DIY too small?? HELP!!!

[Shann]

I am posting at 5am because I am so bothered by this I couldn't sleep!

I have made myself some fitted nappies using the Shars_newborn_fitted free pattern but I think they are too small

They looked ok when I was making them (I have sewed up 5 and cut out 24) but the more I think about it the worse they look. I tried one on my son's baby born doll (who normally wears a huggies newborn size disposable) and they only just fit. They are definately smaller than the sposable. To fit the doll the arms are at their widest option while the sposable is at its smallest. I know dolls are smaller than babies - I was just comparing the nappies.

IS THIS RIGHT??? I think that I followed the pattern to the letter. They are 4 layers in total outer and inner of flannalette and 2 terry towelling (old cut up flats).

Baby is still on the inside so I can't try it out on the real thing and none of my friends has a newborn size cloth nappy to compare. My last bub was 3.6kg (or nearly 8 pounds).

Now I don't know what to do - should I keep going and end up with 2 dozen nappies which might not fit or stop now and try another pattern wasting the fabric and all of my hard work. To put this in context I have never sewed anything before and it took me 3 full days of sewing (with my toddlers help) to get this far (ok it took me over an hour to work out how to thread the machine ).

I am having nightmares about this!! What if the baby comes and I have no nappies for it?

Shann

[mum2henry]

They are a small pattern. I made heaps and none of them fit my big man even on the day he was born. They do make great dolls nappies, so I'd continue making them up when you have time, and go for another pattern - maybe some wee weka ones. They fitted ok on my little man as a NB but don't fit him now - so we got about 13 months use out of them.

[alineanne]

well benji was a 10 lber so didn't fit the newborn nappies i made him either.
maybe someone you know will have a tiny baby? or you never know, you may too?
the only thing i can suggest is instead of sewing the velcro onto the wings .. sew them so the velcro extends beyond the wings (like magicalls).
or, if you had intended to make them snappiable .. could you add some more fabric to teh wings to extend them? (i don't think it would be too obvious from the outside)

[Shann]

Extending the wings is an idea - I will give it a go.

I went to a friend's place this am to get her to look and she agrees they are too small for a NB. I don't understand this as the pattern says NEWBORN!!! This seems to be a widely recommended pattern I have spotted links on a couple of nappy sites so perhaps I am doing something wrong??

I have checked the scale of the printout. Am I putting in too many layers perhaps? I would think you would need a couple of terry even for a newborn.

Has anyone had a baby that has fitted this pattern? How big?

Thanks for your help (pregnant teary tantrum coming on...)

Shann

[mum2henry]

No it's a small pattern and some patterns don't allow for seam allowance - let the tears flow I did when I realised mine were too small - and like Aline I had a big boy. We pretty much went into M. I would go for enough smalls to get you through, terry flats and then Mediums, unless you know bubba is going to be little and gets lots of use from smaller nappies

[Shann]

Thanks,

I think I will finish a dozen of the ones that I have started but with old secondhand terry rather than the nice new stuff. I will just have to have a whole truckload of babies so that they get some use (hhhhm might have to think this through LOL)

I am going to do a mock up of a Wee Weka this afternoon and see if that looks better. If it does I will use the Shar's one for the first week or two (if I'm lucky) and then move to the WW in all of its adjustable glory...

PLEASE STOP ME IF THIS IS A BAD IDEA.... I don't think my poor husband can take much more of this (apparently it isn't nice to wake someone at three am crying and asking them to measure a nappy).

Thanks again,

Shann

[mum2miya]

Shann are you in a capital city or big regional centre? If so chances are there's some expereinced clothies in your area. It's always great to talk to others who have used cloth and see different nappies in real life.

Is there a newborn you can try the nappies on to see what they look like? I know all babies are different but it might give you an idea.

[Bek]

dolls are often fatter than newborn babies, they're the wrong proportions. our baby annabelle fits the newborn nappies, but they're on much further out snaps than my average size baby was. (my boys were all about 3.2kg)

the amount of seam allowance when you sew can be a big factor in the end size of the nappies, so maybe worth thinking about for next time. I was actually surprised that the nb nappies I sewed for Ben seemed almost too big when he was first born.

the adjustable wee weka front fastening nappy will be huge on a newborn, IMO.

[Theresa]

Well I have to say that they fit my 2nd bubba really well for the first month - but she was only 6lb 10 and VERY petite! Definitely would have fit my 5lb firstborn too if she were in cloth!

It is a small pattern and I made my nephew some but at 8lb he wore them for a week (me not realising that my babies are much smaller than average didn't even think about the possibility of him being bigger!)

I was going to suggest that if you wanted, rather than turning and topstitching them, overlock them the whole way around and put the elastic in with the overlocking - it just makes them a smidgeon bigger but you need GOOD covers

[*Tracee*]

Theresa's idea is a good one

Overlock them rather than T&T as then you won't lose so much fabric.