Bad news!

Well after wearing the longies for a whole day, my son got a little rash on his tummy. I assume it is from the wool rubbing on his bare skin, I don't think it is because he is allergic. My husband hates wool, so this is a good argument for him. I don't know what I am going to do now... He is slowly growing out of medium-sized prowrap covers, and I really don't feel like buying some more covers. I would rather sew them. I just don't know what materials I am going to use... PUL? Fleece? Nylon?

Ideally I wouldn't want this material to be touching his skin. So I would have to make a hidden layer of the water resistant fabric. But if you want to avoid wicking from the inner fabric to the outer-most fabric this is really a difficult task to accomplish from the sewing aspect.

I will figure something out. :)

Another fleece wrap...

So I modified my pattern once again, but unfortunately am still not completely satisfied with the fit. I think maybe it is either a bit too large for him, or too wide? I do like how the elastic on the legs hold everything nice and snug... no gaping at all. If I leave the pattern as is, he will probably be able to wear this size until he is out of diapers, which is also one of my intentions with the wool - get as much use out of it as possible.

He is wearing a fitted under this wrap.

Anyways this was only intended as an experiment - before I cut into the fancy wool I have!

Thoughts about better cloth solutions...

Just jotting down my thoughts from tons of research about cloth:

Well I have been searching the web to find out more about diaper covers and possible fabrics for cloth diapering and have come across this page all about the cons of popular artificial materials (such as polyester and polyurethane laminate: PUL) used for sewing diapers and covers because of their water repelling qualities. It is all about how the polys aren't very good for us, and could potentially cause cancer in the long run.

Now, I have come to the conclusion that I would like to try wool fabric. Of course my local Walmart does not carry wool in any form, I would have to drive to the next town to get to a Joann's Fabric store (2 1/2 hours away). I have searched the web, but don't feel very comfortable about buying fabric that I have not touched. I did buy 1 yard of 100% merino wool interlock that is supposed to be great for covers, but it was pretty expensive ($20 /yard) so it is just to try, and if I like it ALOT I may consider buying more. I would like to only have to use one layer for a pocket style diaper, but then there is still that washing issue. Every time the baby poos or wets, the inner flannel layer would have to be washed... not good for the wool.

I think the best solution would be to make a wool cover that can be reused (hung up to dry if only pee) and doesn't have to be washed as often. The idea of converting my prefolds to fitted diapers would then also help to keep the poo in the diaper and not on my cover, so again the cover could be reused more often.

I would love to only have to use a single layer for the wool cover - thus saving on yardage and money, but I don't know how this is possible if I don't want to use fold over elastic. Maybe I will get a chance soon to get some wool fabric used for suits or coats at the fabric store and use a less expensive layer to sew a cover where the elastic is hidden?

I have also considered the idea of using an inner layer of ripstop nylon. Maybe sandwiched between flannel and an outer cover of velour? I think though that the moisture would just wick from the flannel to the velour and it would not be very effective. I would still need a water repelling fabric for the outer wall of the cover to keep the moisture in. Also I have read that the water repelling qualities of ripstop would not hold up against the constant washing that is required for diapering. So maybe it isn't really hepful at all.

Too much fun with Kool-Aid!

Yesterday I had a lot of fun (in between holding the bucket for poor sick N.) dyeing two skeins of yarn! This is how I did it.

First of all it was very important to keep the yarn somewhat under control, so you don't have a huge tangle to deal with when you are done.

I turned a chair up-side down and used the four legs to wrap the yarn around...




Then I used the last 6 feet or so of yarn to "contain" the wrapped yarn in a tie-dye fashion.




This is what the yarn looked like all wrapped up... pretty!




Next I soaked the yarn in a mixture of water and vinegar and prepared my dyes (here Kool-aid) but I also ended up using Easter egg dye as well...




I used 1 package of orange, 2 packages of grape, 1 package of black cherry (for pink), and 2 packages of black cherry (for red). The pink and red did just turn out to be pretty much the same color in the end though.




Then I prepared an old cookie sheet with cling wrap on it to avoid making too much of a mess...



Then I "painted" the yarn to my heart's desire! Well I started out just wanting a few spots of color here and there, but that didn't work out too well, so I just decided to make the whole skein as colorful as I could...






You can see that the colors bled a bit after being microwaved for 4 minutes (resting for 2 minutes in between). This is when I decided to get out the egg dye and fill in the white spaces with blue and green.




Hanging up to dry by the fire place.




Close up of finished product.




Restrung into a "workable" skein - I can pull it from the middle without too many tangles.




What it looks like with 1x1 ribbing... (this will become my next soaker)!




These are the results of a second skein of wool - I just couldn't resist!