Leo’s Mane Sew Along

Sunday 27 March 2011

More about diapers

 So, I put together 2 diapers this afternoon. By the time I got to the second, I had the method figured out, and got the time down to 50 minutes, including the time to take the pictures. So, once I really get on to it, the time should get shorter than that, I hope. The first step was to take the soaker pad, and fold it into fourths, and centre it, and sew it down the centre of the wrong side of the outer layer of the diaper. That's the part to do all the hard work. Four layers of what is supposed to be very absorbent hemp terry cloth fabric.
 
 Then it was time to work on the "mess containing" gussets. Fold them in half, stitch a casing to hold the elastic, then thread the elastic through the casing and secure in place on either end so that the elastic will stay firmly in place. They end up looking like really funny quarter moon shapes. I used the microfleece for the gussets, since I think they will be softer on his little legs.


 Next, layer the diaper outside and inside together, pin well, something I don't normally do when sewing, but this stuff is really stretchy, and I didn't want it to stretch out of shape. The gussets don't get pinned on, but stretched to fit the leg opening while sewing. I've been using the serger stretch stitch on my machine, so that the edges get finished at the same time as sewing them. I tried sewing one with seams and turning it yesterday, but it ended up really bulky, and almost double the time, because the whole thing would have had to been top stitched around the outside once it was sewn, in order to finish it. And I didn't like the way it looked, or how it would have fit.
 
And here is the finished product, wrapped around a pressing ham, to give it shape, and show what it looks like. The size can be adjusted just be folding down the front, or the back, and by wrapping the waist tabs tighter or looser. This is pretty much the biggest size. It can be used with a special kind of fastener that grips the terry cloth loops. I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. But they are meant to be used with waterproof, fitted diaper covers. So, 2 done, 34 to go...........

3 comments:

  1. Looks great! You are my hero! I love the gussets. I hope, for your sake, that you get it down to less than 50 minutes! lol! Oh, and the fastener thingys are called Snappi. I wish I could help, but I am way over here and, as you have witnessed, not terribly great at sewing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. All I can say is "Wow - that's a lot of work for a pile of poop"! Maybe it will go faster if you do assembly line style and complete each step on all the diapers before moving to the next. They do look great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are going for the grandmother of the year award and you deserve it! Great gift. I used diapers when at home with my daughter when she was a baby(baby sitters didn't want to) and it saved me a ton of money. I just wish mine looked as pretty as yours.

    ReplyDelete

I love reading all your comments, and am grateful for each one. I try very hard to answer them all, but lately I haven’t quite been able to answer all of them.