Sewing Diaper Divas
I wanted to make some cloth diapers from upcycled clothes i have already... I am unsure if i have materials that would work already.
first off, I wanted to make a pocket diaper, how do i go about doing that? is there a certain fabric that would be needed for the pocket? I was plannng on using the prefolds i already have..
also, i have a couple microfleece swaddle blankets my son doesnt use anymore, is microfleece an ok material for a diaper cover? would it leak? is it unrealistic to use upcycled clothes should i just buy new fabric? where can i find affordable fabric? would joanns have what i need?
Replies
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For pockets to be waterproof you need a fabric called polyurethane laminate (pul). You can use just the pul as an outer or you can do a hidden pul layer with any other fabric over it. You can get pul at joanns. Its babyville line and people will debate if it's good quality or not but I use it with no problem (don't buy it without a coupon though).
Microfleece won't work as cover, its too thin. I have upcycled my kids old microfleece blankets as inners for my pocket diapers.
Hope that helps a little. -
You can make your prefolds into fitted diapers - there is a free pattern on here for that. You could add extra absorbancy to it by using old t-shirts, etc. as a wet zone filler. Then you could use upcycled wool sweaters felted to make soaker covers. Wool is not completely water proof, but it absorbs a lot of the moisture, then you let it dry out and use it again. There is a lot of info on this thread about all that. They wouldn't be pockets, but they would be diapers from your upcycled items. I use PUL from Joann's also when I can get it on a 50% off sale. I don't use the fold over elastic because it wicks moisture outside the diaper. I also buy PUL from KidsintheGarden.com or DiaperSewingSupplies.com. I like to use the Elastin elastic, but have used the regular braided elastic (3/8") as long as it wasn't exposed, but again, it wicks moisture.
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I made pockets out of gerber prefolds and they didn't last all that long and I have since changed to minky for the inner and pul for the outer with prefolds as my inserts in the pockets.
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Microfleece is usually used as a Stay dry lining in pocket diapers, so the moisture would go right through it, so you wouldn't want to use it as the outer. You could try using fleece as an outer, but if you're going to do that, I probably wouldn't make a pocket out of it. You could make some t-shirt fitteds and then fleece shorties or something to go over.
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BethAnne Hunter of Happily Domestic wrote a guest blog for Babyville Boutique on using upcyled materials.
Hope this helps, here it is:
http://www.babyvilleboutique.com/blog/2012/04/cloth-diapering-using-upcycled-materials