How to Sew Your Own Cloth Diapers

Using cloth diapers is frugal, even if you have to invest some money initially on the diapers. So, making your own is *more* frugal, right?  But, as long as you are making your own, why not take frugal to the one hundreth power and make them from recycled fabrics??

Following is a tutorial on how to do just that.

First, make a pattern. I did this by tracing around a diaper I had and liked. I used a paper grocery sack.

Next, place your pattern on a good quality sweatshirt (more on selecting fabrics later), and draw around it with a pen or marker. :-)

When you are done, it should look like this:

Then, if you like you can recruit a sweet child to help you cut it out. Only do this if you are not a perfectionist. ;-)


You will need to cut out two pieces. I almost never do this with the same fabric. I usually use a sweatshirt or fleece for one side, and a t-shirt or flannel for the other side. I like to have one thicker layer, and one thinner layer. It seems to work out just right that way - not too thick and bulky; not too thin and flimsy. Then I make the softest layer the inside, and the prettiest layer the outside.
You will also need some soaker layers for the middle. If you have flatfold or prefold diapers you have used in the past and dont need anymore, the make great soker layers. That is what I have been using lately.  If you dont, I know people who have used terry cloth from towels, which also seems to be a good option.
You can make it as thick or thin as you like. I have discovered that my favorite is 6 layers of flatfold diaper. This is not super thick, but I prefer it that way, and then just change the baby more frequently.  If I need more absorbancy for night time or a long car ride or something, I can always add a "doubler", which is basically just another rectangular layer that you can lay inside the diaper. I have SO many, that I don't make any more, but some people make an extra doubler to match each diaper.  If you do that, just layer a few rectangles of cloth and stitch the edges together with a zig-zag stitch.
Okay, so once you have your two layers cut and your soaker layers too, it should look like this:


Now you sew the soaker layers to the WRONG side of one of your pieces. It doesnt matter too much whether you sew them to the inside or outside. Use a straight stitch for this.

Next is elastic.  I use a pen to mark on the WRONG side of the material a little spot from where to where I want the elastic to go. I put elastic around the legs, and along the  front and back, but if you prefer to only do it along the legs, that is okay too. And, actually, you could get by without any elastic at all, if you have a good cover. Anyway, here is a pic of the markings, so you can get an idea of where to where I put elastic:

But I like elastic. I have used regular elastic, as well as clear plastic elastic - which is supposed to hold up better. It is very affordable, so I suppose it is the best choice, since your diapers will probably be undergoing washings in hot water every other day or so. But on the diaper in this pic, I was using traditional elastic. I don't cut it before putting it on. I just start sewing and cut it when I'm through. Use a zig-zag stitch and S-T-R-E-T-C-H the elastic onto the material as you sew, so when you are done sewing, the material will pucker. This is how the one layer will look after the soaker is sewn in and the elastic is applied:

Now all you have to do is sew the two layers together!
It is a good idea to pin them together first, and then use a nice wide zig-zag stitch, adjusted if possible to have the stitches close together.

That's it!
Wasn't that easy??

On this particular diaper, I used micro-fleece for both layers, so the inside looks like this:

Now the only thing left is deciding how to fasten the diaper onto your baby.
You can leave it as is and just lay it into a diaper cover.
You could use pins.
You could put velcro on it, but if you read my cloth diaper reviews, you will know I don't like velcro on diapers. ;-)
Another option is to use a snappi, as in the picture below. They work kinda like the fasteners of a Ace bandage, and are only about #3 to buy. You only need one and they last a long, long time. :)

OR, if you (or someone you know) has a snap press, you can put snaps on them - which is my favorite!
Here is a picture of the snap press:

And here is a picture of my sister-in-law, who owns it and is kind enough to let me use it, applying snaps to the diaper:

Here is a picture of my toddler in a larger diaper I made him for night time, so you can see how it fits. I used two rows of snaps for his diaper:


And another one - fleece on the inside and cotton knit on the outside, and then how it fits on my five month old:





Idn't that just the cutest thing ya ever did see?? :-D

CHOOSING FABRIC FOR YOUR DIAPERS
Okay, now a bit about choosing fabrics.  You could use about anything, but some things work better than others.

My absolute favorites are cotton knits and fleeces. They are just so soft and nice to the touch! 100% cotton is the most absorbant, and fleece of course is 100% polyester, which is NOT absorbant, but the nice thing about fleece is that it feels dry to the touch, so your baby feels dry as well! The inner soaker layers will soak up the wetness, and the outer layer will remain feeling dry.  Flannel is also a nice choice for softness, as long as it is thick enough to be durable.

So... I look for sweatshirts at thrift shops that are high end brand names. Not like Hanes Her Way, but more like Eddie Bauer. They are so nice and thick and soft, generally.  And *nice* quality t-shirts as well, thicker fabric and not too worn. I also look at dresses for knit fabric. I recently found two very large plus size mumus that looked like they had never been worn and were of very pretty good quality knit fabrics. They will make a LOT of diapers!! Micro-fleece is good too, super soft - and a lot of sleepwear is made of it, so that's a good place to look at the thrift shop.  If you are looking for fleece, try the plus size section as well as robes! A lot are made of fleece, and you get a lot more bang for your buck that way! Then you could browse the flannel shirts to see if you can find a suitable print that is thick enough and not too worn. Receiving blankets can be good for the flannel too.

I have made some of denim and corduroy, which are stinkin' cute, but I don't think they are as practical. This summer when I can keep my little guy in a dipe with no cover and just a t-shirt, they will be great, but I typically lean more toward the softer fabrics.

One local thrift shop has a $0.25 rack, and that is where I have gotten most of my diaper fabrics! One large sweatshirt can give me four diaper layers - for $0.25!!  It is so much fun to get such a great bargain, and matching up the fabrics is so fun too! I never want to make two exactly alike because mixing and matching is just too fun. :)

Here are a few more I've made recently, that I haven't gotten the snaps on yet, just to spark your creativity:

This one is from a nice thick flannel shirt on the outside:

 ... and a super-soft Eddie Bauer sweatshirt on the inside:
(already marked for snap application :)

Micro-fleece, inside and out,  from a sleep shirt. I used varigated thread around the edges:

This one was a white sweater that just didnt fit me right:


A nice blue sweatshirt. I left the bottom ribbing on for detailing:


One of the ones I've made from the big mumu:

And a tie-dye t-shirt on the outside, blue sweatshirt on the inside: