How-to: Old T-shirts Into Prefold Diapers

Before I start the tutorial, I'd like to announce to the blog readers that I am 27 weeks pregnant! It's a healthy, active little boy and he's due April 17. Yay!! Now on to the diapers I made for him...

Ashley is the one who originally introduced me to the cloth diaper revolution. (I wasn't even aware I had a choice) I've done a lot of research on the subject and decided to try out several different kinds before making an investment. One of the most cost-efficient types are prefolds. These are cloth diapers that can be folded and placed inside a diaper cover or even used as a doubler or insert for pocket diapers. I found a great tutorial from fernandfaerie.com on upcycling old t-shirts into diapers. Since my husband's time with the Marine Corps has come to an end, I found us left with piles upon piles (I'm not exaggerating) of olive drab undershirts.

Supplies you'll need for one diaper:

-2 t-shirts

-scissors

-sewing machine

-"snappi-able" fabric (optional)

I started by cutting off the bottom hem and a straight line across from armpit to armpit to create a square.

Seperate the square into 2 separate squares of fabric and repeat with the second shirt so you have 4 squares. Put your squares into stacks of two and fold each in half.

With folded edges toward each other, overlap the two sides so that it creates 3 equal columns of fabric that are 4x8x4 layers thick.

Sew along each center folded edge. If you want to add the snappi fabric, now is the time to do so. I chose to conserve the fabric I got and placed mine as follows.

The final step is to either serge around the edges or you could trim them all to make sure they are even and carefully zigzag stitch. Here is the final product.

For me, this project was virtually free. We already had the shirts available and I spent 3.50 on a remnant fabric for use with the snappis. There's still a LOT left so the amount I used on one diaper was a minute amount of change.

There are many ways to fold and use these diapers and I've found YouTube to be a great source of instruction.

In February, I am taking a class at my local Joann's on making a waterproof cloth diaper cover which is one option to use in conjunction with the prefolds. Stay tuned for a tutorial after I learn how!

DIY: Pajama / Lounge Pants

 I have owned a functional sewing machine for over a year now, but I'm still very much a novice in the sewing world. Granted, this has a lot to do with having a very energetic toddler and not much free time, but it's also due to a lack of confidence in my abilities and not really knowing where to start. I have successfully repaired elastic on my gDiaper liners, repurposed some bed linens into an apron, and some other simple projects, but sewing my own clothes (or clothing for others) was too intimidating. But sewing my own clothes has always been my dream, so recently I managed to muster up the courage to dip my toe in with a very newbie-friendly project - pajama pants. I figured something with an elastic waistband worn in the privacy of your own home is a good place to start. Hubby needed a new pair, so I was able to justify the purchase of some flannel and matching thread to make him some comfy pants for his birthday. I must confess that his birthday was actually in March, and he ended up getting the promise of some pants for his birthday. But he didn't really need them until this fall anyway, so hubby waited patiently until I was ready to tackle the project.

Internet research led me to this Instructables tutorial, which I studied for quite awhile until I became convinced I could do it. I was a little freaked out about making my own pattern instead of buying one, but the tutorial explained it in detail and provided really helpful photos. It turned out to be pretty simple and straightforward. I took the author's advice and used wrapping paper to make the pattern. It was perfect for the job, and best of all, it didn't cost me anything since I had leftover Christmas wrapping paper in the basement. Tracing the waist was a little tricky, as you have to stretch the elastic completely out and trace that length, then connect it to the leg (which is traced without the elastic stretched out). I wasn't sure I'd done it right, but the pants actually fit perfectly when they were all done!

As for the sewing, everything was also fairly easy and beginner-friendly. The photos were awesome here too. I felt the hardest part was sewing the two legs together, as my only experience with this was making a pair of shorts in my middle school home ec class, and I have no memory of assembling those. It took some time for me to figure out exactly how to tuck one leg into the other, but now that I've done it, this will be a breeze in the future. Since I had a bunch of leftover fold-over elastic from diaper repairs, I decided to use that to minimize costs. Figuring out exactly how to sew the elastic together and insert it into the waistband was time-consuming, but again, this is a skill I will retain for future projects and it'll get easier with time.

I'm so glad I decided to do this project! The pants turned out great, hubby loves them, and I learned some very useful sewing 101 skills that I will be able to apply to future projects. I am already planning some pants for my son as well as Christmas gifts for the family. Check out my finished product - modeled by husband, with special appearance by my son, Jackson - below.

He's a good sport.

I was ecstatic that the plaid print is actually straight.

Perfect for work-at-home parents!

Happy sewing!

Upcycling Plastic Shopping Bags

Hello all! I apologize for not having a 'real' post sooner but I have been running around like a crazy person trying to get everything perfect for my husband's return home from deployment. I hope you all have been enjoying Ashley's great projects; I know I am! I've wanted to share this great idea for a while now and I am not about to take credit for it. I learned about it via YouTube. It is a super project because it is extremely low cost (or free) with high benefits! I know everyone out there has a closet/cupboard/drawer/what-have-you just full of plastic shopping bags. What if I told you that you could turn them in to sturdy reusable shopping bags?! Crazy, I know. All you need to accomplish this is:

-about a million shopping bags (that I know you already have!)

-scissors

-a large crochet hook size M or N (or large knitting needles size 15 or 17)

-and the most basic crochet or knitting skills.

First what you need to do with all those bags is create what is called 'plarn' or plastic yarn. This is the easiest part of it. I attempted to take pictures of the process but it is much easier to understand with a video. Luckily I found this extremely helpful one here.

Here is a pic of my plarn!

Once you have this, you're ready to rock. I am primarily a crocheter, so I am using that method for mine. Here are some helpful tutorials if you are completely new to crochet or knitting.

Single Crochet

Knitting

Once you know the basics of your chosen method, it's simple! You will need 2 large rectangles that are the same size, 2 rectangles that are the same length but a smaller width than the previous, and then a smaller one yet that will fit as the bottom of your new shopping bag. If this is confusing to visualize, take a square reusable shopping bag you already have and get the measurements from that. The rectangles will be easy to attach to each other and there are many methods you can use. Try youtubing some to see which one feels best for you. The handles can be braided using several strands at a time.

By no means do you have to only make shopping bags from your plarn. There are many different things to do with it and feel free to experiment!

Happy crafting, and if you enjoy crochet or knitting, stick around for more of that in the future!