Sewing Bamboo Inserts For Cloth Diapers

 

 

 

 

I just finished a batch of 13 inserts/soakers this weekend. They are made from bamboo organic cotton fleece and bamboo organic cotton velour. The first picture shows the batch completely done. They are closer in size than the appear in the picture. The end to your left (the top of the insert) has snaps sticking out the back, so it is hard to line them up exactly. The second picture shows the different layers "unveiled". The botton layer of bamboo organic cotton fleece has the snap studs sticking out the back. These studs snap into the cloth diaper. The snap caps (on the side you can see) are reinforced with scrap fabric to give them extra strength and durability. Then you can see next layer of bamboo organic cotton fleece with a strip of fabric sewn doen the center. These strips, made from two layers of bamboo organic cotton fleece fabric, are serged on all edges and zig-zag stitched down the center. They are then sewn onto the middle full layer of bamboo organic cotton fleece using a straight stitch on all sides. I don't want to give them any chance to move around when washed! I use these extra strips of fabric to give more absorbancy without making my serger sew through more than three layers of fabric. This full layer of bamboo organic cotton fleece is turned to that the extra strip is facing down. Then I add a layer of bamboo organic cotton velour to the top and serge around all layers. You can see one of the inserts partially serged in the final picture. The hardest part of serging the inserts is the curves. It is easy to "loose" one layer and not get it caught in the stitching. This happens occassionally. When it does, I just sew the "missed" area with my regular sewing machine and mark it as a "second". It will work just fine and the fabric will only wear to the line I have sewn with my sewing machine. Many times the mistake is hardly noticable. The final step is for me to sew over the beginning/ending point with my regular sewing machine, then collapse the serging and cut any remaining threads. So now if my cotton Sherpa will get here I can finish my current custom order!