
• Microfiber Terry - Sewn-in soaker to absorb, It not only is trim and absorbent it dries fast in the dryer.
• PUL -  Hidden layer for it's leak resistant ability (polyurethane laminated)
• Poly-Cotton outer fabric - The outer shell of the diaper that gives it it's character.

La Di Da Diapers

                                                  

Today I did a little bit of sewing, I decided to try out the La Di Da pattern since I want to add variety to my diaper stash. I purchased the diaper pattern at ladidadiapers.com for $8.50. I found that the pattern has great detailed instructions which I think made the purchase worth it. I chose to round the corners of the diaper (you will usually find diapers made from this pattern with squared corners). As a bonus when I purchased the pattern, I had the option to buy labels for my finished products that read "La Di Da made by Mama".

                                          Example of La Di Da Diaper with sqaured corners

                                                       The diaper above can be found at 

                                                          rumpsackdiapers.etsy.com

Diaper Covers and Prefolds = Great Solution

Cloth diapering can be as easy as a prefold covered by a  leak resistant diaper cover.

• Get a diaper cover

• 
  
  Get a good quality prefold (my favorite are the unbleached Indian Prefolds)

Take your prefold and do a quick Angel Fold (Tuck the front of the prefold inward to adjust the rise, also note that this works great for extra front absorption for baby boys.

*If you have a heavy wetter add a doubler/booster into the center of your fold*                                
                                                          

After you have done this, all you need to do is cover your prefold!

Unless it is your preference no  Pins or Snappis are needed.
(a wrap style diaper cover will work best with this option).


           

Diaper Covers can be found at reasonable prices, which makes them a bonus if you are working on saving money. Diaper covers do not all look like plastic pants, for example all of my diaper covers (mommy made of course) are fleece wraps. I take a couple layers of a good Anti-Pill fleece cut, sew and there I have my diaper cover. Another solution for making a mommy made diaper cover would be to use PUL or Wool. They can pull up or wrap, whatever you choose. I find that the pull up style diaper covers work best with fitted diaper. There are different styles of covers look up Soakers, Skirties, and Longies.

The $45 Dollar Diaper

While doing my normal window shopping on Etsy I ran across one of the most beautiful diapers. I sat and admired the photos of it because in reality that is the closest that I would ever come to having a diaper priced at $45. I could never get myself to pay that much for a diaper because bottom line I am more on a budget when it comes to shopping in general.

Since I can't bring the diaper to my home I decided to bring it my blog!

If you are into buying the Air Jordans of Cloth Diapers
This diaper and other diapers like it can be found at

www.holdenslanding.etsy.com

Huggies goes Denim

Trendy can now be found in a disposable diaper?

Very cute I must say, but still not enough to make me derail from cloth diapering. My thoughts...A decorated disposable diaper can never match not only the styles but the benefits of a cloth diaper, so Instead of rushing to the store to buy a box of the latest trend in disposable diapers to add to my newborn diaper stash, I made my own little diaper with denim flair. The Cost? I was able to create this diaper by using an old sweatshirt, an old jean jacket and Birdseye flat diapers. All of the items to make this diaper I had in my home, costing me nothing.


Diaper pattern used: Darling Diapers

A few good reasons to cloth diaper

It’s cheaper; cloth diapers can be expensive for the initial set-up, but in the long run they work out a lot cheaper than disposables, depending on what system you use.

Less diaper-rash; cloth diapered babies tend to have less diaper-rash, because natural cotton fibers breathe more easily.

They can be used for subsequent children; works out even cheaper because you can use for any more children you have.

Cloth diapered children tend to potty-train earlier, because the cloth tends to hold moisture closer to baby’s skin. (My little girl was potty trained before she turned 2)


Kinder to the earth.


Of course there are pros and cons for either cloth diapering or using disposable diapers, and many have strong beliefs that one is better than another. In the end, it’s a decision only you and your family can make, so being informed is very important.