Fabric Shopping

[le Hollandais]

I had the opportunity to go fabric shopping this morning. At JoAnn's I priced 100% cotton terrycloth. I decided at about $11.00 per yard it was too expensive. My code word for such things is shop rags which I'm always in need of anyhow. I decided a better course of action might be to scope out the thrift stores for bath towels.

When I find something acceptable, I'll cut it into soaker panels and sew them into my diapers of choice.

[BabyJune]

On 6/6/2022 at 2:33 PM, le Hollandais said:

I had the opportunity to go fabric shopping this morning. At JoAnn's I priced 100% cotton terrycloth. I decided at about $11.00 per yard it was too expensive. My code word for such things is shop rags which I'm always in need of anyhow. I decided a better course of action might be to scope out the thrift stores for bath towels.

When I find something acceptable, I'll cut it into soaker panels and sew them into my diapers of choice.

I buy online from fabric.com. Huge selection of fabrics and notions of all kinds and they mail it to your house! They sell diaper flannel as well as terry cloth, which I use as a sewn-in booster. They also have a large selection of PUL to make waterproof pants--plain colors and designs. For soaker panels, I buy Zorb3 from wazoodle.com. They also have a great line of diapering fabrics--including diaper flannel and PUL (polyurethane laminate).

[le Hollandais]

What's the difference between diaper flannel and the cotton flannel I buy for shop rags and cleaning patches?

Prices for flannel aren't bad. But for terry cloth, no difference from JoAnn's Fabrics.

I've bought Zorb before. And that stuff in the bomb!

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by le Hollandais
added information

[rusty pins]

I remember when I could go into the fabric store, even JoAnn fabrics and by diaper cloth, diamond quilted actual diaper material just for making diapers.  No more.

[le Hollandais]

Yeah I had the same experience.

 

[ValentinesStuff]

9 hours ago, le Hollandais said:

What's the difference between diaper flannel and the cotton flannel I buy for shop rags and cleaning patches?

Prices for flannel aren't bad. But for terry cloth, no difference from JoAnn's Fabrics.

I've bought Zorb before. And that stuff in the bomb!

 

Diaper flannel is narrower than regular flannel.

[square_duck]

Flannel isn't really a good material for diapers. If you have flannel sheets or wear flannel pj's or shirts, look in the lint collector next time you do the wash. See all that lint that is the same color as your pj' or sheets or shirt???? Thats what flannel does....it wears out real quick! Almost like it is slowly disintegrating!! 

If you want to make diapers, stick with birdseye, or gauze or twill. These are all true diaper quality materials, that hold up wash after wash, and are generally more durable than flannel.

My personal preference, were I to try sewing my own diapers, would be twill fabric. It is as soft as gauze, but durable as birdseye. All changing times cloth diapers are twill.... and they are wonderful!!??

[le Hollandais]

Good replies, all. And thanks. As it turns out, I have a good supply of diaper flannel which I use for cleaning patches. I think I'll stay away from that for diapers.

[Ferix]

When I started building cloth diapers, I would use repurposed bath towels and flannel sheets for construction to learn how to build the diapers. I swapped to birdseye and more expensive flat cotton weaves once I understood how to make the diapers.

 

Flannel is okay to use but I don't like that prints don't hold up on them and depending on the quality, they can have lots of pilling. I have no problem with how long flannel lasts as it lasts longer than the birdseye fabric used on the same diaper. It's all about the thickness and the strength of the weave that lends to how long the fabric will last. Stick to solid colors or white if you want to use flannel or skip it all together if you have pilling problems.

 

Joann's has coupons all the time and you can get away with purchasing terry cloth for cheaper with the right coupons, though $10.99 isn't terrible compared to other vendors. I'll purchase terry cloth from Joann's when it isn't available at fabricdirect.com. My typical terrycloth purchase is 50 yard bolts for $6.99 per yard.

[le Hollandais]

9 hours ago, Ferix said:

 I'll purchase terry cloth from Joann's when it isn't available at fabricdirect.com. My typical terrycloth purchase is 50 yard bolts for $6.99 per yard.

Wow, 50 yd bolts! You're really into this. 

I've found that Flour Sack towels, which are 100% cotton make pretty decent diapers. I'll stick with those because they work for me. I think a terrycloth soaker sewn in, plus a removeable Zorb insert would make a pretty decent diaper. I've already been using Zorb for a couple years now. 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

This is how The BabyDoll diaper is made with access to the materials A 1/2 will go up to 12 hours and a Full, both heavyweight can go up to 24 hours quite often

The 4 DSQ baby diapers could also be used to make a rectangle if you do not mind using two pins. ONe could almost consdier this,

since the original was made in 1951, the precurse to the contour or a prto-contourn

[Ferix]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:21 PM, le Hollandais said:

Wow, 50 yd bolts! You're really into this. 

I've found that Flour Sack towels, which are 100% cotton make pretty decent diapers. I'll stick with those because they work for me. I think a terrycloth soaker sewn in, plus a removeable Zorb insert would make a pretty decent diaper. I've already been using Zorb for a couple years now. 

Yeah, I've made more than a hundred cloth diapers as it's what I do for a living.

 

Good call on making the zorb removable. I find that they are pretty dense in material and having it sewn into a cloth diaper that may already have several layers of fabric would make it difficult to rinse and wash out any urine.

 

I've done a bit of work with zorb, 3 different types (1, 2, and 3), and I'm not a huge fan of it as it is at least double the cost depending on which kind you get compared to terry cloth. I was also surprised to find that the zorb fabric itself is often made of multiple layers of fabrics with different weaves, which is basically the same as if I took a layer of terry cloth and sandwiched it between two flat weave fabrics like birdseye and the results are just as absorbent. I consider zorb not very cost effective but it can be a time saver depending on your use.

 

It seems like you found a good system that works for you and you should be proud of what you make. It's quite rewarding making your own things and experimenting around with different materials (and making mistakes) is just a part of the process.