How To Make Cloth Diapers

[WetGoodnites4]

I want to make my own cloth diapers but i don't know a lot about it. does anyone have any measurements or anything?

[babyvr6]

[two cents]You'll probably end up spending more in the creation than you would have just buying some.[/two cents]

[Loveable_guy]

You can get the fleece fabric at Wal-mart and this site is a good spot for information. I normally cut up an old pair of BVD's to use a pattern http://www.diapersewing.com/

Yes it may be more expensive at first but in the long run the cost will be considerable cheaper than disposables products. Besides a bulky cloth diaper with vinyl pants is more realistic if you are looking for the AB look.

[Bettypooh]

If you're looking for a square pin-on style, keep an eye out on Ebay for "granitesmith". They sometimes sell "Birsdseye Diaper Squares" by the dozen cheap. I use two of these and add a terrycloth center panel between them- an old towel provides the terrycloth which is quite absorbent and simple machine stitching does the rest. For a couple $$$ I get as good a diaper than you can buy for ten times that

Bettypooh

[babykeiff]

Rather than cut up expensive terry cloth or diaper cloth, why not start with some news paper and make a pattern from your own body, trim it to shape, and using sticky tape, fit it so it is custom to your body. Then, you have the ideal pattern to cut and sew.

[diaperpt]

I've bought diaper flannel from Walmart. I think I used three yards folded into three - resulting in a diaper three layers thick, one yard by whatever width the material came in. I sewed three sides, turned it inside out, folded in the 4th side and sewed that. It was pretty easy and a LOT cheaper than buying.

As for dimensions for you, you can do a search online. Somewhere (sorry, I don't remember where) I found how to measure for a rectangular diaper. For other styles, you may find someone around willing to give you a pattern, but babykeiff's idea sounds pretty solid.

[Diaper Lightning]

I am probably gonna be in the same boat. Need to spend not alot of $, bad thing is we dont own a sewing machine and cant afford one right now I am not goin needle and thread by hand, no way- For now I have one of my older throw fleece blankets $3 on sale, and did a tri fold. Laid it flat and hopped on it. brought it up between my legs and used 4 2" safety pins. It is a little long, but I just use it at night to get a good feel and boy does cloth feel good. I am not all the way for cloth I really like my crinkly disposables. Maybe if I get some vinyl pants I will get a better feel.

[Scoobie]

I've sown many cloth diapers through the years. I found out buying them from Adult Cloth Diaper Company is just as cheap and takes less time. But, if you want some cute nursery print diapers then buying (flannel material) can be fun.

I have sewn both flat diapers and fitted diapers, flat ones are much easier then sewing an hour glass shaped diaper. I usually buy 2 yards of flannel along with a soaker material, I use polyfill or sometimes fusible fleece for the middle (soaker). The polyfill you can find in a package sold most of the time in 1 yard bags. If you use flannel for a soaker over the years you will find that little balls of material will accumulate inside your diaper a good polyfil will not do that. Also when sewing the diaper i keep one end open so the little balls of material won't stay inside the diaper.

For measuring yourself there are a few ways to do it. You can use a attends diaper or whatever kind of throw away diaper u might have used, maybe use an old towel and make a pattern. I always make sure that i add a few inches when cutting the material that will leave room for doubling your sides so they don't fray, plus a little bigger will never hurt. If you make them to small you won't be able to even use them.

Plus i wouldn't use fleece material for sewing it stretches to much i would use flannel it last a long time. For me 3 layers is a good not to to thick and not to less.. Remember using a middle soaker will add to the bulkiness and will probably hold you over through the night.

Last but not least i sew them inside out leaving 1 end open so you can turn them right side in when done. Any ????'s i will reply good luck and have fun sewing your new diaper.

[Angela Bauer]

Way back when I was a child my Mom, who also is urinary incontinent, would take veteran Curity gauze 21x40" flat diapers and sew them together to make the 40x40" she needed. Since Granny and Aunt Betsy also needed night diapers, Granny had bought an industrial multi-needle over-lock machine. That did a much better job connecting gauze, which otherwise is a very difficult fabric to sew. These days there is a home version of the over-lock called "sergers" sold by all the larger home sewing centers. The downside to sergers is they do require some formal training and experience. Getting the various settings correct for Birdseye or gauze is a chore. Serging the edges of cotton flannel is a lot easier. Expect to pay over USA $1,000 for a serger.

Nearly all factory made cloth diapers use over-lock on the edges to keep them from fraying.

For many years my youngest sister, Missy, custom made adult gauze pre-folds in her size, which was between DPF Baby Heaven sizes. Fortunately I was a perfect fit in the smaller DPF size.

Missy strongly suggest using an inexpensive cloth fabric instead of paper to experiment with the fit. The paper is not flexible enough. Flannel would work and is not overly expensive, but muslin works better and usually costs less.

The tricky part is even flannel is easier to cut and sew before it has been washed while it still has its factory applied sizing. Practically it is not possible to cut and sew Birdseye or gauze without the sizing, which will be washed out later. All cotton fabric shrinks when washed, so allow for shrinkage when making your pattern. Figure about 10% in all directions for flannel. Perhaps 15% for Birdseye and gauze.

Gerber and before them Kendall Mills use a non-woven synthetic spong called Kodafil, which is not sold at retail. Fortunately as previous mentioned in a post most fabric shops sell a similar non-woven that works as well.

To form the pocket for the soaker fill a standard zig-zag stitch is fine and over-lock no advantage. It is around the outside of the cloth diaper over-lock is necessary.

Flannel is easy to buy and can be cut in shapes like contour diapers. It is nearly impossible to cut and sew Birdseye or gauze into contour diaper shapes. Many have tried without success. Seldom will local fabric stores sell Birdseye or diaper style gauze. The kinds of gauze used in clothing is far more open so it is not an effective diaper fabric.

Missy also believes that considering the high quality and fair pricing at ACD and similar firms the only reason to make your own flannel diapers is to get a contour fit you like or because you enjoy sewing diapers.

Oh, the good news is a serger makes sewing almost all other special AB clothing much easier and effective.

[Bettypooh]

I've sewn many cloth diapers through the years. I found out buying them from Adult Cloth Diaper Company is just as cheap and takes less time.

Time? Now that I've done a few, it's 10-15 minutes per diaper including putting the machine away when I'm done, not bad at all

Last but not least i sew them inside out leaving 1 end open so you can turn them right side in when done. Any ????'s i will reply good luck and have fun sewing your new diaper.

That's what I do- I leave about 4" (100mm) unsewn, take a pencil eraser at the far corner, push it through the hole to get started, then pull the rest through. After that I tuck the edges back inside and finish sewing it closed using a straight stitch, closely spaced. I keep going for one more time around the diaper so the tucked-in edge stays in place. For a commercial operation an overlock or serger machine saves this step but for diapers and many other finished-edge garments this trick produces equal results if you sew carefully

I am probably gonna be in the same boat. Need to spend not alot of $, bad thing is we dont own a sewing machine and cant afford one right now

I picked up my machine on Craigslist for $80 because I wanted an easy-to-use ziz-zag. You can sew diapers with a simple straight stitch machine and two of those were listed for $20 or less. I've even seen a few of those on Freecycle I mentioned my Birdseye source, the terrycloth center soaker can be a $3 towel or in my case towels that I already had but were too worn for their normal use- essentially free.

Lets do the math for 6 diapers: Cheap/ free machine and 12 Birdseye squares including shipping: $40. Used toweling makes for free center soaker panels. Divide that all by the 6 diapers you end up with: $6.66 per diaper. Now how can you not afford to give this a try when you can easily spend that much for a single pair of any kind of underwear?

Like anything else home-made the end results and costs vary but with a little patience you can have as good a diaper as you can buy(actually even better because it's exactly what you want it to be; custom made for you!) for a lot less than commercial sellers charge even taking into account your start-up costs. They have to pay employees(or themselves)plus office materials/machines plus selling changes plus income taxes on each diaper they sell and you don't! I've got some Scottish blood in me which makes it hard for me to part with any money if I can avoid it and it keeps me thinking about ways to get around spending good money when I don't have to(now where's a "kilt" emoticon when I need one?)

My first six diapers saw me break even money-wise compared to what similar ones sell for and I've got a $200 sewing machine left over out of the deal- or if you consider the machine cost and my time learning to sew and make these, I got six custom made diapers essentially for the same price as I could buy them anywhere and the next batch I make will be even cheaper When ACD or anyone else starts selling similar diapers for this cheap including shipping then I'll accept that you can't make your own diapers any cheaper. Until then that old argument holds about as much water as an old thin daytime generic disposable

Bettypooh

[diaperpt]

I want to make my own cloth diapers but i don't know a lot about it. does anyone have any measurements or anything?

This is from the llmedico.com site http://www.llmedico....efolded-diaper/ I'm not necessarily recommending the site (although I've ordered plastic pants here and been very happy). You can use the suggestion for determining size to get an idea of a flat pre-fold. If you want something fancier, you still may be able to track someone down to get a pattern or follow the above suggestions for making your own pattern.

Available Sizes and Prices:

Size Width x Length in inches Width x Length in cm Price

Small 20" x 32" 50.8 cm x 81.3 cm $33.95

Medium 27" x 35" 68.6 cm x 88.9 cm $36.95

Large 35" x 42" 88.9 cm x 106.7 cm $40.95

Note:Shrinkage of 1/2" in width and 2" in length may occur after washing (in accordance with the handling instructions).Determining which size fits you:

1.First, measure your waist. Add 12" (30.5 cm) to this measurement. Divide this number (waist size + 12) by 2. This is the minimum width you would need (the width is first number in the dimensions above). Choose the size with the next highest width.2.Second, measure the length (through the crotch) from belt to belt. Add 3" (7.6 cm) to this measurement. This is the minimum length you would need. Choose the size with the next highest lengthFor example: Your waist is 40" and the measurement from belt to belt (through the crotch) is 30". Width: (40+12) / 2 = 26"

Length: 30+3 = 33"

Therefore, you would need a minimum of a Medium Flat Prefolded cloth diaper.

[Floaty_Boy]

Baby Receiving Blankets made from 100% cotton flannel are available at Target, Wal-Mart or K-Mart in sizes like 30"x30", 36"x36", and 40"x40". They edges are already sewn so they won't fray and they come in a variety of prints (nursery and otherwise). A pack of three (or four for smaller sizes) will run you around $10-$20 US.

I take a 40"x40", line the center with two 30"x30"s folded into thirds, and the cover it with another 40"x40". I fold it in a butterfly fold (look online for diaper-folding tips), fold the front down about 4"-5" or so (for fit and extra absorbency up front) and pin away. Makes for good, cheap, cloth diapers with nice prints and you can adjust the thickness by adding or taking away the liners.

--Floaty