Homemade cloth diapers

I copied and pasted this post from my blog about baby pottying with Alaina (AKA natural infant hygiene, elimination communication, etc.). Sorry to those of you that read the potty blog for the duplicate post, but I wanted to put my homemade cloth diapers on my main blog, so here it is! They are so easy to make and SOOO cute!


So, I decided I wanted to switch over to cloth diapers full time (or nearly full time) in order to help Alaina stay in tune with when she goes pee and doesn't loose that sensation of needing to go. I figure that since I'm catching about 95% of poops, it really isn't a big deal to use cloth full time (EC is SO much cleaner! Hence it's other name of Natual Infant Hygiene). I only catch about 5% of her pees at this point (although, the past few days, those percentages have been reversed for some reason). The other benefit of cloth for me is that I am better at monitoring and paying attention when she's in cloth. I check more often and I take her more often. I have some cloth diapers that my sister-in-law let me borrow, but they are big and bulky and don't really fit under Alaina's clothes. They're great for at home though. The other problem with them is that the leg holes are too big for Alaina's skinny little legs, so if I miss a poop it will just leak out the sides. Not my favorite. I guess I could sew some elastic into the legs of them, but I haven't asked my sis-in-law if it's okay with her for me to alter her diapers. So, I decided to try making my own. I also thought that if I made my own, I could make them in a way where I could see when she was wet by making them just the right thickness to hold one pee and making them out of colored cloth that would be darker when wet. It's been working out famously! I've toyed with the pattern until I have something that I really like. I like the fit and best of all I use old t-shirts so they cost virtually nothing to make! Any of you that know me well know how much I love cheap and free! I just buy some elastic and some velcro and I use whatever old shirts I have (there are always plenty of those around out of Brice's work clothes pile). They are so cute! So here's my tutorial:

Here are your basic materials: some velcro, elastic, a template, and an old t-shirt or two (depending on the size).Here's a close up of my template. If you click on it, you'll be able to read the numbers. Alaina is 8 1/2 months old and she weighs about 14 or 15 pounds. Also, my template is lacking a seam allowance (I always forget that part) so I have to make sure to add a bit as I trace it onto the t-shirt. Place the template over the part of the shirt with the logo or picture you want on the bum.

Cut through both layers of t-shirt.

Fold it in half to make sure it's even.

Use the part you've already cut out to trace the shape onto another t-shirt (or another part of the same one if it's big enough) for the inner layers.

Cut that out (through both layers) so you have four diaper-shaped t-shirt cutouts.

Use the scraps to cut out 6-8 rectangles of t-shirt to use for soakers. I made mine about 4 inches by 8 inches.

Split them in half so you sew 3 or 4 to one inner diaper layer and 3 or 4 to the other inner diaper layer (it's much easier on my sewing machine than sewing through all 9 layers!)

I usually just sew around the edge of the soakers, but some of my other diapers have bunched a bit in the laundry so I thought I'd try sewing down the middle and across the width in two spots.

Then sew a fuzzy strip of the velcro to the front of the outermost layer of the diaper (I forgot to do this at the right time when I made this diaper, but it's a lot easier if you do it before this piece is sewn to anything else.). Make sure you leave enough room for your seam allowance (I should have left a little more room on this one).

Then lay your layers with an inner first, then the piece with the side you want to show on the bum facing up, then the piece that will be against the baby's bottom (face-down if there you have a side you want facing out), then the other inner layer in top. It doesn't matter which way the soakers are facing, but I face the bottom one down and the top one up so the soakers will be the innermost layers.

Start at the front flared out edge and sew around the edge of the diaper (flared bottom edge to leg to tab to back to other tab to other leg) to the other flared out edge (leave the bottom length un-sewn so you can turn it right side out), adding in elastic along the legs and back at you go. I think the back elastic piece is optional as you will have the velcro to adjust the size as well. I just sew a little piece of elastic across the back and longer ones for the leg pieces, cutting them off at the right length as I am sewing. I run the elastic from where the tabs end and the bum begins down to about where the soakers end. So I guess I just start and end at the level of the soakers maybe a little beyond in each direction. I've just been sewing right into the elastic as I sew my seam, stretching the elastic to capacity as I go.

Turn it right side out

and top stitch around the whole diaper, tucking the opening along the bottom under and sewing it closed. (Here's where I realized I'd forgotten the velcro on the front. Oops!) Then sew the hook side of the velcro to the tabs with a fuzzy square next to it so you can close the tabs when you wash the diaper (that way it won't catch and snag on everything else in the laundry)

And you're done! Pretty simple and SO CUTE!

Here are some others I've made:


The Peanut one:

And the Volcom one (my favorite):

I love the fit. They're so little and snug! If you're familiar with gDiapers, I wanted a fit like that. I think I got it! I've made a few others as well, but I don't have pictures of them. I didn't like the style or fit quite as much as I do on these ones. Also, the peanut one has exposed velcro tabs and I like them better backed by fabric. The black fabric also isn't quite as good for seeing when she's wet. Oh, the other change I would make is that I would trim down the flares that go at her tummy. There is more than necessary for wrapping around her waist at this point. Especially since the tabs come so far around the front. Well, that's it! If any of you decide to give it a try, I'd love to see pictures and hear about any improvements you come up with. I'm also not the greatest seamstress, so if you know a better way to sew this (particularly the elastic) please let me know!

Brice's sheds

I guess this could also be part of the summer, but it certainly deserves its own post. Brice started up a business this summer (licensed and everything) building sheds. I think I may have posted about the first one he built. The monster one that I helped him with? Does it ring a bell? I'll check. Hang on.... Hmm. I guess not. Anyway. This is the first one Brice built:

Well, technically, he built this little one before the monster shed and put it in the driveway with a for sale sign on it: But the big one was the first one he was hired to build. It was enormous! It's beautiful, isn't it? We made it a family affair and the homeowners were nice enough to watch the kids most of the time so I could help. It took AAAAALLL day long! I gained a lot of appreciation for what Brice does for a living. I also realized how much this job lends to injury. He's still accident prone, just not as much as I always thought he was. The other amazing thing is that he calculated the material perfectly. The only thing he ran out of was roofing nails and he had nothing (and I mean nothing) leftover. It also meant there was no room for mistakes and he didn't make any. I was impressed!

Poor Ryker. One of the first things that happened the day we built this shed was that I was carrying a piece of plywood when suddenly the wind kicked up and started twisting it out of my hands. I quickly had to put it down so it wouldn't rip my arms off. Unfortunately, I put it down right on Ryker's leg. I scraped his leg and foot up pretty good and we were worried he might have some internal damage, but he was walking on it after an hour or so. Poor little guy.

After our California trip, Brice had several jobs right in a row.Another monster one.
The monster ones have a HUGE loft inside. This is the son of the homeowner who is over 6 feet tall! These two monster sheds are both 10'x14' and they are 14' tall. Now you know why we call them monster sheds.

Here's an average sized one.
And another average sized one.


And a little one that I was able to help with.
He also built another medium sized one this past weekend (with windows! It looks great!) and another little one yesterday. I haven't seen that one but my sister took pictures. Her husband has been helping Brice on some of the sheds. I'll have to post pictures of the last two when I get them on the computer. Or, I could just get the ones I have now...This shed was quite the project! The boys (Brice and Toby) did a bunch of concrete work to create pillars for the beams to sit on and a concrete pad for the ramp to attach to and they built the ramp and made a skirt to cover the pillars and on and on! It turned out really nice, don't you think?

I'm so proud of my husband! He can make amazing things with his hands and I love watching him build these sheds. They turn out so professional! I'm also proud of him for starting up an official business. It's exciting and he loves owning his own business. He hopes it can be something he can do for years to come (even after he's an engineer) and that his teenagers can help him with. We'll see just how far it will go! Good work, Brice!

Random--Last summer post

This post is mostly going to be pictures. I take LOTS of pictures of my kids and here are some of my favorites from this summer.

The kids have been so fun to watch grow this summer. I am amazed at how much they have bonded and grown to love each other lately. Raelin and Ryker play so well together and they are such good buddies. They both love Alaina and love to help with her and play with her. Alaina is just learning that they are fun to "play" with and she follows them around wherever they go.

Raelin's shirt is fitting for her pose, but I don't think she did it on purpose. She was just hamming it up for the camera.

Our sunflowers were pretty amazing this year. They were enormous!

Brice started off playing with Alaina, but anytime Brice is on the floor (which is often to play with all his kiddos--he's such a good daddy), Zuma thinks she should have all the attention. Jealous box!

I was playing with Ryker's hair and then he looked at it. His eyes went way crossed and I said, "Oh, Ryker, you have to let me get a picture so you can see what you look like!"

What is it with kids and dog water? I can't tell you how many pictures I have of Ryker drinking out of the dog bowl when he was little. At least Alaina tried to clean it up (with her bum and a towel).

I could take pictures of this baby all day. Okay, I'll admit it; sometimes I do.

She loves to chew on Otter Pops when she's teething.

But by the end, her little cheeks are all red from the edges of the wrapper rubbing on her face.

One day, Brice set the kids up on the porch with some tomatoes and tomatillos from the garden along with a few other ingredients and let them make their own salsa. They had a blast! I love how the pictures show their personalities so well; Ryker's cutting board is a jumbled mess of veggies while Raelin's is neat and organized.

It's been fun to watch what Alaina chooses to play with. She loves trucks and cars and tractors and she also loves stuffed animals and plastic animals. Actually, whenever she sees a real animal she squeals with delight and giggles whenever they get close to her. I love it! And of course, everything goes in the mouth. The dogs don't seem to mind slobbery tails or ears...

One day I found the kids playing camping. The little sneaks managed to get a hold of some real marshmallows and they were upstairs (another no-no for food!) roasting them on pens over their paper fire. I just couldn't scold them; it was too cute and clever!

Ryker loves to help in the kitchen. He calls it his special day whenever he gets a chance to help. One day, Brice let him (at least I think Brice let him--he may have done it of his own initiative...) make pancakes. He was so happy!

For some reason I don't have many pictures of us camping this year. But I promise we went a bunch of times. I think Zuma was hoping Ryker was going to share. Little beggar.

Well, that's about it. It was a busy, crazy, whirlwind of a summer and we had a great time!