fit(ted) to be tied (snappied)

If Josephine could speak, her litany of complaints regarding my mothering might be topped by something like, "...and then sometimes, my mom simply can't fathom HOW HUNGRY I AM, and she decides to change my diaper even though I'm trying to tell her I don't care about the runny poo threatening to overflow my diaper, JUST FEED ME NOW-- but she just doesn't GET it-- she tries to change my diaper ANYWAY, despite the dire circumstances of my near starvation, and it takes her FOREVER, and I'm DYING, and she just doesn't seem to understand..."

Meanwhile, topping my litany of complaints regarding mothering would be a couple inconveniences caused by cloth diapering. Don't get me wrong-- I still, on whole, find it worthwhile. But apparently the part of my brain that shriveled with pregnancy (and has yet to reemerge) involves all engineering capabilities. Due to this shrinkage, I'm still not accustomed to exactly how to fold/roll that flat piece of cloth so that it fits around my baby's rather chunky thighs and then around her waist far enough to be snappied properly. I usually end up with no thickness where it needs to be and too much bulkiness out around the edges, and it still doesn't contain a whole lot of mess on those occasions when she presents a whole lot of mess all at once. And as Josephine would indicate, it takes me forever to get it on, especially considering the less-than-spectacular results.

What I lack in basic diapering skills, I might have made up for with VERY basic sewing skills. Just in case this dilemma is affecting any of my other friends, here is how you can turn an irritating prefold into a very simple fitted.

1) Cut into the sides at the top, and use a zig-zag stitch to prevent too much fraying (or serge), like so:

You could stop there, but if you have time, I suggest one more step. (If you don't have time for the elastic step, I would probably not cut the tabs in so deeply).

2) To help gather the material up around the thighs and prevent leakage, cut two strips of elastic about 2.5 inches long. 3) Sew them in as follows:
Here's a close up. I don't know how to sew elastic perfectly, but this seems to work: I start by tacking it down with a zig-zag stitch at 0 stitch length. Then I enlarge the stitch length to 4 and sew a straight line (still using the zig-zag setting) while pulling the elastic taut. I let go before I stitch my own fingers to the diaper, and then tack down the last little bit with a couple more stitches at 0 length. It ends up looking like this:

Here's how it looks with both pieces sewn on.

VOILA-- YOU'RE DONE!!!! It really only takes a few minutes!

To use, fold in the flaps (I put a hemp doubler in under the flaps, and a fleece liner on top so she stays feeling dry).

And then snappi and put on the cover and you're ready to go. So far, this fitted is as effective as any of my other fitteds. (Side note: I've yet to find a fitted that will fully contain one of her larger messes-- hence the importance of a good cover. I end up with about one soiled cover a day because of the mess leaking out from the fitted or prefold. I just don't want to raise expectations too high with these. They DO work better than whatever I managed to do with the prefold, though.) Plus, for me, it is superior to a normal prefold because it keeps the cloth where she needs absorbency and assembles far more quickly because there is no strange folding or tugging or tucking involved. As a result, Josephine only has to ponder her imminent death-by-starvation for half the time that she did previously. The stress and time saved are pretty worth the 5 minutes it takes to alter the prefold.

To give you an idea of what it looks like on, here's Josephine sporting one. This way you can see how it fits and know how to tweak the design according to your preferences.

By the way, I would LOVE to see pictures of improvements or alternative designs!!! Anything to make this little process easier is warmly welcomed.