One of the most common questions I get in my inbox is “What are your favorite cloth diaper resources?” I thought I’d compile a list of online stores and some tutorials here and update as needed.
Where to order specialty fabric online:
Here are a few of my favorite cloth diaper fabric suppliers (I’m based out of the US so keep that in mind):
Very Baby
Wazoodle (They carry the Zorb brand of absorbent fabric)
Fabric.com
Nature’s Fabrics (They carry bamboo and hemp fabrics as well as PUL and Stay Dry)
Cloth diapering has made a huge jump in popularity the last few years so you are able to find basic PUL in most big box fabric stores. PUL comes in fun prints and solids. If you find a print you like, you can always eliminate the outer print for your AIO diapers.
Sizing
Since babies are all different shapes and builds, sizing for our diaper patterns is a general guideline. Generally, sizing for our cloth diaper sewing patterns is as follows:
- Newborn: birth to 16lbs (Newborn Hybrid Fitted).
- OS: 10-36lbs (OS Hybrid Fitted).
- Small: birth – 12lbs.
- Medium: 10 – 22lbs.
- Large: 20 – 30lbs.
Another way of looking at it is as follows:
- Small: infant
- Medium: baby
- Large: toddler
But as with most diapers, the sizing is approximate. A thinner, but heavier child can fit into a smaller size longer whereas a buddha baby will need to go up a size sooner. I include a crossover tab so you can buy the next size up and get more wear out of the diaper.
Elastic
One of the most common questions I get is how long to cut the elastic for each diaper. The answer is DON’T! What I like to do, and what I think works best is to keep your elastic long, without cutting. At the starting point on the back elastic section of the diaper, tack the elastic in place. Once it’s tacked down, puuuullllll the elastic (almost as hard as it will pull) and zigzag down the entire section of the diaper. Once you reach the stopping point, tack that end down and then cut your extra elastic. Repeat for each side/leg of the diaper. Having that longer length of elastic gives you a nice handle to pull on when stretching it to zig zag over.