When I became pregnant with my twins last year, I realized I needed to get some inexpensive cloth diapers. Then, I thought, why not make them myself. Though I have a lot of sewing experience, I think making your own diapers doesn’t have to be daunting! I wanted to make a total of 40 diapers.
First, I needed to find a pattern and style of diaper. There are many patterns out there, some are free, some are a few dollars. Here are some of the sites I found helpful:
http://mayna.livejournal.com/198548.html
This site offers all kinds of diaper making supplies: http://www.assuntastore.com/cart.html
This site has kits that INCLUDE everything you need to sew your own diapers! How cool is that! You don’t have to do any of the prep work!
http://www.kaylasclothkits.com/catalog.php?item=1&ref_catid=3
I wanted to make my diapers as inexpensively as possible, so I opted for a free pattern. I found it here at cloth revolution. Their directions were a bit confusing, so I used a combination of some of the other sites to figure things out.
http://themafiatutu.blogspot.com/search/label/Pattern
Once I had figured out the type of diaper I wanted to use and I found a pattern…then I had to decide on my material. Again, since I wanted to spend hardly any money, I went to my local Goodwill store and I found lots of inexpensive flannel sheets. I spent approximately forty dollars on the flannel sheets. I decided this is what I would use to make my diapers!
I also decided that I would make my diapers with four layers, and use a liner. I figured that way they weren’t too thick and would dry quicker. For my liners, I went to my local dollar store and bought wash clothes. They were two for a dollar, so for forty dollars, I got eighty liners. Each diaper change, I use two liners.
I had to decide between Velcro or snaps. I had never made diapers before, so I decided not to make the investment of buying a snap press. Though I have been told this is the best one to get:
http://www.kamsnaps.com/Snap-Press-amp-Dies/Snap-Press-Dies-not-included-Free-US-Shipping-p112.html
So next, I needed elastic and Velcro. The patterns tell you how much Velcro and elastic you will need. I went online to do some price comparisons. I figured out that I could get the elastic cheaper by going to my local sewing shop with a 50% off coupon. The Velcro I found here:
http://www.itapestore.com/velcroand174brandsew-onwhiteloop1x1yard.aspx
http://www.itapestore.com/search.aspx?find=VELCRO+ONE-WRAP+Roll+-+White+1%22+X+25+yds
For the Velcro, you need a lot more of the loop than you do the hook, so buying it separate is best. If I made the diapers again, I would not use this type of Velcro because it started to curl. I think instead I would buy it from another site. For the Velcro, I spent about thirty dollars. For the elastic, I spent around fifteen.
I cut out all the diapers first. Since I was making forty diapers and they each had four layers, that was a lot of cutting! Then I was ready to get started on the sewing. The first diaper took me a long time. I got confused and had to redo some things, but I looked at the different sites and figured things out. I loved how it looked and I was quite proud of myself. I did the diapers in an assembly line routine…first all the edge sewing, then all the elastic, then all the inside out flipping, then the closing sewing, then the Velcro. It probably took me about a week to make forty diapers!
All in all, it cost me approximately $125 for forty diapers…that’s about $3 per diaper. They aren’t perfect..but they work and I did it myself!
I would be more than happy to answer any questions you had about making your own cloth diapers. It really was a fun experience!!
