How to afford Wool Cloth Diaper Covers

Written by Diaper Diva

The expense can be overwhelming. A hand-knit pair of longies can run you around $50 +/- & even ‘recycled sweater’ longies can be $20-40 depending on where you’re getting them. I don’t care how cute & well made they are, i just can not spend that kinda dough to cover my baby’s butt. However, I do really like wool! My solution? My mother in law gave me her old sewing machine this past summer & I spent a month stalking Goodwill for wool sweaters. So far I have made 4 pair of longies, Two shorties and one soaker. I spent about $20 for all of them (including miscellaneous items like thread & elastic).

Here are two free patterns i used (the first is great for exact fit, esp. for making pj pants, the second look a lot more like normal pants but there is a little bit of guessing involved).
Bum Sweater
Sweaterpants

Since I know how to crotchet (not very well….) I also crotcheted a pair of longies for diaper girl, that I just finished last week. I have to be honest, most of the items I sewed from sweaters are not exactly “bullet-proof”. They don’t outright leak, and they’re great for bedtime, as diaper girl does not sit in her crib much, so there’s not compression leaking issues, but for around the house, I either double up or don’t use them except for sleeping. It all depends on the thickness of the sweater & type of wool I think. I’ve read that ‘felting’ them (basically shrinking in hot water &/or dryer on purpose) will add to the absorbency power.

However, my crotchet pair ARE bullet-proof. They’re a little too big (I need to add a drawstring) & shaped slightly odd (i told you i’m not very good at it) so they’re pretty much just pj pants, but they can cover a sopping wet diaper & still be dry on the outside of the cover.

If you’re into knitting and/or crotchet then there is a yahoo group that has an amazing database of patterns (some free some for sale). It is also full of helpful mommas that will answer all your wool or knitting/sewing questions.

Also, just as an explanation for the outrageous price for buying the knit/crotched longies: The yarn is expensive. I used Lion’s Brand Wool from Walmart (which is not the softest, diaper girl likes her pants, but for a newborn I’d want something softer) & even that is about $5/skein & It took 3 to finish longies for my 15mo old. It is also time-consuming work. I’m a novice so it took me longer than most I’m sure, but it was about a month and a half total. So the knitting mommas are not ripping you off.

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