Cloth Diaper Update (a.k.a. the We Love Thirsties blog)

Back here I wrote about our experience with cloth diapers thus far. At the time I was still torn between which brands were my absolute favorite. But now, five months in, I am definitely sure that Thirsties are the far and away winners.

Still not sure if pockets or all-in-ones are the best. It literally changes day to day. I love the fit on both types, especially in the front. The fit stays flat, with no inner fluff poking out on the tummy and wetting the front of his jimmies. This is where the Alva babies finally failed us. (They're still great for the most part, but that gets super annoying.)

So if you're thinking of doing cloth diapers, I love, love, love Thirsties. Love. I may have an addiction to buying them. (Which I'm trying to break, since we now have ten total in our stash, along with all our other BumGenius and Alvas.)

But they're so stinking cute! How can I stop until I have all of the woodland and sea creature collections?

Cloth Diaper Update

We love cloth diapers!

Here's Lincoln in one of our faves, a Thirsties all-in-one.

When we decided to do cloth diapers back in... oh, I don't know April of last year (like a month after we found out we were pregnant), we really had no idea how many options were out there. And I was seriously confused at first with all the crazy lingo. Pockets, all-in-twos, prefolds, all-in-ones, covers, liners, inserts, bamboo, hemp, microfiber, oh my gosh, So Many Words.

Well, we did eventually figure it all out. But then we had to decide what system to go with! Through all the research, I was pretty confident we were going to love the Thirsties most, but after reading all the Amazon reviews on all-in-ones, pockets, and a cover system, I still didn't know which ones we should go for.

When Lincoln was first born, we planned to use diaper covers with prefolds and the fancy Thirsties duo inserts. We got four of the covers and a bunch of inserts. This was our plan due to learning that most one-size-fits-all diapers don't actually fit the brand new babies very well. This system worked well in theory; the problem with it was Lincoln– he did his business to the side every time so the cover always had to be changed with the insert.

I had also made a ton of flannel fitteds to use with snappis inside the diaper covers. Unfortunately, Lincoln came out bigger than expected (8 lbs, 4 oz), and the majority of my fitteds were too small right off the bat. Luckily, we'd also got a sample of BumGenius all-in-ones in the newborn size, and those lasted for about his first two months. I really liked those all-in-ones; they always fit really well under Lincoln's clothes. They don't have flaps like the bigger version, so everything's contained within the diaper, but they still dried super fast.

Around six weeks, we also started trying out our assorted one size diapers on him. By that time I'd accumulated a good collection of Thirsties, BumGenius, and Alva Babies. (Oh, and we also had two size small gDiapers I'd gotten for free. We didn't use those ones much since they were a bit girly–pink and yellow–but they served their purpose once in awhile.) I've found that cloth diaper shopping is pretty addicting. Even now, when we have a good sized stash–enough to get us through three days if we wanted to wait that long between washes– I still find myself adding diapers to my Amazon cart now and then.

This picture shows most of our diapers; I think it's just missing a few Alva Babies.

Our stash includes:
   11 Alva Babies (3 of which are colored tabs with gussets)
   2 BumGenius all-in-ones (the black and emerald ones above)
   3 BumGenius pockets (the blues in the bottom right corner)
   3 Thirsties all-in-ones (left bottom corner–mint, plaid, and teepee)
   2 Thirsties pockets (the blue and orange)
   1 random... I can't remember the brand name, but it came from Amazon and we had to have it since it had little orange foxes on a gray background.
   4 Thirsties diaper covers (not pictured)
   2 Small gDiapers (girly colors, not pictured)

And, I just added a third gDiaper to our cart, this one in medium. The smalls fit a bit funny on Lincoln for now; the inserts bunch up quite a bit. I'm hoping he'll grow into the medium soon so we can try it out for real.

So with all that, what did our favorites end up being?

Well, Chris has literally no preference. He says they all work, so it really doesn't matter. Although he does agree with me that the 3 Alva Babies with gussets are a bit crazy when double stuffed, which we do at night. Here are my opinions on the diapers we have on hand:

Thirsties Pockets: I actually ended up liking all of our diapers, but the Thirsties pockets are my faves so far. We've got one in snap and one in velcro and both are great. The velcro on Thirsties is WAY better than Bumgenius' velcro; the quality between them in incomparable. I love the gussets on the Thirsties pockets, the way they fit trimly under Lincoln's clothes, and the fact that the opening is in front and back, meaning the insert washes out. Oh, and the insert? A microfiber and a hemp insert. And they're super easy to stuff.

Thirsties All-in-Ones: These are my next favorite. An all-in-one is hard to beat for convenience, but I like these ones over BumGenius' because there's only one flap to deal with. Makes it trimmer, and still seems to hold the same amount as the two-flapped BumGenius.

Alva Babies: I can't believe these are so cheap. Seriously. We love the Alva Babies (the gusset ones, not so much, sadly). They're a little harder to stuff, but they fit great. And we can double stuff these easily and they still fit nicely.

BumGenius pockets: I really like the BumGenius colors and the trim fit... but the reason these are so trim is because the microfiber liner is thin and really doesn't hold anything. Double stuffing really bulks up the diaper unfortunately.

BumGenius All-in-Ones: The double flap is a little annoying because you have to really make sure both flaps stay inside the diaper, and it definitely chunks the diaper up a bit. These also seem to stain easier.

Thirsties Diaper Covers and Duo Inserts: We don't use these much anymore. When Lincoln was newer, we used them much more, either with the micro fleece/hemp inserts or a prefold. We do still use them when we've run out of the others, or they're in the wash, or they're all sitting in a laundry basket in his room for a day and a half (like now). Those things give us an extra day of diapering easy. Having those (and the gDiapers) on hand makes it nice and easy to cloth diaper since we can do laundry without the rush.

Seriously, cloth diapering is so much more fun than disposables. And in the three months since Lincoln was born, we have bought exactly one box of disposable diapers... and it's taking us a loooooooooong time to go through that box. Lincoln might move up to size twos before we finish the box! Good thing all our cloth diapers grow with him! ;)

How I'm making fitted cloth diapers

So why am I even bothering making cloth diapers, when there's already so many adorable ones out there? When I first started researching (and being overwhelmed by) cloth diaper types, one thing that kept coming up over and over was that most newborns aren't big enough for the one size fits all model. Most people just used disposables until their babies were fitting into the cloth brands, but then I came across DIY diaper tutorials. I figured why not make flannel fitteds that are newborn sized to use for those first couple months? Our plan is to use these flannels, as well as a stash of prefolds, with Thirsties wraps as the leak proof outer.

I read through quite a few tutorials before I found the one that made the most sense to me. Mary Ostyn at OwlHaven has an amazing method, AND she has specifications for different diaper sizes. I made a template for myself in Photoshop to make cutting the fabric easy peasy. After a few attempts and modifications, I had my system down. But I was still having trouble with the elastic. And then I stumbled on Ali's tutorial at Dream Crafter, and boom. Elastic became my friend. (Finally.)

The best thing about making cloth diapers is that they are DIAPERS. So even though I'm not the best sewer, I can rock these. Because at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter that my stitches aren't perfect; these things are going to be used to wrap a baby's booty. So much more fun to sew when perfection isn't required.

So here's my methodology (along with way too many pictures).

1) Cut out two pieces of fabric: One will be the front of the diaper, one will be the back.

2) Use leftover fabric to make a stack of ovals to be the main absorbent part of the diaper. I get 5-6 stacked per diaper.

3) I run a line through the stack to hold the pieces together.

4) Then sew it down with a zig zag stitch to the wrong side of one of the pieces. 

The part that you'll see is the right side of the fabric, but it will be the inside of the diaper. Does it matter if the stitches are a perfect oval? Nope. Not one bit.

Okay, so this next part I sometimes do, but mostly don't: adding velcro for easy attaching. I like the idea of easily fastening the diaper with velcro, but I'm mostly okay with using Snappis to hold the fabric in place on baby. After I did several velcroed diapers, I tried them on my friends' newborn and they didn't quite work so well. Granted, her baby was five weeks old, not brand new, and bit bigger than average, but I figure why do all the extra work each time for a chance that it'll fit right. If I don't do any attachments, I don't have to worry about it fitting or not. 

But. I still do it once in awhile. Just in case. :)

5) Cut a long strip of the soft side of the velcro. I put my diaper pieces together at this point and fold it up so I don't accidentally sew it to the wrong spot. (I am 7 months pregnant at this point, and I do ridiculous things like that). The long strip gets sewn to the part of the diaper that will be the right underneath baby's belly button.

Here's another secret: I sew right on the front of the velcro. I know you're supposed to sew from the back so it doesn't look hideous, but it was really hard for me to keep my stitches straight on the velcro like that. I ended up falling off the side of the velcro way too much and having to go over it a few times, which ended up looking worse. So I decided whatever, and just sew right on top now.

6) Cut four small pieces: two of the soft side of the velcro, two of the scratchy side.

Again, I set up the diaper to make sure I place the velcro in the right spot. These four tabs go on the wings that wrap around baby. The outside two are the scratchy pieces that will attach to the long tab in the front. The inside two are the soft pieces that will be used as laundry tabs, or when the diaper's not in use. The scratchy velcro side likes to stick to the flannel I've found.

7) Then I sew those suckers down.

If I decided not to do velcro, I skip steps 5-7 and go straight to sewing the pieces together.

8) I put the right sides together and pin all the way around. 

And here's where I differ from most of the blog tutorials I read. A lot of those tutorials were actually for pocket diapers, so a gap in the back was necessary. There are a couple reasons I chose not to bother with pockets, the main one being that I found it hard to sew in the elastic for the pocket. Another is that these diapers are meant for baby for when he's really little, so I'm hoping I won't need to add soakers to meet his little bladder's needs. And if I do need some soakers, I'm okay with just laying them in the diaper.

9) Sewing the pieces together: I leave an opening in the front of the diaper (the smaller side) for turning purposes. I try to leave a pretty wide seam allowance around the curves and in the back so the elastic can easily be sewn in those spots.

10) Okay, elastic, which used to be the hardest part. I need three pieces: two 4.5 inches (the sides) and one five inch (the back). Instead of cutting each one out individually, I measure out the three sections on my one long piece of elastic, using a sharpie to mark the end of each piece.

First 4.5 inches:

Second 4.5 inches:

And lastly the 5 inch piece.

I like this method better because it's much easier to pull the elastic taut as you sew when you have a good amount to pull on. When I cut out the pieces, it was harder to keep pulling the elastic the closer the needle got to the end of it.

11) I set my machine for tacking the elastic down on the end. What works for me is a stitch length of .7 and stitch width of 4. This gives a really tight, wide group of stitches that hold that end in place. 

12) I start with one of the side elastics (the 4.5 inch elastic), and carefully hold the elastic in place in the seam allowance. Then stitch!

I probably go a little overboard with tacking. I'm sure just a few stitches are required in real life, but I'm a little paranoid.

13) Next, I change the settings to sew the whole piece of elastic down. It needs to be sewn with a zig zag that isn't so tight it can't move. I use a length of 2 and a width of 1.5.

14) Stitch the elastic down while pulling it nice and taut. That part was impossible to to photograph while I was sewing, so this is the end result, where you can see the nice puckering. Since I'd already measured out the elastic, I know to stop when I hit the sharpie mark, and cut off the rest of the elastic there.

15) Then I switch back to the tacking settings on my machine and tack the heck out of the other side.

16) I do the other side's elastic, and then the back elastic last. 

18) I trim off any excess fabric around the corners and elastic if necessary, then turn the diaper inside out. I poke out all the corners with a pencil or whatever's handy so they're shaped better.

19) Top stitching. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't. More often I will do it, because I like how it flattens out the wings better than leaving them as is. The only thing that's really necessary is closing up the gap in the front. Sometimes I'm a little paranoid about hitting the elastic with the top stitch. Stitching over the elastic will kill it, so I often give it a very wide berth.

20) The final step is to close it up, admire it, and then take it to show Chris how adorable it is. Because seriously. 

It's the cutest, littlest thing ever.

I have no idea how well they'll work. Really no idea. I guess we'll see in November! But I figure they won't be completely useless, even if they don't end up being as absorbent as I'd like. And if the fit's a little off, that's fine, since we'll be using the Thirsties wraps over them. 

I made some itty bitty matching liners with leftover flannel. I size them to be a little shorter than the length of the diaper, then cut out a bunch and zig zag stitch them together on the ends. They're not perfect looking, but they fit inside the diapers and are cute to boot. 

Here's my stash so far. I've got about six other flannels in waiting, so I think by the end of this I'll have about 20 fitteds saved up.

We also caved and got a few newborn sized BumGenius all-in-ones. We found a great deal on barely used ones on clothdiapertrader.com. But that's it! Other than those six, it's going to be these flannels and prefolds until he's big enough to fit in the one size regular diapers. So excited to wrap his little bum in these!

Cloth Diapers

We've decided to go the cloth diaper route, for a couple of reasons.

1) They're way too cute.

2) Hello, money saver?

3) We're all about the good ol' environment.

When I started researching cloth diapers, I was a bit overwhelmed. I couldn't figure out how they worked. Then I realized there were different kinds with different functions: all-in-ones, pockets, fitteds, blah blah blah. So I read blogs, watched youtube videos, and read Amazon reviews, and I think I now, finally, have a handle on this whole thing.

One of the first things I learned was that most cloth diapers come in a "one size fits all," which is awesome for saving money in the long run. But apparently most of these diapers don't fit the newish newborns all that well, so it's very recommended to have specific newborn diapers on hand for the first couple months.

We're not really into the idea of buying a whole diaper system for just a two month stint, so we've chosen to mostly go the prefolds with covers route in the beginning (Thirsties Duo Wraps to be specific). Then I learned about fitteds that can be used inside the covers. And then I learned you could make fitteds out of adorable flannel.

I'm a little addicted. But seriously, how cute is that flannel?!

Right before school ended, I scored with a huge fabric sale at Joanns. Flannel was 70% off, and I paid around $2.30 a yard for it. Best. Sale. Ever. I got 5 yards at that sale and I'm kicking myself for not getting more at the time. I've managed to get about three diapers per yard, plus a couple of liners just because there were leftovers.

The plan is to use these along with a stack of prefolds for the first couple of months while baby is still a teeny tiny little thing and not yet fitting in the regular diapers. Most of them have no attachments, since my plan was to just use Snappis to hold them in place, but I discovered some velcro in my stash so I did some experimenting with the last couple. Not sure if I love it or not, mostly because I can't test out if I'm placing the velcro right or not. For all I know I'll have to cinch the diaper much tighter than the velcro will allow to get a good fit. Guess we won't know until November!