I Made One Cloth Diaper!

I gotta say, I'm pretty proud of this little diaper!  It's the first one that I've finished.  After a week or so of thinking, sketching, and carrying my tape measure around everywhere, I finally sketched out my pattern. I guess I'll see what needs to be tweaked after test driving this one a little, but I'm fairly happy with the results so far.

This is a one size fitted diaper made out of an old T-shirt. It has one sewn in soaker and a second soaker that snaps in under the attached one.  I had a lot of trouble getting good pictures because my model wanted to chew on the diaper.  Once he had it on, he didn't want to stay still for pictures.  Always moving!

I finally just took one while he was sleeping on my lap (as I type this).

Silly me, I forgot to change my thread color, so I was top stitching with white on a dark fabric.  It didn't get too wacky though!

Update:  I made a couple more like this one and we have been using them for a while now.  With the next two, I added an extra layer of t-shirt material to make it a little thicker.  I think I will change the snap placement on the wings a little, but that's about it!  I'm thinking of trying a few hybrid fitteds next. These are fitted diapers with a layer of fleece hidden inside to make them moisture resistant, but not water proof. This way they breath little more, but can last a bit more without a cover.  I like letting him run around at home with just a fitted.  It's very easy to tell when he's wet and his skin gets a little more air.

Can I actually make a functioning cloth diaper??

I love using cloth diapers and I've really started to think about making some of my own.  I'm becoming more and more friendly with my sewing machine.  For years it's mostly been gathering dust.  I sure don't remember very much of what I learned in my 8th grade home economics class, so it's involved a lot of online research and YouTube videos.  Maybe some time I will be able to take a local class, but for now I'm just trying to use the machine more.  The most complicated project that I've completed lately is a simple draw string skirt for myself, although I did make some other clothing items back in high school.  Can I make my own diapers?

I'm going to start by trying to make a T-shirt fitted diaper.  We like using fitteds, coverless or with wool covers, around the house and at night.  So, we would use it and it wouldn't involve getting a bunch of specialized or expensive materials.  This way I can figure out what pattern I like most while expanding my sewing skills.  I just need to get a pattern together for my diaper.  This has the overall shape, snap placement, and elastic placement.  I know I need to use snaps because Hubby just doesn't want to use any of our snapless fitteds.  Snappis don't work well with knit materials anyway.  There are a few popular free diaper patterns available online, but I think I'll try drawing up my own first.  The results could be interesting!

Maybe someday I will get good enough to make and sell some diapers for a little extra income (a girl can dream, right?), but for now I'll be happy if I can make one that works for my little guy!