Sewing Success!

OK, these are not perfect (yeah that one in the middle - waistband is attached inside out, oops). But they are so completely functional and fit so wonderfully:

...and were made by me! And how freakin cute is that kid, huh?

To a non-cloth diaper devotee they probably look a little funny, but they are fleece soakers. Here's how it works. Fitted diapers are diapers that do not have a waterproof layer, so they need a cover over them. You can buy waterproof layers, and there are some great ones out there, but they don't breathe so great. So an alternative is using fleece or wool. You lanolize the wool which repels the moisture but still wicks the moisture out and then it evaporates. Fleece does the same thing, but doesn't require the special care that wool does. Its sounds unlikely but it is really like magic - you can have a soaked diaper under these things, but to the touch the fleece is completely dry. And now I can make them, thanks to this free pattern and a wonderful tutorial by Liberty's Belle If you aren't interested in sewing your own, but want some fleece soakers, check out her etsy store, she's taken them to a whole new level of cute:

LibertysBelle

OK, now I'm really gonna knock your socks off. Thanks to a fabulous tutorial over at diapperswappers, I overcame my fear of elastic this weekend and.....MADE A FREAKIN' DIAPER!

I can hardly stand myself at this point. I used an old tshirt, a microfiber towel for the absorbant layer, and some microfleece for the inner. But  there's more! I've been talking about those pillow covers I've been working on, made of canvas dropcloth I then appliqued and embroidered...well, this weekend I used this amazing and magical tutorial and installed a zipper that looks like this:

I mean, SHUT UP, right? It is the coolest thing - you follow these crazy and bizarre step by step instructions then you cut open a seam and voila there is this beautifully and professionally installed zipper. I was on cloud nine. Nobody in my house was impressed, so I hope you are! It's the little things, you know? Here's the finished product from the point of view most non-sewing folks would think is most important:

It may not all be much in an accomplished sewer's opinion, but as far as I'm concerned I'm ready for project runway. I'd like to thank the academy, and the laundry list of great tutorials I listed above, katrina who was generous enough to share for free her soaker pattern, my husband who let me spend a huge chunk of the weekend hunched over my sewing machine with only a small amount of griping and guilt tripping, and most of all my boys, my inspiration. More on them later!