When "Doodie" Calls | This WONDERfilled Life
I can have the best laid plans…but when “doodie” calls…I
drop everything and take care of it.
I started a really awesome (I think it will be awesome)
project two weeks ago for my horn. I was
in the designing phase and decided I needed some black mesh. Cut to me tearing my sewing studio apart
looking for one of THREE stores of black mesh that I know I own. I couldn’t find a single one…so I decided
then and there that I would organize my fabric after my year long crafting challenge
(more on my trials of de-cluttering soon).
I got a ton cleaned up…but as I was organizing, I found a diaper cover
half repaired and I realized I should probably finish that and just get it out
of the area. I finished fixing the cover
and wouldn’t you know it we started having problems with every other diaper
cover we own…
If you didn’t know already, we’re a little crunchy…when I
was pregnant with P I knew I wanted to cloth diaper. I would stay up late throughout my pregnancy
researching diapers, covers, inserts, you name it. I settled on the cover and insert system
because it seemed to work well and it was affordable and if I am being totally
honest I had zero desire to reach into a pocket and pull out a urine soaked
insert. I much preferred the idea to
flipping a cover over and dumping the wet or soiled insert. So we bought/registered for about 10 FLIP diaper covers and 4 ECONOBUM covers. For
the insert we used the same flat fold diapers my Mom used on me and my sister
some 35+ years earlier! Those did stop absorbing by the time P was potty trained,
so we bought a new set of 50 flour sack towels for Bubba. They work just as well! But back to the covers. About a year after P was born I noticed the
elastics in the covers were much looser than when we had first bought them and
after scouring the interwebs for advice on how to fix them I dived in, took
pictures, and actually blogged about it! That post (FOUND HERE) from 2015 is my
top post EVER with 3390 total views! I knew Bubba’s covers (the new and the previously
fixed ones) were starting to relax, after all the elastic had last been
replaced almost 4 years ago. We found
ourselves reaching for the handful of covers that were bought when he arrived
as their elastics were still in better shape, but after leaking through several outfits
I realized that as much as I’d love to finish my horn project my “duty” as a
mother was to in fact take care of the other “doodie” that was calling. I grabbed a few covers at a time and started
the whole process outlined in my previous blog.
I also decided that I would try to replace the elastics in the ECONOBUM’s
as well. These had been virtually useless
since P was still wearing them. I was surprised at how easy it was…just as easy
if not easier than the FLIP covers. And while
working on them I actually changed the way I did a few things and my last few
FLIP covers repairs were smooth and the easiest to fix so I wanted to share
those changes here:
![]() |
(You can see the older, relaxed elastic above the new 4.5" elastic.) |
· I cut the new elastic at 4.5” this time and not
the 5”. Bubba is a little sturdier than his
sister was and while we are toying with potty training sooner than later I don’t
want to have to replace these again. I
also knew that his rise is a little longer so having a slightly tighter leg
would be better since we were going to be using the longest rise (ie not
snapping anything down).
![]() |
(Econobum elastic almost impossible to seamrip out.) |
![]() |
(Snipping the elastic was quick, clean and unnoticeable when it was all done!) |
· The ECONOBUM diaper elastic was a bear to seam
rip. It was bad when I did the original
fix on the flip covers as well and took up the majority of my time the first
time I replaced the elastics in 2015. I usually
like doing things “right” and prefer to completely rip out the stitches, but I
just didn’t have the time or patience for that so instead I snipped the elastic
on each end. This was soooo much easier
and in the end no one would be able to tell that I did this. Two other great outcomes from this method is
that you are not left with any holes or tears in your pull. I had a few “eep” moments when working on the
FLIP covers and in retrospect wish I had saved myself the time and energy and
just snip snipped those elastics. The
other benefit was that I didn’t have to guess on where to place my new
elastic. I just butted the new end up to
the old one! How perfect is that?
![]() |
(The "lightening bolt" stitch is number 5 on my Janome.) |
· I used the lightening bolt stitch to top stitch
the binding back in place. I had been
using a straight stich like the diaper maker had. I would often not get both the front and back
in the binding and would have to turn the cover over and top stitch again to catch
everything. The ECONOBUM diapers have a cover stitched top stitch and to try
and match that I choose a zig zag stitch when top stitching the binding back in
place and I realized that it stretched with the binding better, if I happened
to catch the elastic it too would stretch and it caught both sides of the binding
the FIRST time. I changed to the
lightening bold stitch on my last two FLIP covers and it was like night and day…do
yourself a favor and use that stitch!
![]() |
(You can't see any zigzag, that's how awesome it blends in!) |
As I was working on all 19 covers these past two weeks I
also realized that all the little details that I had worried about the first
time I replaced the elastics were such small potatoes in the bigger scheme of
things. I rarely ever notice, and I really
mean never, the white thread on the colored covers. I had accidently sewn over parts of the
elastic and it would pull funny when not on the baby, but in the almost four
years of using the fixed diapers (P for two and Bubba for almost two) I didn’t have
any issues with the covers when we were using them and isn’t that the
point. They function! Lastly, I gave
myself a big pat on the back because I knocked these out much quicker than the
last time. All this sewing in the past
year has been great practice and I am much more confident in my skill set. Funny enough Bubba has been interested in the
potty…so now that our stash of covers is repaired I get to start making some
trainers! *sigh* again, duty (“doodie”) calls… I hope to finish up my super
awesome horn do-dad…but until then we’re accepting all good wishes and prayers
for a speedy and dry potty training run!
![]() |
(Look at the difference! The left has been replaced while the right is the old, relaxed elastic!) |
Comments
Post a Comment