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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Fluff Talk Thursday {1}


This week's assignment at Fluff Talk Thursday, hosted by Beth at Happily Domestic, is to share money saving tips I have learned when it comes to cloth diapering.  For me, the key to being frugal and cloth diapering was discovering I had a good portion of the needed items already on hand.  I just had to think outside the box a little, which I will explain in further detail below.

When I started cloth diapering I didn't exactly purchase cloth diapers with cloth diapering in mind.  No, I bought Gerber pre-folds to be used as burp cloths.  I had been told that Gerber pre-folds made the best burp cloths so I had a lot of them ready for our firstborn's arrival.  When I decided to give cloth diapering a try, after baby # 3's arrival, I started by using pre-folds with Bummis covers and Gerber vinyl cloth diaper covers.  Though I purchased some name brand cloth diapers before the arrival of baby #4, my favorites being Gro-Baby and Haute, I wasn't able to afford enough of them to get me through more than a day.   So I use pre-folds as my backup when the other diapers are in the wash or drying out.   I have 4 Bummis and 1 Blueberry diaper covers that fit baby #4 perfectly right now, which I highly recommend for those using pre-folds.  {I really like these covers as they eliminate having to use diaper pins.} One thing I appreciate about pre-folds is that they are super easy to care for.  Whereas some of the name brand cloth diapers can have complicated washing instructions.  When you're a mama of four little ones, convenience is preferred.    

However, not that long ago I began to wonder how difficult it would be to sew some fitted cloth diapers for baby #4 using material I already had on hand.  If it was possible it would certainly be affordable.  

So I spent some time researching the subject and discovered there was a guide to sewing cloth diapers using a pre-fold.  Imagine my surprise!  In an upcoming post I will share how I sewed a pre-fold into a fitted diaper.  All I have left to do is to sew in the elastic and add the tabs, either velcro or snaps, and the project will be complete.  I plan to add one more feature than was shown in the tutorial I discovered, by adding a colorful outside layer to the fitted diaper.  Since I have a plethora of receiving blankets that were given to me from numerous baby showers throughout the years I plan to use one of them in this project.  


Another way I save money cloth diapering is by using baby washcloths as an alternative to disposable baby wipes.  There are numerous ways to prepare baby washcloths for cloth diapering.  The best how-to guide I found was by reading a post on the subject at Happily Domestic.  

Just wanted to add one more money saving tip.  I purchased most of the fitted, AIO or one size fits all diapers through Kelley's Closet.  Often, they have coupon's you can use that offer terrific discounts.  Kelley's Closet also sends a coupon with each purchase you make that can be applied to future purchases within a certain amount of time.  

So there are my money saving tips.  I look forward to reading all of yours today!



Belle
simply . living . life

5 comments:

Tara said...

And you have trouble with measurements?!?! You are over there doing all this sewing I wouldn't even attempt. Great job on being so innovative! I've never used cloth diapers but have given it a thought or two.

Tracey said...

I can't wait to see how you make a prefold a fitted!!! :)

Unknown said...

I've read about turning a prefold into a fitted but I've never tried it. If you want to skip the step of putting velcro or snaps on you could always use a snappi.

Chari said...

I have read about making a prefold into a fitted before. I may try this some time before I have another baby. I have 3 dozen prefolds (newborn & infant).

While I love the convience of pockets, I absolutely love using prefolds because I feel that they breathe better and I never get a diaper rash. No worrying about using the wrong diaper cream either!

B.A. Hunter said...

In answer to your question...Yes, the KaWaii Baby diapers DO work as good as I said. :-) Out of all the diapers I have tried (and I have tried quite a few) I would say they are in my top 4 favorite. If you can get up a group order you will save quite a bit more doing a co-op order. Most of the diapers with the co-op order are only $5-$6 each. If you want to know specifically which diapers I liked best (out of the 9 I reviewed) give me an email and I can go over it with you. I didn't go into great detail about that as my post was already so long.