Projects: Ruffle Cloth Diaper

Bria's Ruffle Plum Diaper

As I get to the end of my third attempt at making cloth diapers I find myself interested in going beyond the pattern and trying to figure out some fun new ways to personalize my diapers.  The other new experiment this time around involved turning my old prefold diapers into pretty all in one diapers.  These diapers require PUL fabric, an old prefold the right size for the diaper you want to make, and a nice piece of absorbent fabric for the inside the diapers.  I still use velcro for fastening the diapers, but one can get a snap press and place snaps instead of velco.  Also, pick some elastic, either FOE (fold over elastic) or 1/4 inch. 

The fabrics I used for the lining of the diapers were organic cotton sweatshirt fleece, quilting flannel (larger width of fabric for the yard I bought), and cotton velour.  I used a different online source for some of my fabric (www.fabric.com) and decided to try out Babyville Boutique from JoAnn Fabrics.  In the past I bought from www.kidsinthegarden.com and www.diapersewingsupplies.com.  So far the first two websites I used got the fabric to me faster than www.fabric.com, but other than that all of these websites have provided great choices and high quality materials.  The PUL from www.diapersewingsupplies.com seems to be slightly thicker and has proven to be durable so far.  Babyville Boutique has some super cute prints and I really could not resist making the diapers more baby girl themed this time.  We got pink flowers and cupcakes and just plain pink.  I am embracing the baby girl phase.  Plus size medium diapers will be used the longest, so who knows if they will make it past one baby.

Speaking of making the diapers last, six of my recycled fabric size small diapers are not going to last.  The rest are fine, but the problem with old tee shirts and baby receiving blankets in the fabric has already worn out a bit.  The velcro is fine, so I am going to reuse it and the the PUL still looks like new, so I might piece together what is left and make a changing mat or a small wet bag.  These things are still useful even if the diapers are not.  Out of the new fabrics I bought I really love the cotton velour.  I love the fact that this fabric does not hold mustard baby poop stains.  The down side to this fabric is that is really stretchy and harder to sew with the slippery PUL.  It is not a good choice for a first round of diapers.  It was similar to sewing hemp fleece.  The flannel is the easiest, but if one is looking for organic choices, the sweatshirt fleece is great.  The sweatshirt fleece is thicker than jersey knit and super soft against baby's skin.

For the inner layers of my diaper it was easy using a prefold.  Instead of cutting out layers of fabric, simply trim down the diaper to fit inside the AIO.  Then follow the rest of the pattern.  

I also wanted to try out the Babyville Boutique FOE (fold over elastic) so even though I did not know if I liked using it the first time I made diaper covers, it worked out well.  I had to figured out how to pull the elastic tight around the leg opening and the top and bottom, but once one has figured it out it does make a nice looking diaper or diaper cover.  I do no know if these would leak on an older baby.  They do not on my five month old, but the fit is not as close to the leg as I would like.  The best elastic situation is 1/4 inch elastic sewn inside the diaper and then top stitching around the outside of the diaper.  This method fits Charis, Bria, and Dominic perfectly (age almost 2, 5 months, and almost 3). 

At this point one might be wondering if making cloth diapers is really worth it.   I have made over fifty diapers in the last six months.  Even with the hours of sewing and the time it takes to figure out the best fit for one's baby, it is worth it.  Now that I have made diapers four different times I am hooked.  It is way too much fun.  I can customize everything about the diaper to get exactly what I want.  Most of the diapers on sale are either polyester or cost twenty dollars for natural fibers.  Since my kids seem to get rashes looking for cotton has been helpful.  Most cotton diapers on the market are fats or prefold.  Now I can have the fabrics I want and a more expensive type of diaper for way less money.  Maybe I will still want to make diapers long after I have babies using them.  One can spend very little money, but the cost can add up if one wants to use more expensive fabrics.  Print PUL tends to cost more and so does FOE.  I would say this costs a lot less than disposable diapers, and even less than buying one's own stash of diapers.  As far as time in concerned, now that I know what kind of diapers I want to make and how to make them, each diaper takes about thirty minutes or less.  Cloth diapering does take just a little bit more time than throwing away a disposable.  I do not love cleaning up poop from my diapers, but overall, it seems to work for me. (mother of 5 who is home most of the time)


* to add ruffles to a diaper just find a long extra piece of PUL and fold it into ruffles sewing in the middle of the strip of fabric, easy, but pretty.