I didn't start making all my diapers from the beginning. My mother found a stack at a garage sale which started my journey of finding better materials for cheaper.
The plastic Gerber covers she bought were bad quality. Both the covers and the pre-fitted diapers needed their velcro changed and as a parent of a colicky baby, I didn't want to be resewing velcro all the time. So the next thing I tried was the prefold diapers that my mom had saved of mine. I never used pins; Mom got me some Di-D-Klips that you can find here, but I think they aren't made anymore.
But, my hubby could not get his thick fingers to open them, so we went to the Snappis which you can find on ebay (cheapest place I found them). But these do tear into the cloth of the diaper (store bought birdseye cotton) and after about a year I was having to do some sewing repair on them and about 6 months later they end up in the rag pile.
The plastic covers leaked no matter what I did. So I looked for some alternatives and the best seemed to be wool, but they were soooo expensive.
So, my baby is now 2 and I have just made all my own stuff. All you need is minimal sewing skill (I only sew for utility purposes because nothing I sew looks great because I am not willing to spend the time), t- shirts or old flannel shirts, wool sweaters and velcro.
I like this way because it is basically free, it uses materials that are normally going to clog up
landfills anyway and they are quick to make. If I don't like one, I don't feel bad about throwing it away and I can always find more to replace my old ones that bite the dust. The t-shirt material seems to last much longer than the store bought prefolds (I did buy some heavy diaper service prefolds, but they don't give as nicely as the t-shirts, and I like making the diapers custom fit which isn't very easy with heavy cloth)
If you are a little unsure of how to fold a cloth diaper, The Diaper Hyena site is great at showing you how to fold a diaper and gives you many folding options.
Instructions on How to Make Cloth Diaper Essentials for Virtually Free
Prefold Diaper
Adjustable Prefold Diaper
Diaper Liner
Velcro Fastener
Diaper Wipes
Wool Sweater Diaper Cover
Wool Longies
The plastic Gerber covers she bought were bad quality. Both the covers and the pre-fitted diapers needed their velcro changed and as a parent of a colicky baby, I didn't want to be resewing velcro all the time. So the next thing I tried was the prefold diapers that my mom had saved of mine. I never used pins; Mom got me some Di-D-Klips that you can find here, but I think they aren't made anymore.
But, my hubby could not get his thick fingers to open them, so we went to the Snappis which you can find on ebay (cheapest place I found them). But these do tear into the cloth of the diaper (store bought birdseye cotton) and after about a year I was having to do some sewing repair on them and about 6 months later they end up in the rag pile.
The plastic covers leaked no matter what I did. So I looked for some alternatives and the best seemed to be wool, but they were soooo expensive.
So, my baby is now 2 and I have just made all my own stuff. All you need is minimal sewing skill (I only sew for utility purposes because nothing I sew looks great because I am not willing to spend the time), t- shirts or old flannel shirts, wool sweaters and velcro.
I like this way because it is basically free, it uses materials that are normally going to clog up
landfills anyway and they are quick to make. If I don't like one, I don't feel bad about throwing it away and I can always find more to replace my old ones that bite the dust. The t-shirt material seems to last much longer than the store bought prefolds (I did buy some heavy diaper service prefolds, but they don't give as nicely as the t-shirts, and I like making the diapers custom fit which isn't very easy with heavy cloth)
If you are a little unsure of how to fold a cloth diaper, The Diaper Hyena site is great at showing you how to fold a diaper and gives you many folding options.
Instructions on How to Make Cloth Diaper Essentials for Virtually Free
Prefold Diaper
Adjustable Prefold Diaper
Diaper Liner
Velcro Fastener
Diaper Wipes
Wool Sweater Diaper Cover
Wool Longies
1 comment:
All your ideas are wonderful, Thanks so much for sharing them!
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