Things I've Made (so far) PIC OBESE!

 Yet another atomic photobomb! Here goes... From beginning to now, and what I did wrong...

My first diaper...
I thought after seeing all the cute WAHM's dipes that it would be fairly easy to make a serviceable diaper myself. (haha!)
I decided to start with a hidden PUL pocket. (Cue laughter, for those who know.)
I traced the pattern I wanted to use, pinned (ow! ow ow ow! fingers!) and then cut out my layers. I used crushed panne for the outer, PUL, and some kind of fabric that I don't know what it is for the inner...
Ok, pause for digression.
I got this fabric at Wallyworld. The only thing it says is that it's 100% polyester, and it was in the el cheapo section- $2.00 a yard, and labeled "ROBEWEAR". ??? It's very soft, wicks like nobody's business, feels dry on top, and is slippery as all hell to sew. One side is suede-like, the other knit, it doesn't fray in the wash and makes excellent diaper liners because of this. It's an ugly toffee color. If anyone can tell me what to call it, I'd be sooo happy :D Ok, moving on.
Sewing this thing was a total pain in my ass. It slipped everywhere. Pinning it seemed to do no good. Priss ate up the panne and then choked on it, making this yet another time I was wishing for a bat to bash her (or maybe the diaper) with. I stopped halfway through and cried because it was coming out soooo awful. The seam allowance (the "standard" amount- to the edge of my presser foot) I'd left was a joke. Because of the slipperiness of the layers, I was "chasing" it everywhere to get them all sewn together. I also realized halfway through sewing that I'd messed up the effing layers, so I had to work around that, too. Then, since every tutorial has you sewing around the leg elastic casings, I did that. What was bad got worse. So it came out waaaay too small, crooked, un-stretchy and I hate it.  Blahhhh!! Waaaaah! UUGGHHH! (yep, made all of those noises + ARRRGGHHH!!! several times.)
So here it is:

 The only thing I got right was the back elastic. It came out beautifully! So there's not one, but two pictures of it!

 The leg elastic fail: Comparing the 1st dipe to the 2nd

Closeup: On the top is the second diaper I made, with the elastic threaded through like any sane person would do, because it's easier, and it comes out better.

Failure... Errr... Diaper # 2....

This wouldn't have been half bad if I'd just used velcro. But, I unknowingly got the wrong kind- adhesive, not sew on. I tried to use one of those little snap-kits with the metal snaps. DO NOT EVER BUY ONE!! It's $2.49 of CRAP and STUPID. The first snap went on great. The next time, it mis-aligned, so I pried it out... Took me 20 minutes. :P Tried again with the same result. Couldn't get the good snap out for the life of me, so it's still there. I keep this diaper in my sewing bin to remind me NEVER TO DO THAT EVER AGAIN.

 The damaged PUL from taking out 2 snaps:

Next Adventure: BABYLEGS!!! OMG CUTE!!

I convinced GW to let me buy some knee socks from Target to make babylegs with. I got 3 pairs in boyish designs, which also happened to match the onesies and other things I'd dyed for Alex. (I had accidentally washed one of my dip-dyed skirts, thinking it had been washed before... WRONG! I dyed an entire load of Alex's clothes a girly pinkish purple, and it had to be fixed...) Towards the end of sewing the first pair (the aqua & argyle) I stuck my finger in to help push the fabric through, and I sewed my freakin' finger. Blood was everywhere. My first thought was "OMG! Did I get blood on the babylegs???" Not "Oh crap! I could need stitches for this!" Meh... go me...

Damaged finger...

 I decided to take a break from sewing diapers, obviously. Eff those things. I found a cute pattern and decided to make shoes instead. Can't be that hard, right?  For my first attempt, they came out pretty good. I enlarged the pattern slightly, but not enough for Alex's big feet. They're still too small, but dammit, they're sooo freakin' cute!! This is also when I got smart, and decided to test sew some of the fabric before actually sewing the shoes together. And I also discovered that Priss has a serger-like overcasting stitch. And she likes to use it! And sewing many layers is also ok with her! And she also likes to eat fleece.

 Third & 4th diapers:
Bolstered by the success of my babylegs and the cutest little shoes EVER, I decided to try a diaper again. I looked up the easiest thing I could possibly make, and came up with something that BBC CD making mommas call the RRP- otherwise known as Rita's Rump Pocket. They're fitteds, which means they need a cover, but I had one, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It was a hell of a lot easier than trying to figure out PUL and all that crap. Slap two pieces of fabric together, and presto! It's a diaper! :D Well, it's almost that easy. It needs elastic and stuff. Then Fishnoodles was having a seconds sale, and I got two more covers, so now I have plenty... Anyway... This is the diaper I threw at GW because I was so pleased with how it turned out, and he wasn't paying attention. Both of these have the same inner lining as my failures. The first picture also has a few of the diaper liners that I cut from the same material.

2nd RRP- Pirates

After I cut this out, I did a /facepalm. The back would be upside-down. :( So, I decided to add a patch from the scraps, and fray the edges of it to make it look more piratey. 

Inner 

Back Detail

All folded up

Next up... Re-Attempting Hidden PUL...

Physics are pretty cool. The same properties can be tested over and over again with a fairly consistent result.

 However, I decided that I could ignore diaper making physics. I could put flannel on the outside of a diaper, and it wouldn't wick. I was wrong. /facepalm again. But, it's still cute... I didn't make the same mistake I made with the pirate RRP. I carefully placed the pattern over the parts of the design I wanted showing, and I just love the result! Isn't it adorable?!?!? It needs a cover, but, I can still use it. The lining is black Alova suedecloth, which is fairly common and blah, so no pics of that. 

Hidden PUL AGAIN...

After the wicking fail, I decided I couldn't ignore physics, because I am really not all that special. At first, I was just going to use the green fleece and the bat fabric for a blanket (what I made the shoes from). I tested out the fleece to find out if it was the wicking or repelling kind in a half-assed way. I was sewing up the shoes when I started thinking about how freakin' cute they were going to be, and my boobs started to leak. So, I grabbed one of my practice scraps, and shoved it in my nursing tank. Since my tank didn't get wet, I thought it would need further testing... Water rolled right off it, so it was perfect for a hidden PUL! YAY! And so, the bat diaper was born, along with a matching pair of longies. Which Alex really likes. To eat.

Do you see my sock? SEE IT! SEE IT NOW!

I love my pants! Sing a song of pants!!

HEY! Woman, where are you taking my pants? They are MINE!

Oh, such lovely pants!

I also sewed up the Halloween babylegs I mentioned previously, here they are! Awww!

I still have to finish up these wipes, and I was allowed to get some new fabric, which will go on fleecies like the bats did. I also got some more of the pirate patch fabric, because I love it, and there was only a yard left at our Joann's. I also still have to finish up those other upcycled fitteds. I hate elastic.