Sorry to my fellow readers. Life with the 3 kiddos gets busy even during the summer. I'm at a crossroads right now with my kiddos: Big Brother wears underwear most of the day, Little Sister is wearing trainers (cloth and disposable to be honest) and sometimes panties, and Baby Sister is still in diapers. I'm still making things just not all cloth diapers. It has been a while since I made a diaper. I did cut out a trainer and a matching diaper for the Sisters but they aren't sewn up yet. I got a little burned out with sewing for a month or so.

This blog may turn more into a craft blog than for diapers - I'm not sure yet.

Flats Challenge wrap-up

Wow life went a little wild and I never posted about the rest of my week of flats and handwashing. I did it and succeeded in using flats for Baby Sister all week but on Fri Little Sister was crying for a "paper diaper" (sposie). On Saturday, Mr H. watched the kiddos for a while and put her in a sposie - after that she wouldn't go back to a flat. I did have to pick up a pair of rubber gloves halfway through the week to protect my poor hands (the excema was trying to spread on one of them). I found that I liked the pad fold for Baby Sister but every time Little Sister wore a pad fold it bunched up weird and if she pooped in it I had to retire the cover because it was very dirty. So the Origami fold worked the best for her. I did try the origami with a twist on both girls but it I like the original origami fold.

By the end of the week I felt like a pro at handwashing (even though my bucket lid split in 3 places).  I know that if some disaster does happen I will be prepared to wash my clothes using the bucket. I'm keeping my bucket washer for that reason. It was eye opening and definitely doable.

Flats Challenge Day 3

Enjoy! The rules are here.

Today will most likely be the only sunny day during the challenge so I took the opportunity to use the sun. These dried in 3 hours.

Baby Sister in a pad folded flannel (made by me) flat inside a Thirsties Duo wrap.

She is pretty happy

Not sure what Little Sister is doing (excuse the mess in the background) but she is in an origami folded flannel flat covered by a fleece cover I made. The snappi was barely hanging on.

Day 1 and 2 of the Challenge

I forgot to post yesterday. Oops. Here are the rules for the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. I was kept pretty busy with the kiddos. I did change the Sisters more often than I normally did because I was mainly using my flour sack towels and birdseye flats. Plus I was dealing with a constipated Baby Sister suddenly not being constipated any more. I think yesterday I was just trying to stay on top of things. I did pretty well and changed a total of 12 flats between both girls and used 4 covers total. I washed my diapers in my camp style washer and had some sore hands. Next time I'm not going to attempt washing that many diapers all at one time. I hung them to dry in the only free area in my house - my basement. I wrung them out as best as I could and then snapped them (getting water in my face when I did that) and thought I did a good job.

Today, I decided to use a different approach when I woke up to discover the diapers that I hung to dry last night were still wet and it was raining and cloudy all day. Last night I finished using an overcasting stitch all around all but 2 of the flats I made on Sunday night. That was my flat of choice today and I used the pad fold and I now love how easy it is to fit in a flip cover or a Thirsties cover. I felt like I could have them in the flats a little longer today because I was using the flannel flats and they seemed pretty absorbent. I still like how trim they are and I may just use pad folded flats in the few pockets I have after the challenge. Baby Sister's flat first thing this morning was pretty bulky but it was a receiving blanket folded in the pad fold and folded over in the front. I love fluffy bums on my babies since they are pretty skinny and petite. In the morning I plan on washing today's diapers and hanging them to dry outside. Tomorrow there will be more pictures too.

Preparing for the flats challenge

Wow things are going pretty quickly and the challenge starts tomorrow morning. I still need to do some prepping on the flats that I made. I cut out the material and I worried about not having enough for the Sisters I decided to make more than I had originally planned. I still need to sew around the diapers so they don't fray as much in the wash.

They are pretty colorful!

Here is the plunger with the holes in it and with the bucket for my "washer"

So here is what I've done to prepare for the challenge:

• cut out 10 flannel squares (some are smaller than others because that's what I had on hand)
• bought a plunger and a 5 gallon bucket from Walmart.
• Mr H drilled holes in the plunger and the lid.
• Tried out the washer by washing what I had dirty. I think the full load was 6 flats, 4 covers, an AI2 with 2 inserts, a Flip stay dry insert, and a fleece trainer. It was a bit full in my bucket but I washed them and hung them on the line outside since it was actually a sunny day. I did have to take them in earlier than I planned because it got pretty cloudy and looked like it would rain. All the flats and covers were dry but the others went into the dryer.
• Figured out my covers. I have only a few that the Sisters share and technically I could use 10 covers because I'm diapering 2 kiddos but I don't have that many covers. I'm using 3 Thirsties Duo Wraps, 2 flip covers, and 3 fleece covers as backup and for naptime.
• With all the flannel that I cut out the grand total of flats that I have is 26 for 2 girls. I don't think Big Brother will let me try to put a flat on him for naptime or bedtime.

I also made note of which flats are trimmer and which are more bulky. The flannel flats are bulkier with the origami fold on both of the Sisters. I love how trim the Osocozy flats and the flour sack towels are but the towels get wet quicker than the birdseye and the flannel.

Little Sister in an Osocozy flat Origami fold it is trim

A little bulk in the bum but that is to be expected.

Baby Sister in a receiving blanket flat Origami fold. It's the bulkiest flat I've tried.

And the flour sack towel is the trimmest flat.

Flats and Handwashing Challenge

I have posted before about how much I love flats. They are cheap, trim, and easy to care for. Well I have decided to challenge myself a little bit.

A while ago, I heard about some parents who were trying to save money so they rinsed out their disopsable diapers and reused them and their kiddos got sick. One article is here if you want to read it. So to make others aware that there is still something cheap and easy to use that won't make kiddos sick, Kim, from Dirty Diaper Laundry is hosting a challenge to only use flats and a few covers and handwash them for 1 week: May 23 - May 30.

Why am I doing this?

I started using cloth diapers because they were pretty expensive when Little Sister was born.  Then add Baby Sister with Big Brother not quite potty trained and that adds up to a lot of $$$ for 3 sizes of disposable diapers.  Plus add to the fact that flats are one size and dry faster than other diapers, I can use the flats for the 2 Sisters in cloth full time.  I also make most of my diapers to save even more money. I think that handwashing the diapers in my really hard water may actually get the diapers cleaner than it does in my HE front loading washer.  So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm taking this challenge to save a little more money by making some flat diapers and not using my washer or dryer.


I have only 6 actual flat diapers but I did just pick up some flour sack towels from Walmart and I have some receiving blankets that I use. I also have a lot of flannel that can easily turn into flats. I sorted out the girly flannel that would be big enough and Little Sister has been asking me to cut her "blankies" but was excited when I told her they were going to be pretty diapers. I think I have enough to diaper the Sisters for a day so if I wash every night it might work.

Trimsies

I made my first diaper with the Trimsies pattern and think I'm in love with this pattern. I love how trim these are in the crotch and the combination AI2 shell and the insert (which is technically a double insert) is still super trim. I had some material left over from making a purse and thought it would make an adorable diaper. I got it cut out - outer cotton, hidden layer of PUL, and inner layer of anti-pill fleece a few days ago but got it finished last night during another bout with insomnia.

see how trim they are on Baby Sister?