Little Jack's Corner: April 2009

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Diaper and Wipe Bundles

A few weeks ago I found myself making two separate trips to the ladies room during church to change two separate diapers. Each time, I lugged the whole diaper bag so that I had easy access to the diapers, wipes and blanket. (I don't know about you, but I don't like to lay my babies down on the bare plastic changing tables!) I thought that it would be really convenient to have something to carry two or three diapers, a travel case of wipes and a changing pad. I came home, dug through my scraps and came up with this:

It's about the size of a clutch purse; the pocket holds two or three diapers and a travel case of wipes and then folds out to be used as a changing pad.

It is made of two quilted layers of fabric with a thin fleece batting in between so your little ones have a soft clean surface to lay on. The bundle closes with Velcro.

I have several of these made up and most of them are made from "mommy" fabrics rather than "baby" fabrics. I figured that it's usually all about the baby, let's have something be about the mommy! These are also great when dropping off a toddler to the babysitter when they don't need bottles, formula, etc. You just send them with their little bundle.

These are selling for $12. Get one for your favorite toddler mom!

Tee Pees

These little cuties are for little boys' diaper changes. If you've ever changed the diaper of an infant boy, you know that you have to be quick if you're going to keep everything dry! That's where these little tee pees come in.

You just place the tee pee over the baby's winky while you change his diaper. If you're not fast enough, the tee pee keeps everything (including you!) dry. Then you just throw it in with your next load of laundry and it's ready to go again.

These come with a little card explaining their purpose. Just think how cute a few of these would be tied with ribbon on the top of a baby shower gift!

Tee pee price - $1.

Materials

I use good quality fabrics on all of my items, usually 100% cotton. While there are bargain fabrics available, the cost savings aren't worth what is given up in quality.

Most of my quilts are basic woven cotton on the front and snuggly flannel on the back, although there are exceptions. I like to use a high loft synthetic batting as well. I hand-bind the edges of all of my quilts with a French binding, which has a double thickness for added strength. Additionally, I have begun binding my quilts with a bias-cut binding, which is stronger and lasts even longer.

The burp cloths are 100% cotton flannel on both sides and I have found that that is plenty absorbent for most baby spit-ups.

Receiving blankets are also 100% cotton, with flannel and/or lightweight cotton for each side. The double flannel blankets are great for winter, while the double lightweight blankets are good for summer.

All of my baby products are made to be used well and often! Let your baby sleep with it, use it as a cape or a tent and then throw it in the washer. I believe that motherhood is a dirty job and I personally don't have the time for items that require special handling or (gasp!) dry cleaning.