DIY Adventures in Diapers: All-in-One diaper

Last week I posted about my experiences making a pocket diaper for my son. I learned from the mistakes I made and applied them to an all-in-one diaper. If you’re unfamiliar with what exactly an all-in-one (AI1) diaper entails, read this post. This style of cloth diaper is the closest to a disposable.

The pattern was similar to the pocket diaper I sewed, but I added an attached insert. There’s still a pocket, so I can add absorbency, if I want, but the diaper can be used as is. Just snap the diaper on the baby, and he’s good to go!

Click on Photos to Enlarge

This medium-size diaper fits babies approximately 18-28 lbs.

Smallest Setting

 

Largest Setting

This AI1 diaper features a PUL outer and fleece inner. I upcycled a fleece blanket to make the lining.

Fleece Inner

A note on fleece: micro-fleece is wonderful for the inside layer of a diaper since it wicks moisture away from skin. However, regular fleece (blizzard, anti-pill) can do the opposite and repel moisture. Since I’d used pieces of this particular blanket before to make a stay dry insert, I was confident this piece of fabric would allow the liquid to pass through into the insert and keep the moisture off my son’s skin.

The pattern instructions called for two inserts to be stacked on top of each other and both sewn into the diaper. I think the bamboo batting I used for inside of the insert must have been much thicker than what was intended for this project, because there was no way I was getting both inserts sewn into the diaper. They were too thick. I also had difficult sewing just one insert to the lining, probably because the regular fleece I used is quite thick. I ended up attaching the insert on one of the shorter ends, instead of sewing it all the way down lengthwise.

Insert attached on one end
Insert attached on one end- can be pulled out to speed drying

Besides the insert difficulties, I struggled with one of the legs. I’m not sure what happened, to be honest, but somehow it turned out twisted:

Twisted leg hole

I decided to take the top stitching out around the legs and resew. The fewer holes in PUL, the better. But with the way the leg is above, it wouldn’t maintain a waterproof seal around my son’s leg anyway, so I figured I might as well try to fix it.

It was slightly improved afterwards (but still looking jacked up):

Stitching uneven but leg elastic area less twisted

My best guess is that it has something to do with how I originally sewed the elastic onto the fabric. Next time, I’ll try be more careful while sewing the elastic on.

I decided to only put elastic on one side of the pocket, the back side of the diaper. This way if I add another insert into the diaper for extra absorbency, it will theoretically come out of the pocket on its own in the wash.

Pocket

I love how soft, squishy, and absorbent-looking this diaper is!

Tips:

PUL can be very difficult to sew with, since it doesn’t feed well through the machine. Place some tissue paper over it (or under it), and this will solve the problem.

Tissue paper makes it easier to sew with PUL

When placing snaps, always reinforce the PUL under the snap. You want this diaper to be completely waterproof. You can either glue an entire yoke of PUL fabric on the inside, before placing the snaps; or, you can just use small squares of fabric. These can be glued on as well, if you want them to lie flat.

Reinforce PUL under snaps

There you have it! Next up on my sewing agenda: a cotton-topped pocket diaper with a hidden PUL layer.

Do you sew your own diapers? Have any tips for me?
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All-in-One: The Easiest Cloth Diaper to Use

For someone who’s hesitant to cloth diaper, an all-in-one (AI1), may be the best place to start. All-in-one diapers are the most like disposables, because they go on as one piece and come off as one. No stuffing required. They fasten on the baby with either snaps or a velcro-like closure.

The outer part of an AI1 is always made with a waterproof or water-resistant material, usually PUL or TPU. Sometimes the waterproof layer may be “hidden,” with a cotton or other fabric layer on top for decoration.

Bumkins AI1

The inside of the AI1 varies, depending on the brand. Some are made with organic cotton or bamboo. Others, like the Thirsties AI1 below, have microfiber inside topped with a stay-dry material to lie against baby’s skin.

Thirsties AI1

All-in-one cloth diapers work well for care-giver situations, babysitters, nurseries, or day cares, since they’re so simple to use.

Another positive of an AI1 diaper is they’re often trimmer than other styles.

GroVia AI1

There are some negatives. They tend to take a longer time to dry than a pocket diaper, since the soaker part is actually sewn into the diaper and cannot be removed for dry time.

Some diaper brands like Thirsties make their AI1s with soakers that are only attached in one or two areas. This allows the soaker to “pop out” for faster drying time.

Thirsties AI1 “Tunnel” Design
BumGenius AI1

There are other possible negatives besides the long dry time. All-in-one diapers tend to be the most expensive cloth diaper option. They also tend to be more difficult to customize absorbency, since there is usually no pocket to stuff. One must add doublers between the baby’s skin and the diaper in order to add more absorbency.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Most like a disposable
  • Trim fit

 

Cons

  • Long drying time
  • Not as customizable
  • More expensive

 

Have you tried AI1s? What did you like/dislike about them?

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Review: Fitted Diaper from Diapers by Chris

When I came across Diapers by Chris, I was excited to see how comfy Chris’s diapers look and the cute prints she has available. She has quite a few diaper prints and designs that I haven’t seen before. After checking out her Facebook page and Web site, an “Avengers” fitted diaper caught my eye. One of my son’s middle names is Thor, so I asked Chris if she could make him a “Thor” diaper. She said she would look for fabric, and she found some!

Click on the photos to enlarge

 

Chris began sewing cloth diapers after her daughter was born. Like many of us, she was concerned about the negative impact disposables have on our environment.

All of her diapers are sewed with fabrics like natural bamboo, hemp, cotton, and fleece. Although she can make perfect-size or newborn-size diapers, many of her premade diapers are one-size, fitting approximately 12-35 lbs. Chris also offers several styles: fitteds, hybrid fitted, all-in-one, and all-in-two.

The Thor diaper is a fleece one-size fitted diaper with layers of fleece on the outside and inside. Also included were two soakers: large and small. Chris sent a handwritten note with the diaper. In it, she explained some laundering instructions as well as information about the diaper specifically. She also thanked me for my purchase. I thought this was a very nice, personal touch.

The diaper is about 6″ wide at the narrowest part. The size is very customizable, since there are three rows of snap adjustment for the rise and ten snaps at the waist/hip.

 To give you an idea on size, the back of this fitted diaper measures 15″ from wing to wing, fully stretched. The front measures about 10 1/2″ from wing to wing.

A BumGenius pocket diaper measures 15 1/2″ from wing to wing (fully stretched) at the back. The front measures just over 11″ from wing to wing.

A TotsBots Bamboozle fitted diaper measures 16″ at the back with the wings full stretched and 9 3/4″ at the front.

(Note: Measurements are approximate. I’m not an expert measurement taker person.)

The small soaker is 12″ long and 3 3/4″ wide. It’s made with bamboo fleece and topped with bamboo velour. The large soaker is about 14 1/4″ long and 4 3/4″ wide. The large soaker is also made with bamboo fleece but topped with crushed panne. Both soakers are very soft, but the bamboo velour feels silkier than the panne.

My experiences with the diaper:

My son wears this diaper on the lowest rise setting. He’s 4 months and 17 lbs. in the photo below. He still has a lot of room to grow in this diaper. I’ve been able to get a good, snug fit around the legs with this diaper.

I was skeptical at first of how well fleece would work, since it’s the first fleece diaper in our stash. I thought the fleece would get soaked quickly, and I’d have to change him for sure after a couple hours in the diaper.

Yeah, I was really wrong about that! I now absolutely love fleece as a diaper fabric! After about 3 hours in the diaper without a cover, the outer fleece wasn’t even feeling damp. I took my son to the change table anyway. When I opened up his diaper, the soakers were wet, but the fleece diaper was still completely dry. The larger soaker wasn’t completely soaked yet, either, and could’ve held more pee. I tossed the soakers in our diaper pail, and stuck a doubler inside…snapped the diaper back up, and good to go for another 3 hours! After that (we were approaching 6 hours total with the diaper at this point), the fleece was starting to feel just a little tiny bit damp.

The next time I tried this diaper on my son, the plan was to use it without the soakers, so I could have a genuine idea of how long it would be before this diaper would start to feel really wet. Unfortunately, my son thwarted my plans by pooping in it several minutes after putting the diaper on him. No matter. Now I can attest that the diaper holds poo in!

I tried this diaper again on my son without the soakers, but I did put a diaper cover over top. The front of this diaper started to feel wet after an hour, but the back still felt dry. It feels like the diaper has more layers of fleece in the back, due to the “Thor” print, so that is probably why.

Fast forward a few times. I’ve used this diaper with the soakers and without a cover on my son every couple of days for the last two weeks. The soakers take longer to dry than the diaper, but that’s to be expected, since they’re made with bamboo.

This diaper and the soakers are holding up, they appear to be well-constructed. They are soft and definitely do the job.

Want a Diaper by Chris of your own? You could win one! Chris will be sponsoring a prize for the Hoppin’ Halloween Giveaway Hop Oct. 25-31 right here on My Life: A Work in Progress. Stay tuned for the giveaway in just a few short weeks! Can’t wait? Buy your own! =) Check out Diapers by Chris on Facebook and her store!

Note: I purchased the item reviewed above. I was not compensated for this review. The opinions are my own.

 

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