Hello long lost sewing blog! I'm so sorry I've neglected you so much, but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to do any personal sewing for a very long time. But I'm back now and have something fun to share!
I had always had a thought in the back of my mind that we'd probably cloth diaper eventually, but that seemed like it'd be a long way out, and I was content to use disposables. However, fiances got in the way and it was getting increasingly hard to buy diapers for my little Angel Cakes. But because of the money issue we couldn't afford to buy a bunch of cloth diapers either.
Then I heard about a new company getting started called
Babyville Boutique. Not only do they sell cloth diaper patterns for those of us who like to sew, but they also sell all of the supplies you could possibly need. My mom was wonderful and kind enough to buy me all the supplies I needed to be able to make my very own diaper covers! All we had to do was buy the pre-folds to go inside them.
Here they are! My first 5 home made diaper covers. The bright pink at the center top was the first one I made, and the cupcakes on the bottom left was the last one I made.
The diaper covers are made out of PUL, (I can't remember what that stands for). Basically it's a waterproof breathable fabric. The edging is FOE, or fold over elastic. That stuff is awesome! With it I was able to finish the edges and gather the legs all in one shot. The first cover I made is the most basic kind, after trying it on for size, I was able to see that it fit just fine without any extra adjustments. However, I thought I could see just a tiny bit of the diaper under the leg opening so I decided to add leg gussets to all of the rest of the covers for extra coverage.
There's my Angel Cakes the very first time she ever wore a cloth diaper! I'm afraid the weather has still been too cold to let her go without pants, so I haven't been able to get pictures of her wearing the rest of the covers.
Now for my review of the pattern itself. Overall it's a wonderful pattern and I'm very pleased with the results. It's very easy to put together, and by the time I got to cover #5 I was able to completely finish it in less than 2 hours, (including cutting out time). We've only had one leak since starting a month ago, and it wasn't the cover's fault, it was completely ours! Last night was her first time to wear cloth all night, and the cover held 2 diapers no problem, plus there were no leaks this morning!
The book comes with patterns sizes starting at newborn and going all the way up to large. I made the medium size, which is 15 to 30lbs. It has directions for just about any style of diaper cover you could imagine, plus all-in-one diapers, and soakers. The diapers can be made with Velcro closers, (like I did) or snaps.
My only complaint about the pattern is, in fact, the Velcro closers! We discovered very quickly that the diaper needs to be placed high in the front of the cover, otherwise the edging would fold over the diaper and expose the rough edge of the Velcro to my baby's delicate tummy. Ouch! It took almost a week for her skin to heal once we got the diapers in correctly each time. Also, the Velcro is very hard on the FOE. Even though I make sure to fold over the laundry tab everytime I take the cover off, little corners still come undone and manage to snag the FOE. And boy does it damage it bad!
So yeah, while the Velcro offers more adjustability than snaps, and is cheaper up front, I think I would prefer the snaps for long term use. When I make covers for our new little one arriving this June, I think I will try the snaps out.
So would I recommend the pattern to others? A big YES!
The skirt went together very easily, (for the most part) and very quickly. The only problem I had with it was my fault really. I used a khaki twill fabric for it, not one of the recommended types, and it was too thick. Not too thick that I wasn't able to make it work, just too thick to allow the flounce points to lay smoothly. I actually resewed each point and was able to get them to lay better, but not still not ideal.
The major change I made to the skirt was to substitute the yoke and drawstring for a knit maternity band. The knit was a little thinner than I would have liked, so I doubled it to make sure that it would be strong enough to hold up the skirt.
This skirt is very comfortable, and I really like that it's nice enough to wear for church, but also causal enough for everyday use. And I do believe it's going to be getting a lot of use in the next 3 months. :-)
