Twin Diapers

So, just to bring you up to speed, I’m getting 5 nieces/nephews this spring. (Did I mention that our last remaining married unpregnant (we thought) sibling just announced her pregnancy?) Two sets of twins, and one singleton (confirmed). Yeah, like I don’t feel the pressure now…

While I am busy imagining all the goodies I get to make for my nieces and/or nephews on the way, my sister, Heidi, just found out that both her twins are girls. What crafter doesn’t LOVE making girly stuff, really.

My sister being super thrifty like me has cloth diapered her one child, and is planning on cloth diapering her twins when they come. As my baby gift to her, I’m making the diapers for her. I’ll be getting some help from other family for the supplies, and I’m donating my sewing skills, and some more supplies. (By the way, if you are family/friends of my sister and wish to contribute to this fund, email, facebook, or call me.) After much discussion and research, and searching out and asking women online who have had twins and cloth diapered, we decided she should get some AIOs (All in Ones.) These are diapers that go on just like a disposable. No pieces, no taking apart, pinning, no folding, etc.

So as I embark on this enormous project, I’ll update you on the plans and research. Diapers so up REALLY fast, and they don’t have to be made all at once. (That’s what I keep telling myself.) I’m planning on making 3 sizes: small, mediums, and large. I’m skipping over the newborn size because she’s planning on using sposies for the first few weeks. I considered making one-sized diapers, but after making them myself, and having my thunder-thighs baby actually grow out of them (if it’s actually possible to grow out of a one sized diaper before hitting 9 mos!) I think her babies might do the same.

She’ll have 20 diapers for each baby in the smalls and mediums, and 10-15 for each baby in the large. I’m hoping to have the smalls done by Christmas, so I can hand deliver them to her. The mediums, I hope to have done by the time I visit the babies (hopefully!) after they are born this spring. The larges I’ll figure out how to get done sometime after that.

So do you want to know the big diaper plan? Here are the colors Heidi picked out from my favorite diaper supply store:

White (with hot pink snaps)
periwinkle (with burnt orange snaps)
raspberry (with burnt orange snaps)
butter (with hot pink snaps)
apricot (with hot pink snaps)

When she first heard she had the option for color (since it doesn’t cost any more to make that way) she was thinking pastels. But when she saw all the colors available, she veered off from that path. As you can see, she prefers snaps to Velcro (like me) and since I already have the handy dandy snap press, we’re going in that direction. I limited her to 5 fabric colors, and 2 snap colors.

I have 5 diaper patterns, but since I’m going to do these assembly line style I’m limiting myself to one. You have no idea how hard it was to pick out just one pattern to use. There’s a new one out call La-di-das that I’m dying to try, but no. 5 patterns are plenty to choose from. Don’t you think? Me neither.

So that pattern that came out on top was the Hippy Hippy Snap Pattern. It uses the least amount of fabric, is very trim, super easy to sew, and it fits my kids when they’re newborns and chunky. Since historically my kids and her kids have followed the same chunky tendencies, I think it will be a good choice.

My choice for fabrics: PUL outer (which is waterproof) suedecloth inners (which wick moisture away it will pull wetness from baby’s skin like a sposie.) Flannel hidden layer, with a sewn in microfiber/flannel soaker. Sewn in soakers in an AIO can have the problem of taking awhile to dry. Heidi assured me that in her hot dry climate, drying has never been a problem.

So there you go. You can expect to see more of this project in the future, as the supplies are slowly trickling in. I have the suedecloth, flannel and microfiber sitting in my sewing room. The PUL is on the way, and the snaps will probably be ordered tonight, or very soon at least.

I am so excited to make these diapers for my sister. Another part of me, though, is glad my sister in law has decided not to use cloth for her twins. 😉