My first "pretty"

I planned to use cloth nappies on N. before he was born. Going to various pregnancy expos, we found a prefolds plus covers system that we liked and invested in that. It wasn't until N was about six months old that I joined a cloth nappy community on Facebook.

That one quickly led me to a Buy/Swap/Sell group. Then some more. And so began my obsession with pretties. A "pretty" is a nappy with embroidery, custom tie dye, ruffles, or any other embellishments rather than a "workhorse" nappy which refers to a more plain everyday nappy (although with the amazing minky fabrics out there, they can still look pretty but not be a "pretty").

I bought one pretty for N that I couldn't resist - there's a hippopotamus on my roof eating cake - as I adored that book!

It isn't easy to photograph N from behind; he recognises the camera sound. 

It it hard to resist really cute or apt pretties. I'm currently resolutely NOT buying this awesome Lego Superman pretty. Or this Marvin the Martian kaboom! nappy.

I quickly decided that I was going to have to try making my own. In fact, I decided I'd make a pretty cover for my fitteds and prefolds. It has turned into quite an investment. The search for a pattern. Deciding to buy a snap press. Buying an embroidered nappy cut of minky, and some PUL (the waterproof layer). But here it is! One of my Finish It Friday projects from last week (two hours of time ALONE in the house was amazingly productive. Who would have thought.)

Back view, with spider embroidery. 

The front view. You can see the inside layer of darker PUL.

Closer view of the snaps. I'm enjoying the snap press.

I ended up buying the MBJM Sunbeam nappy pattern, as I've bought and liked other patterns from her. It is however a trim nappy pattern, and so unfortunately while the nappy fits N well, it didn't work over the fitteds. I'm planning on making an insert for this to use it as a nappy, and investigate some other options for cover patterns. One option is to make the crotch on this pattern wider, another is to look for a pattern specifically designed to be a cover.  

Assuming I get some more sewing machine time, I'm going to make others. As I won't be investing in a machine embroidery machine, I'll either buy some nappy cuts pre-embroidered or experiment with hand embroidery. I'm worried hand embroidery won't stand up to the rigours of washing that the nappies need though.

What do you think would look cute on a nappy? Spoonflower now prints on minky, so it opens up some options...

Busy, busy

This week's finishes.

Madeira work hand towel from second year embroidery class: finished.

First attempt at a "pretty" nappy cover: finished.

Free reindeer ornament kit: finished.

Too small blue hat I abandoned to make a fitting one: finished.

Calico mockup of shorts to test bigger size: finally finished. And tested.

Not a bad week, really. More detail on the towel and nappy cover to come.