Took a picture of my BG 4.0 stash tonight. Yes, I know we’re out of diapers in the daytime. That doesn’t mean I can’t still love on my nighttime ones!
Top to bottom: White, Jet Setter, Sweet (x2), Mirror (my FAVORITE), Clementine, Eiffel Tower, Grasshopper, Sassy, Retail Therapy, Moonbeam, Zinnia, Bubble, Twilight.
After making yet another trip to the fabric store (which of course, I have to go to a different town for) I have completed a second diaper cover. This one is way better than my first, though I still have a long way to go.
Here is how I addressed my problems from before:
1. I used velcro. It’s not perfect, and I forgot to sew the squares on to the tabs before I sewed the cotton and the PUL layers together. But other than that, it worked out well. Oh yeah, and the band that the sides attach to is too close to the seam. But those things can, with some concentration next time as I’m sewing, be fixed.
2. Sew on the elastic from the outside (cotton side), not from the inside (PUL side). I did this. Acutally, what I did was use a straight stitch with the PUL side facing up, then flipped it over and did another straight stitch with the cotton side up. This way it hid my first straight stitch and it looked nicer.
3. Use straight stitch, not zig-zag. Did it.
4. My pattern was too big. I didn’t actually make it smaller, even in the crotch. I’m not sure why…
5. My elastic didn’t bunch enough. For the stretchy parts, I actually sewed in a piece of swimsuit elastic first, then did the FOE over that. It was much stronger and worked much better. That was Beth (the lady at the fabric store)’s idea.
I might actually be ready to try with fabric that I like more. We’ll see how it fits tomorrow!
As a direct result of some late night internet searching this weekend, I’ve gotten it into my head that I want to try and make my own diaper covers. My lovely husband enabled me and took me to a giant fabric store to get materials. Two days and many hours later, this is what I came up with:
And this is what I’ve decided/learned for future attempts:
1. Use velcro (aplix), not snaps. While my cheap self prefers snaps in covers that I buy (because of the longevity of the snaps versus aplix) they are MUCH harder to work with than velcro is. I say this, of course, after only one attempt, but I really think I need to get better at the rest of the cover sewing before I tackle snaps again. Plus, as far as I can tell, you can only buy plastic ones online and then I can’t have instant gratification.
2. Sew on the elastic from the outside (cotton side), not from the inside (PUL side). As you can sort of see in the bottom picture, the elastic on the outside looks terrible because I couldn’t see what I was doing.
3. Use straight stitch, not zig-zag. I’m not actually convinced about this yet but the Thirsties Duo covers that I have use straight stitch and they look fine. It’s easier to make it look nice (see #2) also, by doing it that way.
4. My pattern was too big. Specifically, too wide in the crotch area. I will make it smaller next time.
5. My elastic didn’t bunch enough. I don’t know how to fix this.
Overall, though, I guess it was successful. I am especially happy with the gussets, as they were a bit difficult to work with. I think it will be way too big for Little Bear but we’ll try it on tomorrow anyway. Also, this was my least favorite fabric so I’m glad I used it first. I’ll try again tomorrow… stay posted. Maybe if I actually get good at this, I’ll post a tutorial so all you more talented seamstresses (seamsters?) can show me up.
