Cloth Diapering using padded underwear

I wish I would have gone this route with the first child. This could quite possibly be my favorite cloth diapering option. If anything, it cuts done on the number of regular cloth diapers needed thus making cloth diapering even cheaper. They are less bulky than regular cloth diapers and sew up quicker.



The little babe now has a nice little stash of padded underwear for daytime wear along with three new fleece covers. Running around outside, or even inside as long as I'm watching for when he goes, he doesn't need a cover. There are thick enough to absorb urine but not so bulky as to make them uncomfortable for a little mover and groover! I did the gerber training pants route with our oldest and these beat them hands down, not even a good comparison, blows them outta the water (not that I'm tootin' my own horn or anything here  :)  ).

Cost-wise these cost me $8.59 to make 10 pairs of padded underwear and three fleece covers. The only thing I had to buy was the underwear, the rest came from my fabric stash. The cost would have been approximately $25 if I had to buy the materials (FOE $1.50 for 3 yards, fleece $7.00 for 1 yard, flannel $8.00 for 2 yards and underwear $8.59 for 10 pairs).

As far as sewing, they are very quick to sew up. I did 10 pairs of underwear and 3 covers in about 2 hours and that includes the time spent measuring and cutting materials.

You could use any type of material for the cover (fleece, wool, PUL). If you used a pattern such as Katrina's Soaker Pattern (free pattern), it would eliminate having to use foldover elastic.

Hope everything is staying cool. Temperatures here in Wisconsin are hoovering around 100 degrees!

Lisa



Bulking up the underoos

I've always been a believer that a child will potty train when they are ready. However, I'm also not against helping them along a little bit in their training. Heck, I make and sell cloth training pants to do just that (shameless plug). :)

Anyways, I have a stubborn one and we've tried everything. He thinks the potty chair is great, when he feels like using it. He wants to wear his big boy underwear, but doesn't want to stop playing to go to the bathroom. And I do not like cleaning up puddles.

SO I decided to "bulk" up his underwear. This was all made using scraps of PUL and flannel.

 These are his favorite undies. He would literally wear them all the time. He has an obsession with Thomas the Train.

 I made a quick pattern based upon the measurements of the underwear and made a soaker of a piece of PUL and four layers of flannel.

 I then used a zig-zag to sew all the way around the soaker. I could have used the serger around everything first but this is meant to be a quick project.

There will be some fraying as they are washed but they are serving their purpose. They are keeping puddles off of the floor and he can still feel when he's wet!

Now to go sew the other half dozen.  :)

Blessings,
Lisa

Tighty Whitey Trainers...

Connor is already 15 months old and seriously outgrowing his diapers. I did make him a handfull of diapers for night but his daytime collection is getting pretty sad looking (and pretty tight). I had made Emily a pair of fleece covers to wear with her regular underwear and decided maybe it's time to switch Connor into a more 'big boy' style of diapers....something that he could maybe wear from now until he potty trains.

I made him this cover...

But knew he needed more than just a fleece cover. Well, it is pretty cute but he's not even remotely interested in potty training. I didn't want to make fitted diapers because that felt like I was going backwards. I wandered into the bathroom - what a place for inspiration - I noticed the 2 foot pile of prefolds from when the kids where little little.  Hmmmm, someday I should really do something with those...what...something...hmmm. Take a prefold out to the dining room table, lay it out flat, and stare at it. Tap my finger to my lip and stare some more. A-HA!!! I love those moments where all of a sudden you start digging through fabric bins looking for things you know you have SOMEWHERE! 30 minutes later, this is what I came up with...

I should have used blue thread...then it really would have looked like a pair of tighty whiteys!!

Fall Weather

Fall is here and just like everyone else, I can't believe how fast the year has gone. Halloween is this weekend. I have to waitress but Shane will be home in time to take the kids trick r' treating. Emily is going as Cinderella. It has a hard call for her to decide between Cinderella, Beauty and Snow White...everything is princesses right now! Connor is going as a skeleton. We found adorable pajamas that had skeletons on them. We figured as young as he is he'll probably sleep through most of it!

Yesterday I was busy sewing, I have a lot of orders of cloth training pants to get out this week. I finished one order and mailed them out this morning. I think they are so far my favorite.

So as I was busy sewing away, I finally realized that there was a lot of laughing and giggling coming from the living room. Being a mom, I of course wanted to see what they were laughing about but at the same time, I didn't want to interrupt them and have them decide to not play nice together anymore. So I peaked around the corner and this is what I found...




I think my favorite is the one where she is tying him to the chair.