Sewing Your Own Cloth Diapers in Canada

I was just at Fabricland in Calgary and was shocked that they are now carrying PUL Fabric. The had cute fold over elastic and snaps and a hand press. I was impressed, they had quite the selection of adorable prints and really nice solid colours. It seems to be pretty expensive per meter but when you take into consideration how much you end up paying for things online maybe it isn't so bad. As with everything at Fabricland it definatley is worth it to have a membership if you do any amount of sewing. They often have pretty good deals for members. I might buy some for myself if it goes on sale anytime soon. The line is called Babyville.

When I made the cloth diapers for my friends twins I bought the PUL from Wazoodle a Canadian company. The pricing was pretty good and I bought a large amount of material. I used the ECO Bamboo French Terry as the absorbent Fabric, if I could do it over I wouldn't have used this material for the soakers. Maybe it was the soaker was too small or maybe it just wasn't absorbent enough. I wish I could find the fabric they use for the AMP Bamboo inserts these are the only inserts that I have used that didn't have any build up issues and are super absorbent.

I  use the bamboo fleece as the inner fabric and it was nice and soft. I have read that some people have had to deal with long shipping time and bad customer service but I had a pretty good experience with them.The shipping can be expensive but it was cheaper and faster than ordering from the States.

I also bought a heavy duty snap press online at the snapstore. That cost a small fortune but it was my birthday present and I love it. It is definitely less time consuming and the cheaper to use Velcro but speaking from experience it is better to put in the time and use snaps. Babies have a way of undoing the Velcro every single time. Jack was very good at taking the diaper off even if he had his pants on. They do have the hand snap press and snaps at Fabricland as well.

I used a diaper pattern from Very Baby. I really liked the pattern it was very well written and easy to follow, and you can just print the pattern. I hate waiting for patterns in the mail. I think the only complaint about the pattern was the size of the soakers that you would put into the pocket diapers. I made the mistake of cutting all my absorbent fabric before I made a test soaker. It was way to small and I am pretty sure my friend didn't use them at all. So if you use the pattern I would suggest making a tester first. I asked my friend how the diapers are holding up. She definitely recommends top stitching over the elastic so the inner fleece doesn't roll out. She has been having some leaking problems with them. I wish I lived closer so I could fix them for her.

O & L modelling the cloth diapers I made for them.

If any fellow Canadians are wanting to make your own cloth diapers this might be a good way to try your hand at making them yourself without having to commit to a huge order of material.

If anyone has used the Babyville products let me know how you like them and how they are holding up.