Quest for Diaper

Before I talk about diapers I'll spare all of you who don't have to worry about such things. Let's talk instead about great stuff to arrive in the mail this past week.

From the other side of the planet came a great package from Anastacia, a wonderful artist whose collages I have been admiring for a while:



It's a whole bunch of handmade tags, to go on gifts for others or to be hoarded by yours truly. I love the vintage children tags the best. These are definitely getting hoarded. I am making a small package to send over to A to thank her.
Speaking of collage work, I can't wait to get my greedy paws on one of Pixiegenne's fabulous decoupage suitcases this month at Renegade. To justify the purchase I am buying it for Harlan to keep his little Leggo and Fisher Price toys in. If he ever decides he is too old for it or it's just not "him", then I'll have to take it I suppose.
This official sewing pattern arrived from Liesl yesterday as well:
When I took her backpack making class last month we used a draft of the pattern. Now I have the finished publication, along with the book with directions. Great graphics and very comprehensive.
My Martha Stewart craft supplies came in quick time this week too. Oh, did I forget to confess to a little online shopping? I ended up buying the special ruler with the edge that attaches to the rotary cutter for automatic straight lines, no matter how much booze is in the system (or my case no matter how much clumsiness is in the system):

I threw in a lovely blue ink pad (images to come soon) and a couple of circular punches since they can supposedly cut through felt.

The only craft item I have done any work on lately is finishing up this baby pillow which is reserved for Kim S:

It was a lot of fun to make and I'll do a few more when time permits. I think it's just the kind of thing a mom wants for her baby's room. I know I do!

There is not going to be a plethora of crafting this summer. I am focusing wholeheartedly on moving south which is taking up almost all my free time. So far I have been looking at houses on the market (online) and tomorrow I fly down to see a few of them over the weekend. This is the first time I will be without Harlan for more than about two hours so I'm kind of scared, but also looking forward to the down time this trip will involve. My blog posting will probably only be about once a week until I am settled in our new home (and I have internet access. They have that in Texas right?)

Now, on to my Quest for Diaper. I originally decided it was time to switch over to cloth when the garbage issue reached full force in our building. Once El Raton was discovered I decided to cut down on garbage production as much as possible. Composting happened, and recycling went nuts. I even started saving plastic bags and batteries to bring over to Whole Foods which has bins to collect these items. I also really wanted to save money and to use something natural on my baby that would also be super cute and fun. The system I have been primarily using consists of a G-diaper which is sold with flushable inserts. I do not use the flushable inserts because they end up costing as much as disposables, and they do not hold much urine. Instead I place a micro-terry insert and a micro-terry doubler in the removable nylon pocket that snaps in the G-diaper cover. I wrap the two inserts with a biodegradable diaper liner for the purpose of easy-poop-removal. Just lift the liner off the diaper and drop the whole mess in the toilet. Then drop the dirty liners in the diaper bin to be washed. Assuming the diaper cover has not been dirtied, replace the nylon liner with a new one and plop in a new insert sandwich:
This is the inside of the diaper cover with the nylon liner holder:


Here it is with the insert sandwich put in:



Here is the whole thing on:


At night I like to use what is called a pocket diaper. The first pocket diapers I ended up liking are called Fuzzi Bunz. They are pretty popular. This type of diaper is like a pair of snap on panties that can be stuffed with additional inserts to absorb urine. Each pocket diaper must be washed after each wear. The outside of these diapers are usually made of a waterproof material called PUL, and the part that touches the skin is usually micro-terry fleece.

I discovered another brand of pocket diaper that is my favorite, called Green Acre Designs. These are made and sold by another "work-at-home-mom" so that is an added bonus for me. I love the design of these diapers and you can order them with custom color combinations. I started with a brown and pale blue combo and it fits like a glove and is super absorbent. No leaks at all:


The inside material that I chose (you can choose from a couple of different fabrics with GADs) is called suede cloth and it's made with bamboo which is very absorbent:


The fit of these diapers is really above and beyond the other brands I have tried. It's very trim and not bulky under clothes. Look how cute they look on:


I would use these all the time personally, except that I am concerned that the PUL outer layer is too hot for the Texas climate. I poked around on some diapering message boards (OK, I am obsessed, let's face it) and the message I got loud and clear is that cotton and hemp or cotton and bamboo fitted diapers beneath thin wool covers are the coolest and most absorbent way to go. At first I was quite skeptical about how cool it might be to wear wool in the summer, but then I remembered my corporate days of having to wear a suit all year long, and I did have a summer weight wool number from Brook's Brothers that was surprisingly cool. Here are two beautiful wool covers I ordered from Sugar Peas:


They sell hemp/cotton fitted inserts that snap inside:


All diapers need to be pre washed a few times before they become totally absorbent. This is especially true for hemp which apparently contains oils that need to be washed out of them before use . Wool diaper covers also need to be treated with lanolin on occasion to keep them water resistant. They do not require frequent washing and do not smell from contact with a dirty diaper underneath them. I also ordered a super luxurious wool cover from Kiwi Peels but it's back ordered. These are also handmade by a stay at home mom. She's sewing as fast as she can.

If any of you are interested in learning more about cloth diapering there are some great resources online. This forum has a ton of information for beginners, on everything about the choices available to how to prepare new diapers etc. I've been really enjoying posting on the diapering forums and exchanging information and support in a friendly environment, but, get this: The forums are frequented primarily by super Christian home schooling moms and super crunchy attachment parenting types. Who knew there was a world where these two worlds collided? I sure didn't. My friends and I have mulled over what the common ground might be and I have come to the conclusion that it's mostly about simplicity and living in a natural environment.