robynsewsthisandthat

Okay…I love making children’s clothing. I sewed a lot when my children were small. I could easily make a cute little outfit from an inexpensive remnant. As they got older I continued to sew for them but, not as much.

I made my daughter’s wedding dress a few years ago….

It was beautiful. Exactly what she’d wished for. (Oh and that is all the siblings of the happy couple….minus one…yes, most of them are mine)

Well, now I have grandchildren to sew for…and again I am enjoying that. I will post pictures later.

I tried teaching sewing classes this summer at Joann Fabrics. It was a rather short teaching career. I learned a lot and plan to continue on my own after the first of the year. I am ironing out the detail for that now.

Being a rather newish grandma, I wanted to try my hand at making diaper covers with the new PUL (polyurethane laminated) fabrics. Water proof, drapes nicely, breathable and comes in cute colors and prints. The store was promoting Babyville Boutique and they carry many fabric packs and all the supplies you could possibly need including two books of projects.

Now most of my six children were raised in cloth diapers and I am very familiar with them and the rubber pants. I thought rubber pants were awful things. But, this product had me excited about trying it. A class never developed but, I played anyway.

I read the basic instructions for the diaper covers. Hmmm. I still had questions. For instance, the recommended elastic sizes really confused me as it tells you to cut 2 of the leg elastic. The instructions seemed as thought you are to sew the elastic on as one continuous piece. So I went to their web site http://www.babyvilleboutique.com. Well, that confirmed that it was to be one continuous piece of elastic. You are to stretch the elastic as you are stitching to create the elastic fit (gathers) in the legs and across the back. (on the second diaper cover I made I also created that gathered effect on the front. Just a little as I thought it might fit better. I also lined mine with a thin flannel. I just felt like it should be there. Here is the first one.

And another picture –

Cute, huh?

On the web site there was a tab for other projects. So, of course, I had to check it out. They had instructions for a reusable wipe. I liked it as it seemed a great way to use up scraps. 

Folding it pictured above and all rolled up pictured below.

Pretty clever. But, in hind sight….I will use terry clothe as the lining and attach the snaps to the outer fabric before sewing the the two layers together. I wouldn’t want to wipe my grandchild’s face with a plastic snap. (I followed the instructions then decided to write my own)

Here are both diaper covers and wipes –

What do you think? I have been thinking about the concept of being ‘green’ and the use of clothe diapers. I really like the idea. I’m just not too sure how ‘green’ the PUL fabric might be. But, it is much nicer than the old fashioned rubber pants and a heck of a lot cuter. If you have any questions or thoughts I’m happy to reply. I am happy to share more photos too.

Thanks!