First pocket diaper - success!

Well, "success" may be a bit early to declare. But, it looks good. I still need to prep it and strap it to Pumpkin to see if it both fits and does its job. If it fits her and works as a biological containment device, it will truly be a success! And really, even if it doesn't fit Pumpkin, there is another baby on the way that it is sure to fit at some point.

All-in-one pocket diaper; pale pink polyurethane laminate (PUL) lined with diaper fleece, sewn with melon polyester thread, fastened with melon snaps.

Geekly was the main laborer, and it took a grand total of about three hours from start to finish. I like to think that I was "creative counsel"; a nice way of saying that I sat beside him like a magpie (or harpy, depending on perspective) and told him what we should do, and expected him to make it happen. I'm still afraid of the sewing machine, and while we were working on it yesterday afternoon, I was so tired that I was falling asleep at the table. I napped on the couch while he made more progress. I think he reported the elastic as being the most difficult to do.

We began by using the free pattern from Celtic Cloths, but ended up doing a lot of modifications, so it turned out to be a completely unique design. I wanted it to be a pocket diaper, so Geekly had to figure out how to make that happen, since the Celtic Cloths pattern wasn't a pocket design. We also arranged the snaps like a Fuzzibunz one-size, which was a departure from the free pattern.

The thread and snaps look rather red in the images, but they are more a creamy melon color. I love the contrast with the pale pink. And look at now neat Geekly's stitches are!

PUL isn't a fabric that is widely available in stores, so we'll have to order prints and other fun colors online. Hancock Fabrics only carried the pale pink PUL that we used, a pale yellow, and white. Their "diaper flannel" is also pretty thin, and I expect that it will pill pretty quickly. Our favorite liner is the sueded fleece that bumGenius uses to line their diapers, but I'm sure that's proprietary, and can't be bought anywhere. If we really get good at this, I will probably de-stash our uglier Fuzzibunz and use the money to buy supplies to make our own.

I really don't want this to go the way of the knitting. I was so gung-ho to learn to knit, and Geekly learned how since he is so much more savvy with his hands than me, with the intent to help me. I just got frustrated and gave up before I really gave it an honest shot. We have several hundred dollars worth of knitting books, yarn, and tools in a few boxes under the dresser in our bedroom. I really want to make diapers. I wish there was a Patience Fairy℠ that could come and bestow the appropriate amount of patience upon me to learn something new. I just hate it when things don't come easily to me. Everything seems to come easily to Geekly. I think that's why I cling to photography; it is one of the few things that comes naturally to me, and I'm darn good at it.

Pretty in pink. Yep, my dude did most of this. Who says sewing is just for women? I'm having trouble thinking of many things sexier than a crafty, handy man that is confident enough in himself to make pretty pink diapers for his darling little girls.