Newborn pockets

I haven't been using pockets very much on Q. I don't know why. Prefolds are just easier to deal with, I guess.

I did make these diapers as a gift for a friend who was due in September:

From left to right: Rocket Bottoms size 1, Rocket Bottoms Totally Squared One Size, Rocket Bottoms Totally Squared Newborn/Small. Plus a wetbag. The diapers are all PUL outers (from fabric.com), suedecloth inners (alova suedecltoh from Joann's).

Here's Q trying on the two Totally Squared diapers. She is about 1 month old and 11 lbs, and she's trying them on over a prefold (because I was already running late to my friend's baby shower and didn't have time to wash them if she soiled them!). This pattern is large. She was swimming in the one size diaper, and even the newborn/small was on the large side when using the smallest setting!

This is another Totally Squared OS that I made recently. I did this one as a cover/AI2 shell, with a PUL outer, microfleece inner, and cotton interlock tabs. She is almost 4 months old and 14 lbs, and this is still pretty large on her, on the smallest setting:

I'm ehhhhh on the OS pattern right now, because it is so big. I should really try the NB/small pattern again, to see if I like that one any better.

On the other hand, I love the regular Rocket Bottoms pattern. I made a diaper for Q that's identical to the one I sewed for my friend, and it's one of my favorites. She is about 1 month old and 11 lbs in this picture, and she's wearing it on the second of three rise settings. After this, I moved it down to the smallest rise setting. She is now 4 months and 14 lbs, and is back on the second rise setting. It fits nicely and works really well stuffed with one of the trimmed newborn prefolds.

Still, despite the great fit, she did have a leak in this diaper yesterday -- leaks in prefolds + covers are virtually nonexistent. Hence why I say prefolds are just easier to deal with.

Newborn prefolds and covers

The "trimmed" newborn prefolds I made worked out really well for Q's first few weeks. They didn't fit for long -- definitely not worth it to pay a lot for them if you're expecting a >8 lb baby -- but when they did fit, they just fit so perfectly! This is at about 6 weeks old/11 lbs, which is about when she outgrew them Snappi'd. (I do still use them as inserts in some of her pocket diapers!)

Remember the teeny tiny Witteybums cover I sewed a while back? I was shocked that it actually did fit Q! It worked perfectly with a trifolded newborn prefold inside. So easy to just tuck the prefold under the flaps and fasten it on. This was at 4 days old/right around 9 lbs:

Unfortunately, I found that this combo didn't do a great job of containing breastfed baby poo, so I stopped using it after a couple of blowouts. I did use the cover as a swim diaper -- it can be tough to find swim diapers for really little ones, so this was a great option.

I found the snaps on the Witteybums to be tough to fasten on a bigger baby, so I sewed up an In A Snap cover in size newborn as well, with a velcro closure. The outer is a polyester knit and the inner is PUL. I believe this is over a Snappi'd newborn prefold. You can see the serging of the prefold peeking out through the umbilical scoop -- the scoop isn't really deep enough to make a big difference in keeping the cover off the cord stump, but it's just deep enough to make it tough to fit a prefold under it :( Aside from that, I liked this cover a lot, although again, it was so small that it was quickly outgrown and used as a swim diaper instead. She's about 2 weeks old/10 lbs here:

This is the newborn In A Snap cover that I sewed for another friend. Her baby ended up being almost 10.5 lbs at birth, so I figured there was no way this cover would fit. I had already sewed her an identical one in size small... but miraculously, she was able to get some use out of the newborn size cover, too. She was a few weeks old in this picture, not sure on weight, but obviously over 10 lbs :)

This is an In A Snap cover in size small, at about 3.5 months/14 lbs. I like the fit of this cover a lot. It is trim, but with enough coverage that I can easily get a standard infant (green edge) prefold stuffed underneath it. This one also has a polyester knit outer/PUL inner:

More newborn fitteds

Sorry for such a long hiatus, but life is crazy busy around here! I've been working on a ton of fun projects and I'm going to do my best on catching up on blogging. The pictures I use may not be the best, but at least they'll give you an idea of what I've been doing!

In my last post, I showed off some of the newborn fitteds I sewed for Q. I forgot to mention that if you're sewing diapers for a newborn and you haven't visited Mama Kat's blog yet, you should. She reviews a ton of different newborn diaper patterns (some free, some paid), and she just had a baby of her own so she's been updating the reviews with pictures of the diapers she sewed on her baby.

That said, I've tried out a few patterns that she didn't review :) First up is the Rocket Bottoms newborn pattern. This is a free pattern that was just released in August, so of course I had to sew some up before Q outgrew it! Here's the first one, on its own and then under a newborn Proraps cover. She is about 1.5 months old and around 11 lbs in these pictures.

Outer: Woven cotton (Joann's)
Hidden layer: Bamboo fleece
Inner layer: Suedecloth
Soaker: Petal style, total of six layers of bamboo fleece, topped with suedecloth

And another... similar construction to above, except the outer woven cotton is from Walmart, and the inner is minky (Joann's Soft & Comfy fabric):

On the bum, 2.5 months old, around 12 lbs:

I really like this pattern. It is sized very similarly to the Darling DIapers newborn pattern, but I think I like the shape a little better. Q outgrew both of these fitteds at around 3 months old and 13ish lbs. I lent them to a friend who is using them on her baby, who was a month old and about 7 lbs when she got them, and she says they're working great -- so they fit a pretty good size range.

This next diaper is not technically a newborn fitted. It's a Witteybums size small.

Outer: Cotton knit. This was an old t-shirt of mine that was wayyyyyyyy too short and tight for my post-baby body :) But I thought it would make a cute diaper and it does! I chose the Witteybums hip snapping pattern because it doesn't require much fabric, which was good because the shirt was pretty tiny.
Hidden layer: Bamboo fleece
Inner layer: Cotton velour
Soaker: Snake style, 3 layers bamboo fleece/1 layer cotton velour

1.5 months old and around 11 lbs in these pictures. She is currently almost 4 months and approaching 15 lbs, and it still fits well. This is one of my absolute faves.

And finally, a Rainy Days size 1. This is designed to be a newborn + small diaper in one. The front snaps down for the newborn setting, or can be unsnapped for the small setting. I think it's a little bulky for a true newborn, but it'll certainly fit from pretty early on. She's almost 4 months old and approaching 15 lbs in this picture, and it fits well on the larger ("small") setting.

Outer: Cotton interlock
Hidden layer: Bamboo fleece
Inner layer: Cotton velour
Soaker: Petal style, total of 5 layers of bamboo fleece/1 layer cotton velour.