So, I was asked to make a tutorial on how I sew a ruffled cloth diaper. This will be mostly pictures, since it's late...or early depending on where you are.
Starting off, I think the hardest thing is picking your fabric. I can sit for a very long time, mentally composing a diaper. When it comes time to go through my fabric, I'm honestly overwhelmed by all the choices I have.
Once you've picked your outer and inner fabrics, decide what colors you're going to use for the ruffles. For this tutorial, I'm using 2 inch strips of PUL in solid colors that match (or come pretty close to matching) the printed portion of my outer material. I like to cut the strips twice as long as I need them to allow for maximum ruffling. In this case, I just used some strips that I already had (the light pink), and then cut 2 other strips for a total of 3.
So, to make the ruffles, I take 3/8" lastin and sew it down with a 3 step zig-zag stitch, stretching it as I go. I start off by having about an inch and a half or two inches hanging off the back so that I have something to grab on to.
This is the stitch setting I use...
I stretch the fabric behind the needle, as well as the elastic in front of the needle. Obviously I can't show you a picture of me doing both of these at the same time, as I was not blessed with a 3rd hand...I also don't own a tripod. So, in this picture, you can see me stretching from behind, in the next picture, you can see me stretching the lastin from the front.
When I come to the end of the strip, I continue pulling the lastin from the front and back, and let the feed dogs on my machine move the fabric through. I then secure my stitches before I go off the end of the fabric.
When it comes to sewing the ruffles down to the diaper outer, I really like doing it on outers where I pieced the PUL together. It doesn't have to be this way of course, but it helps me line things up very nicely.
For the next row, I put it so that it's just covering the zig-zag from the row below it.
Before I sew the inner, I roll in and secure the edges of the bottom row to make sure I don't accidentally catch them in the seam allowance.
After this point, continue sewing your diaper as normal...inner to outer, right sides together, etc etc. And through the magic of the internet, here's the finished diaper...
