Lazy Ways to Make Your Own Natural Baby Items

If you are thinking of going all-natural with your baby but are worried about the high prices of many natural baby items like I am, take heart! There are easy ways to very quickly make your own natural baby items such as cloth diapers, wipes, slings, pads and much more and you don't need any talent with a needle at all! If you have a sewing machine, however, these crafts will go much faster. I do all of my sewing by hand.

Obtaining materials is easy, especially if you have a local recycle/reuse center. Here in my town, our local dump has a reuse center where anyone can drop off old items that are still useful and anyone who wants them can drive up and take it for free. I pick up lots of clothing there to use for cloth, buttons, zippers, and other crafting materials. You can also purchase items cheaply from thrift stores or get items for free from Freecycle.org.

Wool Piddle Pads

If you are looking for wool piddle pads to place under your baby, you will probably have to pay at least $50 per piddle pad! Fortunately, you can make your own at home very quickly and very easily for only a couple of dollars or for free.

Simply take an old wool blanket or sweater, wash it in hot water in the washing machine, then dry it in the dryer on high heat. This will felt the knitted wool. You should begin with a very large sweater if you can as it will shrink.

Once the sweater has been felted, cut out the front and back of the sweater. Using your sewing machine (or by hand sewing with a blanket stitch and yarn), finish the edges of your cut-out pieces. To increase the effectiveness of this water resistant barrier, wash the piddle pads in lanolin. That's all there is to it! I made mine for free and they work great.

Baby Bunting

You can easily make a baby bunting from an old sweater that buttons down the front. Simply cut the arms off of the sweater, turn it inside out, and sew the bottom together and the arm holes together. Use thick thread or yarn for the seams and sew using a whip stitch or a blanket stitch. Turn the sweater right-side out again and you should have a little bunting with a hole at the top for the baby's head and buttons down the front so that you can button your little one up inside. I made mine for free from a soft angora sweater.

Jersey Cotton Cloth Diapers

Old grimy t-shirts and sweat shirts are fabulous for making cloth diapers. The easiest way to make prefolds is to Cut them out of the front and back of a t-shirt, then lay them flat together and sew around the edges so that your prefold has two layers. You can add as many layers as you like for absorbency, but remember that a thicker diaper will not wash or dry as well. You do not need to finish the seam around the edge. It will not fray.

Flat Cloth Diapers

Flat cotton diapers are the cheapest to buy, but you can also make them for free from old cotton sheets. Simply cut out diapers from the sheets roughly 27"x27". Use a sewing machine or hem around the edges by hand so that they do not fray. Using sheets and cotton curtains is a fun way to make flat diapers because you can use all kinds of colorful and fun prints. Always remember not to wash diapers with fabric softener as it reduces their absorbency.

Diaper Liners and Doublers

Sometimes cloth diapers alone just don't do the trick, especially if you have a heavy wetter. You can make your own diaper liners and doublers easily. If you don't like sewing, simply use a cotton washcloth folded in half. Packs of about one dozen can be found in most grocery stores (check the cleaning aisle) for about $3.

You can also cut out diaper inserts from t-shirts. Sew two or more layers together around the edges. You do not need to finish the seams if the doublers are made from jersey cotton material as it does not fray in the washing machine.

Postpartum and Menstrual Cloth Pads

I'm lazy, so I use plain cotton washcloths for menstrual pads. No sewing involved! You can read my article on how to use them here: How to Make Your Own Cloth Menstural Pads

Baby Hats

You can make baby hats from the sleeves of t-shirts and sweaters. For a t-shirt, simply cut the sleeve off. The arm band should fit around the baby's head. Sew a seam around the inside of the sleeve to form a hat shape.

Sweaters use a similar procedure. Simply cut along the part of the sweater arm that is big enough to fit around the baby's head. Finish the seam around the larger end and turn it up for a cuff. Sew the other end together or thread a piece of yarn around the edge and pull it tight like a drawstring so that there is a little knob on top of the hat.

Wet Wipes

Wet wipes are probably the easiest things to make because they require no sewing at all. Cut your baby wipes from old t-shirts. You do not need to sew around the edges. Jersey cotton will not come apart in the washing machine. You can also use plain rags or washcloths as wipes.

To use them, wet them with a little water from a bowl. If you would like to keep your wipes wet all of the time, soak them with a mixture of 3 parts water and one part witch hazel extract (found cheap in any grocery or drug store in the medicine aisle with the rubbing alcohol) and store them in a plastic container such as a Tupperware container or used margarine tub.

Nursing Pads

I made my own nursing pads in about a day from an old towel and a nylon windbreaker. You can also use the nylon from an old broken umbrella. Check out my easy instructions here: How to Make Your Own Cloth Nursing Pads

Sling

If you have an old sheet or a large piece of cotton cloth that does not stretch, you can make your own baby sling. It is very easy and quick to make. I made mine in only a few hours, much less than one day, and I did all of the sewing by hand. You can find easy instructions on how to sew your own pouch sling here.

Mei Tai Baby Carrier

To make an Asian style baby carrier, you will need to cut two square pieces of cotton cloth that does not stretch about 15" square. Lay them together facing one another. Next, cut a square from an old towel exactly the same size. Lay it on top of the two pieces, it does not matter which side you lay it on. Sew all three together with the towel on top, then the two pieces under it facing together. Sew all the way around the edge, about 1/2" to ¼" around the square, but leave a hole large enough to fit your hand through.

Once finished, reach your hand through the hole between the two front pieces of cloth and turn the whole thing inside out so that the towel is in the middle and the two cloth pieces are on the outside facing out. Fold the edges of the hole in and sew them shut. You should now have something like a large potholder.

You will need straps to go around your waist and straps to go over your shoulders. The waist straps should be large enough to tie around your waist in a knot behind you. The shoulder straps should be between four and six feet long each, depending on your size. To make a strap, cut a strip of cotton fabric 7 inches wide in the length that you need. Fold each strip into thirds, then sew down the middle and sides. Sew the ends of the straps to the larger square piece of the carrier in an x-shape and make sure you reinforce the stitching to make it extra strong.

Baby Toys

Wondering what to do with all of the extra cloth and yarn scraps that you are cutting off of your handmade baby items? Use them to make small cloth toys. Little dolls can be made from cotton fabric. Knotted cloth is great for teething. Use leftover wool pieces to stuff your plush creations. You can unravel extra pieces of wool and use the yarn to stitch your wool pieces together. You can also tear these pieces apart and use them for fluff stuffing for plush toys. Felted wool makes great teddy bears and other soft animals.

Baby Quilts

I love sewing simple baby quilts from old clothes. I make a square pattern from a cardboard cereal box, then use it to trace and cut-out shapes from old cotton clothing. Quilts are prettiest when you use only two different color patterns. I like using a light print and a dark print in a checkerboard pattern. You should use only cotton fabric that does not stretch or your quilt will be warped. An old towel or thermal blanket cut up makes great quilt batting. A quilt like this takes me about three to four days to hand-sew.

Links:

http://fernandfaerie.com/frugaldiapering.html

http://www.ida.net/users/stace/sling.html