Latest diapers

I tried out some new techniques and new patterns. Kinda fun.

Pattern: Rainy Days, size 2
Outer: cotton knit (Fabric.com)
Hidden layer: Bamboo hemp fleece (naturesfabrics.com)
Inner: Bamboo velour (naturesfabrics.com)
Soaker: two layers of diamond Zorb II (wazoodle.com)

This is a two-size diaper. The pictures above show it on the "medium" setting, which is what Noob wears. Below you can see it fully unsnapped for the "large" setting:

I'd heard that the size 1 of this pattern was great but that the size 2 is gigantic. It's not too bad on Noob, although he does wear it on the very smallest settings, at 23 lbs. He had a little bit of wing droop the first time he wore it, but these pictures were from the second time, and I did like the fit overall. He wore it overnight and it held up well absorbency-wise:

Next up...

Pattern: La Di Da, size medium
Outer: PUL body (fabric.com), cotton interlock tabs (Nature's Fabrics)
Inner: microfleece (Swaddlebees clearance section -- not available anymore) with modified welt pocket

The embellished tabs are not PUL-backed (like I did with the tabs on D's diaper), just straight cotton over microfleece. I was curious to see whether the diaper leaked at all at the tabs, so I did a "stress test" the other day and left Noob in it for about 3 hours (way longer than I usually go between changes). It did eventually wick at the legs, but no leaks at the tabs! Cool!

And finally...

Pattern: Darling Diapers Unlimited, size medium
Outer: body is a cotton woven print (Joann's remnants bin) backed with PUL (purchased directly from someone on Diaper Swappers), tabs are plain PUL
Inner: Microfleece with modified welt pocket (Swaddlebees clearance again)

I used the "Chelory method" for the outer of this one. Chelory is the name of the store of a popular WAHM (work-at-home mom) who makes diapers. Her diapers sell out in seconds flat -- it's crazy. What is even crazier is that she frequents the Cloth Diaper Sewing 101 board over at BabyCenter, and shares some of her tricks and techniques. Seriously, this is one of the neatest things about the cloth diaper sewing community (yes, there's a whole community out there full of crazy women like me). Both the BabyCenter board and Diaper Sewing Divas are frequented by amazing WAHMs who share their secrets. It's like if a top chef came onto a message board for newbie chefs and shared his or her favorite recipes.

Anyway, the Chelory method, as it's become known on the Cloth Diaper Sewing 101 board, is a way to put cotton outers on waterproof pocket diapers. This is trickier than it seems. Many people just put the cotton outer over a layer of PUL, but when you turn a diaper made in this manner, the edge of the cotton inner is exposed on the interior of the pocket. Cotton is a "thirsty" fabric; it just loooooooves to soak up moisture. Which is good on the inside of your diaper, but not so good on the outside of your diaper, as it leads to wicking/leaks!

With the Chelory method, what you do is cut your cotton outer a little narrower than usual at the legs. Then you attach some strips of PUL at the legs, and sew the entire thing to a full hidden layer of PUL. This means that your seams are PUL on PUL, not PUL on cotton, preventing leaks. Sound confusing? Here is a great picture tutorial on how to do it, and here is a video.

Of course, I had to make things more complicated for myself. For one, the cotton print I was using was directional, so I did a seam at the middle so that it's right side up on both the front and back of the diaper. That wasn't too bad. Much more challenging was the fact that the scrap I had wasn't wide enough for a full diaper, so I had to do plain PUL on the wings. It was a little tricky to figure out how the PUL wings fit together with the PUL at the legs. And then I messed up the PUL wings and had to cut them noticeably shorter than usual. Yikes.

And so that is why I'm amazed that this actually ended up looking like a diaper! Trust me, it looked like a total mess for most of the time I was sewing it :) Probably the most confusing part was that the seam between the cotton body and the PUL at the legs didn't lie flat. It turns out that this was just fine. The "gathers" at that seam look just fine once you insert the elastic in there, because then the elastic gathers it even more!

Whew! OK, that was a long intro. On to more pictures and action shots.

The entire outer. You can see where the seam lies, in the middle where the print changes direction. I didn't cut the legs of the cotton fabric quite evenly, and I also sewed the elastic a little differently on each leg, so if the legs look a little wonky, that's why:

But it really doesn't look bad once it's on!

I was a little confused because the tutorials I saw did not call for a PUL panel at the front or back of the diaper, so the cotton is exposed on the interior there. Wouldn't that cause leaks at those seams? But Noob wore this diaper for an hour or two, and while the insert was nowhere near saturated, it was definitely wet (at the front, at least) -- and no leaks! I'll keep using it to see if it does continue to hold up well without wicking!

Even if it doesn't work well, it was excellent practice for me, and this should be a fun diaper with football season starting up soon :)