cloth diapering: results and ideas.

Thank you so much for all of your comments and questions on my last post – I have answered by posting another comment at the bottom of that post. We are continuing on with our smoothies throughout the day and upon finding more recipes, we are having great success!

I have had questions about the cloth diapers and how they worked since J was born. When I was changing him this morning, I tried to take a bunch of photos and thought when he naps this afternoon that I would put together a quick ‘results’ post.

In talking to people and looking online, I decided to make the pocket diapers offered in the Babyville Boutique pattern book that require an absorbent insert which I had bought in the USA at Fred Meyer. The idea with pocket diapers is that you use a liner between baby and the flannel diaper that basically catches poop and this is thrown into the toilet (or a separate laundry bag if you buy reusable ones such as the ones I’ve linked), the rest is pulled apart and thrown in the laundry. Simple. (see the photo below)

I didn’t show a picture of the outer liner since it looks a lot like toilet paper but you can see how the insert is placed inside the diaper above.

Before I get into the diapers themselves, I’ll talk about the insert first. The inserts that I bought in the USA were cheap but it meant we were able to get tons. They were cheap for a reason: They didn’t absorb enough. I ended up connecting with Yvonne King of Nic and Elli. I bought 100% bamboo inserts ($4CAD each) after changing him multiple times throughout the day. I bought 20, which is recommended for fulltime cloth diapering as this provides those few extras that you need at night to double up.

After I bought them, Yvonne recommended I wash and dry them 5 times prior to use to maximize absorbency. I would definitely buy these again.

This is the front of the diaper. Remember that I used Velcro? If you are dead set on making these, make them with snaps or thinner Velcro then they call for in the pattern. The thick Velcro digs into his skin even though it is the soft stuff. As you can also see, because the sewing doesn’t go through both layers of fabric (this is the same with the snap option version – the pattern tells you to put the snaps or Velcro on prior to sewing the diaper together) so the result is that the diaper pulls quite badly.

You have to admit, they are pretty damn cute! There are quite a few companies both online and otherwise that offer this style of diaper. They retail for about $12CAD each.

As you can probably sense, there was a downside to these for us. I want to include a disclaimer here: I am sharing this information based purely from our personal experience and am not saying these will not work for anyone. They just weren’t ideal for us for the following reasons. I hope sharing my experience can help you when you are making your decisions about cloth diapers.

Cuteness aside, the biggest problem we ran into was that while these have elastic around the inner leg, they do not create enough of a seal. You can see in the photos below that when I hook my finger under the elastic, it exposes skin. He was moving constantly when I was taking the photos, so I’m so sorry for the blur!

The result was constant leaking. No matter how absorbent the insert was, pee would saturate everything. Every diaper change meant a clothing change as well – it also meant no overnight and/or going out cloth diapering. More often than not, the PUL was soaked as well*. We found we were using more and more disposables.

*On their website, Babyville Boutique recommends throwing your newly made diapers into a hot dryer cycle to ‘close’ (a.k.a. melt) the places where the PUL has been punched by the sewing needle. I tried this and it worked quite well but we still had the other leaking problem.

The other problem was the lack of adjustability with the Velcro option.

This option just didn’t give us enough flexibility and while this particular size fits him perfectly, I wish we had done snaps to improve the adjustability of these. For the added money to buy the snaps and pliers, it would have been worth it if this had been our only complaint. I’m still tempted to replace a few with snaps and make some improvements to the diaper itself (based on what I’m about to tell you below) to see if I can continue to use these.

What did we end up doing instead? you ask.

I decided to ask around and do some research on the internets. Another disclaimer here: I am in no way being compensated by g-diapers for this review of their product, nor am I affiliated with them in any way. Also, Babyville Boutique has a pattern for a diaper that is more like this and I’d be tempted to make one to see if it works better versus their above pattern. Like I mentioned above, I’m tempted to try my hand at making something anyhow.

To solve our ‘pocket’ problem, I decided to try out g-diapers. They were recommended by two friends who had had lots of success with them.

The ‘pocket’ is plastic (think 80’s prefold diapers with plastic pants overtop that our parents used) adorned with 4 snaps. There are two options with g-diapers. You can choose to use disposable (but biodegradable) inserts or their cloth inserts. Because I had already bought inserts, I decided to try mine first.

They work like a hot-damn. They are ever-so-slightly too long but they are perfect for absorbency now that they are right against his skin so I’m not changing a thing. When I change him, I just fold it in half (back to front) and throw it straight into our laundry. Please remember I’m a nurse so this doesn’t bother me at all but if it leaves your stomach churning, you can use disposable liners on top of the cloth insert that are thrown into the toilet when dealing with poop in particular. As you can see, though, after going through the wash multiple times and multiple staining, there’s no evidence on the insert if you were wondering whether this is a new insert (it’s not!).

The plastic pocket snaps into place on the knit diaper itself. No PUL fabric – these are plastic, which is waterproof, and just plain old knit fabric, which is light and airy. You can see on both ends that the Velcro is thinner, as well as two types. There is both the rough and ‘smooth’ Velcro to ensure it doesn’t come apart when the baby is wearing them. I had found this also helps with adjustability. But, do they work?

In a word: Yes.

Again, sorry for the photo but Mr. Magoo would not stay still! When I lift the fabric away from his skin, the plastic is still there creating a seal. Because it’s waterproof, when the insert is soaked, his outer diaper and clothes don’t get wet because it’s contained.

We have had some blowouts with these as well – don’t get me wrong! But they are more in line with what we were experiencing with disposables: 1 or 2 times a day and sometimes not at all. Also, if the insert needs changing but the rest of the diaper is fine (which is more often than not), I just wipe out the inside of the plastic pocket with a baby wipe and throw in just a new insert.

g-diapers recommends having 6-8 diapers for fulltime (including night time) diapering. Thus far, that seems about right. They are sized, so you need to buy the size appropriate for your baby based on their weight. These are expensive (~$18CAD per diaper). They are sold in pairs. We found ours at London Drugs and bought them for $34.99 + tax (CAD). They also ship to Canada if you order them online but including shipping, it worked out to the same amount so we bought them in-store.

Knowing what I know now, I think I would have asked for them for a shower gift or something like that. On their website, they offer packages of 6, so someone could take care of getting them and everyone could pitch in money for them. I think this would be ideal since you would have all your sizes: S, M, L, XL and you would then have all the plastic inserts, which you could then start using right away. We are always running out of plastic inserts! Often the plastic needs changing but the diaper is fine!

How do they fit around his tummy? They close to the back, so Mister who is reaching and grasping for everything at the moment can not pull these off. Genius!

Also, due to the lightweight knit fabric, while they look tight around his stomach, they are actually just a perfect fit. There is no redness when I remove them.

There is no pulling like the PUL diapers above. They fasten nicely and securely as you can see here on his hip. Something to keep in mind when you are thinking about cloth is that they need more room in their onsies and sleepers to accommodate the slightly bulkier cloth diapers. I thought I would show you a photo of what he looks like fully cloth diapered and while it’s not bad, he’s 18lbs and 5.5 months and wearing 9 month sleepers (but he’s also incredibly long!). At 3 months, he was in 6 month sleepers. He’s still wearing his 6 month shirts and jackets now though just to give you some perspective on how much room the cloth diapers take up in pants and sleepers.

In the end, we were looking for something that wouldn’t leak, that I could cloth diaper him day or night or out, and that wouldn’t completely break the bank. The cost of one size of 6-8 g-diapers is the cost of ~3 months of disposables so when you look at it that way, it helps to justify the cost. There is not as much laundry with the g-diapers as well because mostly, I’m washing just the inserts and ~2 g-diapers per day. The plastic only is put in the washer and air dried (the dryer will melt them over time!). I basically do ‘diaper’ laundry every third day.

I really hope our experience helps you with your research on cloth diapering and the options out there. This worked for us and we will definitely go this route for our next child but there are many more out there. If you have any questions, PLEASE contact me either in the comments section below or via email.

In the end, he’s happy no matter what he’s wearing!

Happy Cloth Diapering!

rain rain, go away.

Come again another day!

But if it is going to stay … which it tends to do here in rainy Vancouver … then I may as well have a super cute jacket, yes?

It came together beautifully – I couldn’t be happier. The Minoru Jacket was definitely challenging but I enjoyed every minute. Although there was re-sewing in a few instances, it was definitely not outside my skill set … which is pretty limited when it comes to sewing.

I think what I am happiest about is that not only does it fit me … it fits me perfectly … ZIPPED UP!

I cut out the size 12. Reveal time! I am a 42” hip and 36” bust so I was nervous that the jacket would be too big in the yoke and too small in the hips – my complaint about every single jacket I have ever owned.

BUT! (no pun intended) this was not the case with this pattern! It fits in both areas perfectly. Win!

The only two modifications I made to this (I was not about to start mucking around with this pattern) was:

• Lined the hood, and
• Lifted the elastic line about 2” to hit my waist. I have a long torso and after doing my muslin, I knew I would probably have to raise it. My waist is 28” so I did have to cut off 5” of the elastic after I thread it through the casing – there was not enough shaping in the waist otherwise.

I found a water and wind resistant outdoors 100% synthetic at a local fabric wholesaler. It is quite stiff so yes, working the gathers was a little difficult. I had second thoughts about my fabric choice at that point but I’m really glad I persevered. This feels and looks like a real rain jacket – it is definitely outdoor wear. And the gathers actually turned out quite nicely considering it is stiff fabric:

I didn’t interface anything. As you can see, there was no need! If I had interfaced the front plackets, I think it would have made the jacket so stiff that it would have been lifeless. Instead, there is some movement but keeps its structure.

The pockets. I wasn’t sure what to do about pockets. I wanted them … but I didn’t. If I didn’t put pockets on, the utility of this jacket would have decreased a huge amount – I need somewhere to put the truck keys when I’m managing Tiny Tuna! So … I made simple simple simple pockets with buttons from my stash:

They are 5” wide, 6” deep at the long side and 4” deep at the short. I’m really glad I added these and I think for what I was looking for in the jacket, they finish it nicely.

While I was sewing, I decided to do a little math once I finished to explore the ‘cost’ of making pieces of clothing like this in comparison to buying them. If I had bought this jacket, it would have saved me time but would it have saved me money? value? What was the true sewing value of this item?

As soon as I finished, I decided to calculate my estimated cost, price and value of my Minoru. This is how it all broke down in the end:

Cost: $79.39 (after tax, CAD)

Price: $145 (after tax, CAD) (this is the cost of the same jacket that I originally wanted from Mountain Equipment Co-op)

Value: $261.91 (after tax, CAD)

So, ideally cost will be lower than price will be lower than value. That is certainly the case here. My jacket, to me, is worth a lot more than it would have cost me to buy it outright … that’s pretty cool in my humble opinion :)

All-in-all, regardless of the numbers, math and money, this was an awesome project. Thank you Tasia, for a wonderful pattern for the pear-shaped ladies out there!

What have you made that fits you perfectly? or a winning pattern you’d make again? I’d love to hear about it!

ps. Yes, we took these photos in the rain for authenticity! M kept reminding me that the camera is not waterproof. Who knew? hehe

gathers & cuffs.

Part of learning to sew again means there are hiccups, re-dos and frustrations. It helps that the whole time there was a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel because every time I put the jacket on my dress form there was nothing but good things. I’m so glad I did a muslin first!

The first hiccup was the zipper in the collar. I don’t know what happened, but my zipper window came out about 1.5” longer than needed.

 

I had more than enough fabric to redo the collar and lining. The second time I measured twice and cut once:

Although my zipper window when finished was far from perfect, it looks ok and is not so bad that anyone would notice … unless they are closely inspecting the zipper in which case, they are probably standing too close :)

Hiccup #2 … Can you tell that my hood lining is darker than the collar lining? Yup. They are different polyester linings. One is slightly more purple, the other is bluer. I didn’t have enough of the main lining to line the hood as well. In my effort to use up my stash of fabric, yarn and various other things, I decided to use what I had rather than buy more. Now that the jacket is finished (yup, you’ll have to check back for the finished product), you wouldn’t be able to tell they are different unless again you are standing too close :) hehe

Not to give away too much for the finished project but I will mention the fabric I used. As you can probably see, it is quite stiff. It’s a water resistant polyester that was a bolt end at a local wholesale shop. I paid $9 per meter. After looking into it, I decided not to waterproof the seams since the fabric is only water resistant. The cost would not have been worth it! An idea for a future jacket I think …

While basting for the gathers I was having second thoughts about my fabric choice. I worried for no reason – it was perfectly fine. The fabric is a medium weight so the gathers were stiff and hard to even out but in the end, it was worth the added effort for the water resistance. There’s not point spending the time working on a jacket like this if it is not water resistant since it rains here a lot. Oh Vancouver … I both love and hate your weather patterns.

I chose not to interface the collar due to the stiffness of the fabric – I’m really glad I chose this route. The collar is soft but stands on its own perfectly. And I loooove the size. Very cool.

Lastly, the cuffs proved to be a little challenging in this stiffer fabric. I ended up re-doing them with 1.5” elastic instead of 2” – this made it easier to deal with when sewing them to the sleeves. It also proved to be helpful when I sewed on the lining using Sewaholic’s method rather than slipstitching by hand.

Check out that perfect match-up :) That you can stand too close to admire!

I shortened the sleeves by about 2” based on my muslin – I’m really glad I did. I have long arms but even these were a little too long for me.

Once we get some photos of the finished jacket, I’ll share. I hope your crafting is taking you on new adventures (and that no one is standing too close to see your ‘learning’ hiccups either)!

muslin-ing.

There have been exciting things happening here at Casa del Welford. As I have mentioned, I have been delving into sewing again. Thoroughly, I am enjoying it.

Like swatching in knitting, I decided to make a muslin for the Minoru Jacket (by Tasia of Sewaholic). I was torn between a size 10 and size 12 based on the pattern measurements. I cut a size 12 figuring I could always cut a size 10 if it was markedly too big even after adjustments. Since this is a jacket and I want to be able to wear a sweatshirt or this underneath, it needs a lot of positive ease so I decided to stick with the size 12.

Based on the pattern, as well as my own body, measurements the fit is perfect. I didn’t bother with the collar when I cut the muslin. Neither did I cut the front plackets. What I was most concerned about was the depth of the raglan sleeved yoke and the placement of the elastic waistband. In making the muslin, I did learn the sleeves are way too long for even my long arms so I eliminated 2 inches (and cut a size 10) when I cut the ‘real’ version.

The raglan is perfect with a sweatshirt beneath (I didn’t photograph this as my favourite one is the same colour as the muslin). The elastic waistband, however, will be too low. I marked the new placement for the ‘real’ jacket. As well, I’ll have to raise the inside pocket on the lining.

Without raising the waistband, the back neck to waist is too long for me. I’ll reassess when I get to this step in the pattern – wish me luck! We’ll see if my measurements work out …

Now onto the fun part :)

What are you working on? Is it challenging and enjoyable? Mindless and relaxing? Exciting and new? Happy stormy November!

sew renfrew.

You know when you finish something and your husband says, “Wow, you made that?” that you have a winner. For the first time in a long time, I have impressed him! haha

I decided a while ago that I wanted to start sewing again but I had a couple of concerns about this:

1. That the patterns wouldn’t fit (a memory I have of patterns I used to make when I was in high school),
2. That the fabric would be really expensive (I want good quality but not stuff that’s going to break the bank!), and
3. I wouldn’t enjoy it (I remembered finding sewing very fiddly when I was a teen but having nothing wearable at the end).

I have been following sewing blogs for a long time and buying Sew News but I have only been dabbling in projects (like the cloth diapers and diaper bag). In an attempt to figure all of this out, I decided to buy the Renfrew Top from Sewaholic and give something simple a go.

I’m hooked. Not only did it satisfy my need to craft and work on something, it was quick. This is particularly important right now as I only have snippets of time here and there to be selfish and craft. I love the marathon of a large sweater project but it’s hard to keep the rhythm of knitting a long a row with interruptions :) I’m not complaining at all – I have been looking to expand my crafting for a while. And sewing seems to fit the bill.

Pattern: Renfrew Top by Sewaholic

Fabric: medium weight knit (65% poly, 35% cotton, 3% spandex)

Version A with version B’s neck … or Version B with version A’s sleeves :)

After some deliberation, I decided to cut out the size 12 which when I am finished breastfeeding, will be 3” of positive ease. The hip measurement gives me about 1” of positive ease, which is perfect while I’m losing the baby weight. I’m not sure I would cut out the 10 in the future as I am really liking my clothes a bit looser these days but time will tell.

Because working with knits can be a little frustrating I decided not to stress about matching up the stripes since this is dark anyhow. You’d have to really inspect to see that they don’t always match up along the side seams. Also, I used a walking foot to keep the top and bottom tension even – this worked like a charm! I didn’t do any seam finishing yet as my serger is not working. It hasn’t been used for SEVEN years … so I guess that’s comeuppance for its neglect. Both my sewing machine and serger are booked in for a tune-up next week. For anyone planning on working with PUL fabric (used in the cloth diapers) – it does a number on your machine so plan to service it after or spend some time giving it a good clean out. Also, use Microtex needles – they are super sharp and work like a charm to pierce the fabric.

I’m really happy with how the neckline turned out. The stripes didn’t match up perfectly but I’m just happy it looks as clean as it does – and I only had to redo the center front once!

Based on the photo on Tasia’s blog, I did a very small zig-zag around the neckline. I love this detail. It finished it very nicely. I think next time I’ll just do plain topstitching to see what that looks like.

Lastly, the cuffs at the sleeves and waistband finished this perfectly. I love everything to be long so the sleeves and length of the shirt itself are ideal.

I will definitely be making many more of these beautiful shirts! I’d love one in mustard yellow … and grey … and navy blue … and ….

one wall of one room. done.

I, of course, am talking about the nursery. There is still a bunch of furniture in the room that we need to move out – more for minimal extra ‘stuff’ in the room than anything else. BUT. I have organized the dresser (aka. washed and put things away), put a light bulb in the lamp, and finished a couple of things that have been in the making since … 2009.

The summer prior to getting Charlie (our Golden Retriever puppy who’s now 2 1/2 years old), we drove down the Oregon coast. Camping and showing off the coast to M. was wonderful as it is one of my favourite places in North America. We stopped in Canon Beach and I took a look around one of the great quilt stores … and found “Little Owls” by Barbara Brandeburg. It’s a tied quilt that can only be described as completely silly. I actually started it almost immediately when we got home but soon put it aside. What was I going to do with it? M. was not going to want something like this above our bed!

So, I rolled it up in a towel and garbage bag, threw it in the back of our closet and left it.

I pulled it out this Spring in hopes of finishing it. The heat n’bond needed to finish it off was a pain to work with but I didn’t want to spend the time sewing the owls down either by hand or on my machine. I just didn’t see the point of spending the time. Lazy, I know, but this is not an heirloom!

It’s silly and fun. Perfect colours for a gender-neutral nursery! Here’s an up close of the owls themselves:

You may have noticed above that there is a ‘package’ sitting on the dresser.

It is a travel change pad. I saw the idea on someone’s blog a long time ago, filed it away and didn’t think about it again. After making all those diapers, I had about 2 meters left of the PUL fabric. I cut a roughly 16” x 40” rectangle out of the PUL, quilting cotton left over from the owls quilt and batting. I did some top stitching on the PUL and batting to secure it together and allow for washing (necessary for a little one).

Made a sandwich, stitched around, turned it right side out and folded over one end to make an 8” pocket. I stitched up the center to create two pockets: one for the liners and one for the outer diaper covers. About 4 liners and 3 diapers fits nicely.

All-in-all, very successful, free and simple. It took me about an hour and a half to make it. And it’s super light, unlike the ones I saw in the stores.

If you can believe it, I have finished the ‘baby sewing’ I wanted to do and am on to some Christmas presents that I am planning to finish next week and put away. There has been knitting, albeit very little. I will share that with you soon :)

Also, Charlie would like to say something. He’s very concerned with all the changes occurring upstairs at the moment. He thought you might want to know. Charlotte doesn’t seem to be nearly concerned enough, according to him. He would like to know what’s going on :)

And I am pleased to announce I am officially finished Grad school! We drove to Northern Alberta this past weekend and I convocated with my classmates on Friday. I am so pleased to be finished – and we had amazing weather the whole time we were gone. I have photos but haven’t downloaded them yet – I will share them soon.

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday – I am still reading what I was reading a couple of weeks ago … and knitting what I was knitting … so no Yarn Along for me today :)