Going Cloth

So, as mentioned in my last post, I am making the leap to cloth diapers.  (No more newborn poop means this is as good a time as any.)  Our wallets will be needing a break this summer, as my maternity leave has cost me my summer pay checks.  Anyway, I have completed the sewing process for the cloth inserts for the gDiapers (well, half of them anyway... one dozen down, another dozen to go).  Here's the process I went through, for those of you who may be interested.  

Supplies I used:
-Gerber premium prefold 6-ply cloth diapers (this means they are the ones with the thick center section that has a layer of cotton batting)
-microfiber auto towels

*The microfiber towels happened to be on sale at Target, so I wound up paying about as much for supplies altogether as I would have paid for about two boxes of disposable diapers.  Assuming all goes well, I think it's totally worth the price.

*Note to those who sew: the premium diapers, along with the added layer of microfiber, folded into thirds, is rather thick, but because it's all basically cotton and compresses easily, my inexpensive sewing machine did fine with the bulkiness.  However, I do NOT think I could have added another layer of anything.  Several designs I saw online added a layer of fleece on top to whisk moisture away from the skin (supposedly poop also does not stick to fleece very much), but these designs just used regular flannel rather than the premium diapers.  I definitely could not have added the fleece.  My machine would not have been able to handle the added bulk.

This is how I lined up the cloth diaper and the micro-fiber towel.  Luckily, the width was perfect.

I pinned the two layers together just outside each side of the fold lines of the diaper and stitched along these lines.  (I recommend using a small zig-zag stitch for all the stitching.)  Then, I cut off the excess strip of diaper at the end.

Then, I folded the microfiber part into thirds, like this.

Next, I folded the diaper part over the microfiber.  You could probably just fold both layers together, but I didn't want any microfiber hanging out because it's bad for baby's skin.

This is a close-up of one end of the diaper that is now folded into thirds.  I stitched across each end.  It works best to do one line of stitching as close to the edge as possible, and then do another line of stitching about 3/8" further in.

At first, I thought I would leave the flap open so if I decided to use a "soaker" insert for night use, I could slide it in here.  (I'm new to the whole world of cloth, so I don't know much about this.)  BUT after running the diapers through the washer, I realized this was a bad plan because they get all bunched up and turned inside-out in the wash.

...so I decided to run a line of stitching down the center, length-wise.  This is the finished product.  It's almost exactly the same dimensions as the gDiaper disposable inserts (the M/L size).

Here's my first dozen diapers!  I just finished them, so we haven't used them yet.  I'll let you know how that part goes, as well.