An update on the weekend

Hey guys, so I'm sure some of you are wondering how last weekend went with just prefolds.

I took lots of pictures and may write a more detailed post later as a guest blogger to earn some free diapers (at this point most of my free dipes will be gifts), but my loyal readers need an update, I realize!

So, we've traveled twice before and used only cloth.  Once, when Bunny was two months old, my husband took the young adults on a weekend retreat (he's also the young adult pastor at our church) and over Christmas when we traveled 7 hours to see my family we used cloth exclusively.  Both times, all we had were pocket diapers.  At the retreat I experimented with hand washing them.  I found that it was possible, but that it's difficult to hand wash and hand dry microfiber inserts because they just hold SO MUCH WATER! I was getting blisters from wringing them out and they weren't drying fast enough! (I think I only had 15ish diapers in my stash then, and since Bunny was younger and only breastfed--no solids--at that point, she went through more.

In the end, I found a dryer and just machine dried them all.  I found that hand washing pockets is doable but not ideal

Over Christmas I just used my parents washer and dryer with the pockets.  This worked fine.  It was much like cloth diapering at home... except that pockets are sort of bulky to carry around.  I had about 20 diapers at this time.

This past weekend, I bought prefolds and flats and brought 29 of them with me. (17 prefolds and 12 flats).  I didn't realize how much less my daughter needs to be changed now that she is 7 months old and that nearly 30 diapers would be unnecessary if I was planning on washing them--which I was.  Since I'm somewhat chicken about using prefolds at night, I brought 6-8 pockets with me for night time.  She only used four.  She generally gets changed only once at night even though she wakes up more than once on some nights.

And prefolding worked well! I'm still not the best at using prefolds.  I'm awkward about putting them on with the snappi and only using a wrap.  No matter how you slice it, it will never be as easy to put a prefold or a flat diaper on a baby as it is to put an All in One or a pocket diaper--or even a fitted.

But I liked it! I didn't mind that I was awkward at it! I'm such a cloth diaper enthusiast that I enjoy trying everything!

ANd I washed them--hand washed them in the bathtub and dried them in front of a roaring fireplace.  There was a dryer available because this was a retreat center with separate houses for showers, bathrooms, washrooms, etc, but I guess I wanted to know that I would be capable of cloth diapering in a worse-case scenario.  Ha ha! Next I'll have to try it while camping :-D.  I'll wash them in the river or something while carrying my baby on my back :-P.  ANyway, the clothesline I used was a rope my husband had along for some activity he did with the kids.

Originally I'd laid them out to dry on a tightrope he'd set up for one of the challenges (let me tell you, my husband is an AMAZING youth pastor! He sets up the most intricate and wonderful retreats generally with a movie to set the stage, challenges, clues, and everything always pulls together to help the kids learn one, God-centered point, but I digress!) but since it was rainy, the outdoor clothesline/tightrope wasn't cutting it.  The rope I eventually used was red and dyed some of my diapers with an orange line, but I'm sure it will wash out.  Also, the diapers were stiff after drying in front of a fire.  I guess they'd be the same way after drying outside.  They usually aren't stiff on my drying rack in the baby's room.

From now on, if a washer/dryer is an option, I"m using it because I don't want so much stiff fabric against my baby's skin.

It turns out that I didn't need to wash them at all, though.  Bunny only went through 19 prefolds (I didn't even have to use the flats--talk about an awkward diaper to learn to use!) and four pockets.  I could have just waited until I got home.

All in all, cloth diapering at a youth retreat was a successful experience.  I enjoyed it! I don't have very many covers, though.  I've discovered that Thirsties are, by far, my favorite.  I brought four of my wool soakers, two thirsties (one Medium with velcro and one duo size 2 with snaps), a Bumkins, and two made from diaeprkit.com.  I mostly used the Thirsties and the wool ones.  But with wool I don't like to have anything OVER the cover because one of the positives of using wool is that it feels almost moist when the baby has wet so there's no guesswork about changing.  No, it doesn't leak, or get anything else wet, but it does feel warm and moist.  Have I mentioned I love wool???

So, with the next points I earn from Diaper Junction from my posts there, I'm getting at least one THirsties.  I'd get a lot more but there are lots of other things I need from them--including a diaper for my friend at church who really needs more diapers but doesn't seem to have a way to get them herself.

 Oh, and we learned that Bunny really loves loud, Christian Rock...which is a GOOD thing since having a youth pastor for a daddy means lots of loud teenagers and their awesome music and festivals such as Creation that she will attend every year for her entire life...well, maybe not this year.  I don't know if I'm brave enough to go with her this year and deal with the throngs of dirty, hot people, port-a-potties, SUN,  and washing cloth diapers.  If there ever were going to be something to put me over the edge with diapers and push me to use disposables, it would be Creation!

Free Shipping Giveaways Coming Soon!

I love free shipping. 

LOVE IT!

I love it so much I keep a list of cloth diaper (and other) sites who offer free shipping.

...and I rarely buy from anyone but the vendors on that list unless there's something specific I want that none of them have, or I manage to find an item at another vendor that is cheaper INCLUDING the cost of shipping!

Why?  Because to me, paying shipping costs is like raising the price on the things I thought I found a good deal on which makes it so they are not worth my while.

I'm on a tight budget.  This is why I've chosen to cloth diaper in the first place! Usually, I cannot afford to spend the lump sum that most stores require for you to qualify for free shipping.  Usually, I can only buy a diaper here and there. 

And so I have chosen to bend over backwards to avoid paying shipping by always stopping by the stores listed in my sidebar first.  You should try it too.  I've bought stuff from most of them and they're all so GREAT!!!

So, I wanted to celebrate my love of vendors who offer free shipping with a series of GIVEAWAYS.  I'm still very new to this public blogging thing, so I'm going to be doing a very small giveaway event featuring  3 or 4 shops who offer free shipping. In fact, if you're a vendor stopping by and you'd like to be included, just drop me an email or comment and I'll be more than happy to include you. 

So, be on the lookout.  In April you will see a series of giveaways coming your way featuring some of the amazing stores in my FREE SHIPPING list to the right.  It's gonna be great!!!

Make Your Own Baby Wipes

Okay guys.  So if you're afraid to break out that sewing machine for the first time and plunge your needle in to something like a cloth diaper, then this is the project for you.  It's a great starting out/confidence building sewing project so pay close attention.

MAKE YOUR OWN BABY WIPES:

First, I start out with flannel.  Flannel is a good fabric for beginners because it's woven and not knit which means it doesn't stretch--good for first time seamstresses.  It's also soft and absorbent so it makes a great baby wipe.

Since flannel shrinks, you want to prewash it before working with it.  This is a good rule of thumb for any sewing project, actually.

 

I don't have a serger so I will be turning my fabric inside out to sew so that the seams remain inside and unseen.  So, I ironed it with the right sides facing each other.

Once it's ironed, you want to decide what size wipes you want.  My current cloth wipes (also handmade) are about 7" squared.  I decided to make these 8" squared because when turned out they will be smaller--about 7 1/2."  So, mark off lines on your fabric for the squares with a ruler and a pen or a pencil.  The marks won't be seen because they're on the inside of the fabric.  And anyway, they'll eventually wash off.  

Now, cut out your squares based on the lines you marked on your fabric.

You want to choose a thread that coordinates with your fabric because you'll be putting a couple of top stitches on your wipes (top stitching is when you sew seams onto the outside of your garment/project)

Time to sew the inner seam!  Very easy.  Leave about a 1/4 inch seam allowance, and sew a stitch along the edges of your wipe, leaving about 5 inches open (un sewn) for you to turn the wipe right side out. 

Your wipe will look like this when it's been stitched all the way around:

Now, trim the corners so that when you turn the wipe right side out they'll be nice and crisp. 

Time to turn it right side out. 

  

Next, it's important to iron the wipe so all the seams will be nice and crisp.  Since flannel is made of cotton, you can set your iron on high.  I like to start by ironing the inside of the opened seam on both sides, so that I won't have to pin this part in place when I sew it up.

Then, I iron the entire wipe.

Once it's ironed, it's time to top stitch it.  I like to start just before my opened edge begins to make sure that part is sewn closed properly.  Since the rest of the wipe is already sewn on the inside, I know it will stay in place when I top stitch.  I don't leave much of a seam allowance here.  You want to make sure your seam is close enough to the edge that it will catch the inner seam allowance or your wipe will still have a hole on the open edge.

This is what your wipe will look like once top stitched.  Your wipe is now complete if you want it to be.

However, I like to add one more top stitch to ensure that my layers will stay together throughout the duration of the wipe's life :-D.  So if you want to add another stitch as I did, then, go for it!  You could even try a decorative stitch here to dress it up some!  My finished wipe looked like this:

 

Now, wasn't that easy?  Don't you feel like you can do it?  If you're afraid to start sewing but you really want to learn how, then start here.  It's a simple project and there's no need for perfection because this is going to be used for wiping little bottoms, noses, and spit up. 

God bless your efforts!

Let me know how it goes for you!