Since I last wrote about my cloth diaper project, I've gathered all my supplies - fabrics, elastic, snaps, snap pliers, and thread - and have completed two diapers so far. I'm very excited with my results! In this picture, the white and gold is a newborn size and the yellow and blue is medium.
I got to try both sizes on Ethan last week to check the fit - the newborn was already way too small, and the medium was just about perfect. I thought it was very cute on an even cuter nephew. :) No pictures, unfortunately--we've been asked not to post any.
After some thought, I've tweaked my plans a little and am going to be making small pockets instead of more newborns, and I switched to making newborn covers instead. Out of 2 yards of fleece, I was able to cut out 23 covers! One cover is finished, but I think I'll wait to sew the rest of those up until the pocket diapers are all done.
It's been so fun to put the snaps on what I've done so far. A couple of Saturdays ago, I received my snap pliers package all the way from China! The lady who runs the Notion Supply Yahoo group lives in Beijing, and it was really interesting to see all the Chinese characters and postmarks on the envelope.
For $20, she sent the pliers, three different sizes of cap dies, an awl, and then she threw in 25 blue complete snap sets and 10 medium size tags. They were easy to use, after the first few times when I was just figuring it out.
You apply snaps as follows. First, poke a hole in your fabric with the awl, then push the prong of the cap through from the bottom. Then put either a socket or a stud on top of the prong on the top side of the fabric. (In the below pictures, the cap prong is neon yellow, and the socket is white.) Next, slip the snap "sandwich" in between the pliers and center. Then you press everything together with the pliers. The cap prong is squished into a little circle, and that is what keeps the snap together.
Enough about diapers! On to quilting. :) I have at long last completed sewing together my entire Double Wedding Ring quilt top - yay! Now I have to pin the top, batting, and backing together and do the actual quilting part. That will take a long time, I'm afraid. I think I'm going to attempt to quilt it by hand, as my last one that I did with my machine was rather difficult to work with.
Now you are all up-to-date on my current projects!
Thanks for the updates! I'm really interested in the diaper progress. Not sure if I will try it for the grandbabies but I'm been reading about them also and think they would be great.
The quilt top is beautiful. Hope you'll have fun putting all those little stitches in and what a treasure!
Posted by: Jane | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 12:04 AM
SARAH!!! Your sewing adventures are amazing! The diapers look just great and I bet they feel so soft and comfy, wonderful that you had a real baby there this past week to try them on!! (and what a sweet baby at that!) :)
The quilt top is just beautiful!!! You did a great job piecing it together (I'm no expert but it looks great to me. :)) Keep up the good work. I just did a quilt for Sandy's new baby, it was so fun and I have the itch to do more...soon I hope.
Posted by: Chris | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 07:55 AM
I'm always amazed at the skills you two sisters have (and mom too)! Your future husbands will be very blessed.
Victoria
Posted by: victoria | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 08:23 AM
Thanks for the sewing update.It must have been fun to try out the diapers.
Posted by: Tammy | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 08:24 AM
Great job on the diapers! What fun to have your new nephew to try them on. :) Your quilt top is just beautiful! My grandmother hand pieced and hand quilted all her quilts. I think we have at least five of them. I am always amazed at the love put into each stitch and love having them as a remembrance of her.
Posted by: Dorothy | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 09:51 AM
I just got my snap press from Serena yesterday. I haven't had a chance to try it out, but I'm looking forward to it.
Your diapers look really cute. :)
The quilt is amazing! It turned out so pretty. I love the fabric you used.
Posted by: Tammy | Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 11:11 AM