Wool diaper cover

Hi all! I told you how I've made the side-snap pocket diaper out of wool, so I thought I'd write a post on HOW to do it. I love using wool diaper covers, especially when they've been upcycled from an old sweater. They're breathable (nice for summer!), water resistant, and absorbent, so less likely to leak. Plus, they're a lot more forgiving when you're making them. You can piece it together and be imperfect and it'll work exactly as if it were perfect! If you haven't read my previous post on how to make the side-snap cover, it'll be good to refer to. There are several points that are the same, so I won't go into as much detail on this tutorial as I did with that one (like putting elastic in, putting snaps on, etc.).

Cute little woolie!

What you'll need:

-100% wool sweater from the thrift store, felted (I'll show you how in a minute)
-Elastic- a 1/2 yard should be plenty:
     1/4" for Small
     3/8" for Medium and Large
-Thread
-Snaps, snap pliers or setter, awl (if you don't have these and live nearby, you may borrow mine, OR buy them here: Kam Snaps )
-Pattern from here: Cloth Revolution Pattern
-Lanolin (the Lansinoh brand for breastfeeding works well, but any brand will do)

Selecting your wool and felting it

1. Select a 100% wool sweater of medium thickness. Too thin, and it won't a) felt well, b) hold it's shape when sewn, and c) be as water-resistant as you'd like for a cover. Lots of thrift stores will have then on sale right now. I just got 6 sweaters for about $10- nice!

100% wool. I try to get the largest size I can find to have the most material :-)

2. Throw your wool sweater in the washer on HOT for the longest cycle you have.If you have more than one sweater, you can do them all together. Check them when done, if they don't look like they've shrunk very much, run it again. I don't use soap, but you can use a tiny bit of wool wash or cloth diaper-friendly detergent if you really want to.

3. Throw them all in the dryer on HOT until dry.

This is pre-felting. Look at the weave.

This is post-felting. You can barely see the weave anymore- that's good! It's make it more water-resistant, because it's harder for liquids to get through.

You can see how much they shrink- this is that same mens XL Gap sweater. It's a tad small now...

That's it! You're ready!

Making the Cover

This is going to be single- layered, not a pocket style the the other one. Remember that the pattern has a built-in seam allowance? We'll fix that so the diaper won't be too large. The way we fix it, the sizing will still be close to the same- wool stretches a bit more when using it than PUL, so this might fit be a tiny bit bigger.

1. Find the biggest piece of material on the sweater- probably the back. Lay out the pattern. Pin. Cut out.

My back wings went out into the arms of the sweater, over seams- that's fine! If you have to piece chunks together, that's fine, too.

On the back, cut it straight, don't cut out the pocket elastic tab (like I did). Also, if you use the hem of the sweater, it's ok if it's smaller. Look at the bottom of the pic above- the sweater doesn't line up with the pattern- completely fine.

2. Find two pieces of wool so we can double layer the front and back wing pieces.

Cut strips like this for both front and back.

My back extra strip is pieced in the middle- see the seam?

3. Now, we're going to cut out the seam allowances, while making tabs to create channels for the elastic.

Find where the pattern shows the elastic tacking point is, and cut 1/4 inch slits a little bit higher than the mark (so the elastic channel will be a bit longer than the pattern says).

Then cut out the excess part between the channel and the wing tabs- don't cut the front or back or the wings down- just these little pieces.

Do front and back parts between the elastic channel and the wing end. 

So, when you're done, the diaper looks like this (minus the tab in the back- on the left of the pic- I cut that off later)

 4. Decide which side of the wool is the inside (doesn't really matter- but if you've pieced or have gone over a seam, that should be inside) .Pin the elastic channel tabs you just cut over on the inside of the diaper. Pin the extra wing strips in place (sounds like a sports bar- "I'll have extra wing strips with fries. Thanks.").

Pinned.

5. Now we're going to sew all the way around. Since the wool is felted well, it shouldn't unravel too much, but just in case we're going to use a narrow, short zig-zag stitch around all the edges, sew the wing strips in place, create front and back elastic channels and create the channels for the leg elastic. It's not as complicated as it sounds :-). I used a hot pink thread bobbin because a) I was too lazy to make a brown bobbin, b) it's cute with the brown sweater, and c) so you can see it better!

See where I sewed? All the way around the wings, front and back, and then I sewed the leg elastic channel tabs down, then I sewed little channels for the front and back elastic. Go back and make sure you caught the extra wing pieces with sewing- I had to resew the front (on the left) to make sure they were sewn together well. Your extra wing pieces should still be open toward the middle of the diaper (I don't have a pic). We'll sew that last side down later, but we need it open for now to put the elastic in. If the wool curls a bit, that's ok, it'll relax after you've lanolized and used it a few times.

6. Elastic time. You'll only need one piece for the back this time- for a total of 4 pieces. The sizes should be the same as the last diaper-
-Small would use about 2 inches in the front and 4 inches on the legs and back
-Medium- about 3 inches long for the front, then about 5 1/4 inches long for back and legs
-Large would need 3 1/2 inches in front and 6 1/2 inches for the legs and back
That's an estimate. You can measure the elastic in your current diapers to get a better idea.
Do the front first, then the legs, then the back (it's easiest, but probably doesn't really matter). See previous tutorial for more instructions on putting in elastic.

All in and sewn down well!

 7. Snaps. Again, same as before. This time, you can make the caps hidden inside the back wings (under the extra wing pieces) so they're not against baby's skin. Six on each back wing, 2 on the front (unless you're doing a small). I did mine pink, 'cuz it's cute!

I did mine about an inch apart.

8. Now, sew down those last wing pieces with the same narrow, short zig-zag stitch.

All done! Well, almost.

Lanolizing 

I didn't make that term up, promise. This is a better tutorial on how to do it, so if my instructions are confusing, try her method. Her tutorial uses baby wash, I don't. Just my preference.

You'll need:
Lanolin
Tiny jar with lid (like an old spice jar- preferably glass)
Sink

1. Put your beautiful cover in the sink. Run warm water over it.

Let it soak up the water- swish it around, squeeze it a bit if needed. 

2. Fill your jar with water. Add a pea-sized blob of lanolin.

3. Microwave this uncovered for 30 seconds or until it's super hot.
4. Put the lid on it, and shake. If it's too hot to handle, hold with a towel or pot holder.

It should be a nice milky color.

5. Slowly and evenly pour about half of the lanolin water over the whole diaper in the sink while swishing diaper around in the water. Then, flip the diaper over, and pour the rest on the other side.

Instead of holding the camera with the other hand (like me), you should be swishing the diaper around.

Like this.

6. When all the lanolin is poured, rinse out the jar a few times with the sink water and pour over diaper. Swish around well.
7. Let it sit for about 5 minutes (or more if you forget- like I did).
8. Drain the water out of the sink and press the diaper against the side of the sink to get most of the water out.

It's amazing how much water wool absorbs!!

9. Lay out on a clean kitchen towel, roll up, and squeeze to get even more water out.

10. Let air dry! I put mine on my rack in the dryer and dry on extra low heat for forever- like an hour or more until it's dry. I'm too impatient to let it completely air dry.

Drying...

TA-DA! So cute!!

I use these the same way as the PUL covers- lay a tri-folded pre-fold inside. You can also use over a fitted diaper. I was nervous about wool the first few times I used it, but now, I love it! If you have problems with the wool absorbing too much and seeping through, you may need to lanolize again. If you put the cover under the water and the water runs off, you're good, but if it absorbs without too much squeezing and squishing, then re-lanolize. Keep in mind that this is not plastic, so if the diaper is too wet for too long, liquid eventually will seep through. But, I use mine at night with a premium pre-fold, and haven't had a leak yet- even with a heavy wetter!

To maintain wool: don't wash the cover unless it's soiled. Just let it air dry and reuse. Wool is naturally anti-microbial, so it'll prevent bacteria from growing. If you do need to wash, use a gentle baby wash in the sink, and re-lanolize.

Please email me if I've created questions! I'm happy to (try to) answer them! consideringsparrows917@gmail.com

-Celina