Posted by Dydeepants on February 05, 2005 at 19:42 [205.188.116.72]
In Reply to: Favorite Diapers? (looking for ideas) posted by MyMelody on February 04, 2005 at 08:44
Hi MyMelody,
A few years back, when I was in highschool (yes I was a TB), I learned a few things about sewing by making diapers out of scrap material on my Mom's sewing machine. Later, I actually made two pairs of snap-up babypants with wettie-pad vinyl inside and flannel print outside. The edges were covered with nylon seam-binding. These were heavy-duty pants alright, maybe a little too heavy as they were a bit stiff. Also, wetness would tend to wick around the leg and waist bands. I came to appreciate how tricky it was to combine four materials into a single seam and do it evenly. They were the vinyl, flannel, seam binding and the elastic (which had to be tensioned). The first one was actually a size too small because I failed to add some material for the overlap of the snap area. The second one I mailed to a penpal Mommy in Colorado. Although that particular project seemed to be more trouble than it was worth, I learned a LOT!! You know, about the limitations of my machine, and how other people solved the problems I encountered. Also, how to find the right materials (or not). A few years after that, I took a one-day class in
"overlock" sewing. It was in a specialty store in Nashua NH that sold overlocks. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, "overlock" generally is the kind of stitch found on the inside of all t-shirts. If you do not 'bind' the edge of a fabric near a seam, the threads can fall off and unravel, eventually they can reach the seam and the seam can fail at that point. There are many ways hem or protect the edge of fabric to prevent it from coming apart. Overlock is only one way of doing it, by actually looping thread around the edge. These machines can have up to four or five spools of thread being used at once. One cool feature these machines have is a very tiny cutter that shears away excess material on the outside edge of the seam. It does that so that the width of the seam is the same from beginning to end. The usual home machine is a straight-stitch or chain-lock. Although simpler, there's a lot that can be done with it. There are strategies and techniques to making neat, even and durable seams. A big advent in home machines was the "zig-zag" that has discs that program the action of the needle into a side-to-side pattern which effectively creates a double-stitch, as though you had two needles. These discs are essentially cams and they can create decorative stitches too.
Anyway, three cheers for your preference for cloth diapers, they are the "Real Thing" after all!! May I suggest you go for a straight rectangular prefold design for several reasons. Contour designs have some round areas that are harder to sew (not that hard). But more than that, rectangular is more traditional and will give you a much more babyish look and feel. Contour is more prone to leaking, but rectangular will give you that adorable "diaper waddle"!! If baby doesn't walk like a duck, you need more diapers. You can't do that with disposables (with all due respect to their convenience, their main advantage). Here are several sources for babypants and diapers too, that are worth considering. The first two sell "Gary" pants which I know to be high quality and a good value. I've bought some "Cloud Pants" from Fetware and those sizes (Gary) run large. So what would have been a 'medium' (for me) was replaced by a 'small' (and it wasn't small, just right).
www.fetware.com
www.plastic-pants.com
(they have an interesting flat prefold with an eight-layer center panel. It has round corners too which look real nice!!)
www.acmedi.com/acms
And then there's AC Medical which is worth a visit to their amazing website!! Their incredible product line is very very inspirational !!!! There are are a lot of pages there, some of which can be hard to find. Lots of very nice photos!!!!
Dydeepants
Email: ddpnts@aol.com