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How to Sew Cloth Diapers with Babyville Boutique

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How to Sew Cloth Diapers

Have you ever considered sewing your own cloth diapers?  About a year ago I heard about a new company, Babyville Boutique, that sold cloth diapering supplies at craft stores.  I looked a few times at our local Jo-Ann’s craft store but never found them.  I only make it to the craft store a few times a year so I quickly forgot about Babyville.  A few months ago I finally stumbled upon an entire aisle of PUL, snaps, hook & loop, fold over elastic (FOE), appliques, and instruction books on how to make cloth diapers, covers, and accessories.

I finally decided to pull out the sewing machine again this past week and try my hand at some diaper sewing.  Thankfully, Babyville Boutique has some great instructional (and inspirational) books complete with patterns and lots of pictures.  I’ve thumbed through the books several times trying to decide which project I should start with.  Being that my supplies were limited I decided to make a simple FOE diaper cover with hook & loop closure.

The patterns are really easy to follow (even for a novice seamstress) and are available in one-size or sized patterns.  Each pattern gives you the option for a trim or wide width in the crotch.  This can be helpful for skinny and chubby babies to ensure you get a good fitting diaper.

Next step – sewing!  The Babyville books provide you with a quick lesson in sewing terms so if you are new to sewing it’s quite helpful.  The instructions also include step-by-step directions complete with pictures.  I decided to use a coordinating thread on the FOE but now wish I had purchased matching color thread – so you couldn’t see my sewing mistakes.   Mistakes?  Remember that I’m a novice and can’t really sew a straight line very well!  My stitching isn’t exactly pretty but it works!  By the second diaper cover I finally got better at working with the PUL and FOE.

I wish I had invested in snap pliers and snaps so that I could have avoided the hook & loop.  It’s a personal preference but I really enjoy the smooth clean look of snaps on my diapers.  When you are finished with your project it’s recommended to heat the diaper in the dryer to seal the small holes left from the stitching.  After about 20 minutes in a warm dryer the holes were gone and it was safe to try out the diaper.

Just add your favorite prefold or flat (or sew an insert with the Babyville instructions) and your diaper is ready to use on your baby!

How to Sew a Diaper Cover

As you can see by my finished product my sewing skills are not exactly the best.  I should have moved the hook & loop a little closer to the edge to prevent the wings from curling.  If you want to get really cute you could add a label using some of the Babyville accessories.

Baby Doll Diaper

I used some of the smaller scraps to make a few doll diapers as well.  You could cut use the newborn diaper pattern from Babyville and make it slightly smaller.  I used a doll diaper pattern that I had found a few years ago and added the FOE.

Babyville Boutique

Babyville Boutique

In addition to cloth diapers, the Babyville Boutique Baby Essentials Made Easy book has directions for how to make some really cute projects like a reversible placemat.  This one was fun and super easy to make!

Where can you find Babyville Boutique?   Hancock Fabrics, Jo-Ann’s Fabric, and Hobby Lobby all stock the Babyville products.  The display at my local Jo-Ann’s was really cute and full of creative ways to enhance your projects with appliques, labels, buttons, and other added accessories.

Babyville Giveaway

Want to win a gift bundle from Babyville Boutique?  You can enter their 5,000 Fan Giveaway on their blog where you could win a $175 prize package!  You can also enter to win a $75 Babyville Boutique prize bundle right here!  Follow the directions below in the Rafflecopter application (may not be visible on all devices or feeds) and you’ll be entered to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent a sample of Babyville Boutique products to complete the projects you’ve seen here.  No other compensation was received for this review.  

 

 





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Comments

    • I like all the prints, but for the reason behind this entry, the sassy girl polka dots will be the big winner ! Thanks 🙂

      Reply

  12. I love the Playful Friends collection, especially the owls. I am just a teensy bit obsessed with owls these days – my little guy’s room has owls all over the place!

    Reply

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