diy

Pattern Review: Twig and Tale Patterns

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Twig and Tale hands down make my favorite patterns. First, because they embrace the layer functionality of pdfs, and so each size is on a separate layer meaning you only print one size at a time, and never have to worry about cutting on the wrong line. For this alone they should get five shiny, gold stars, a dance of glee, and every other pattern maker should follow in their footsteps.

But no, they don’t stop there, not only are their patterns dead simple to cut out, their instructions are brilliant, too. Ever step is laid out for the beginner, and the more difficult steps even have a video showing you what to do. The first time I sewed a Twig and Tale pattern, I had never sewn a piece of clothing before, and my past sewing experience was basically making a single pillow case. I had to FaceTime my mom twice to get help threading my machine, that is how much of a newbie I was, and yet, my Evergreen bonnet and my Pathfinder vest both turned out amazing.

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Wednesday: The Kite Fold

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Today is the third day of the flats and handwashing challenge at Cloth Diaper Revival. 

Around here we like to be lazy, and so padfolding is a go to. It’s fast, it’s easy, and with a wiggly toddler that often trumps trimness or elegance. When Kai is in a cooperative mood, however, the Kite fold is my favorite fold.

I couldn’t get Kai to cooperate today, so here’s Bobo Bear in a kite folded hemp jersey flat. 

Tuesday: My Flat Stash and DIY Flats

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Today is the second day of the flats and handwashing challenge at Cloth Diaper Revival.

DIY flat in a kite fold
For this challenge, I’m using all DIY Stretchy Flats. Most of them are a hemp-cotton jersey blend and a few are bamboo stretch french terry. If you haven’t had a chance yet, go check out my DIY Stretchy Flats mini-tutorial on how I made all my flats.


Since the last Flast and Handwashing Challenge, we moved to all natural fibers for new diapering purchases. All the bamboo flats were actually made for last year’s challenge or right after it and have been in rotation since then and are still going strong. The hemp-cotton flats are newer and have been in rotation anywhere from two to eight months.



We also switched to all wool covers. I’ll admit, I use one of the more expensive options out there when it comes to wool covers and then I put wool pants over them. (Kai can unsnappi a flat if it’s just under wool shorts, so flats always get a cover before the shorts go on here.)  Last year we were using Thirsties Duo Wraps  which would’ve brought the total budget down to $158, so you can definitely do this very cheaply.


The Budget:

  • Hemp-cotton jersey @ $14/yard x 3 yards = 6 toddler sized  (29.5″ x 29.5″) flats @ $7/each
  • Bamboo stretch terry @ $16/yard x 1 yard = 2 toddler sized (29.5″ x 29.5″) flats @ $8/each
  • Bamboo stretch terry @ $16/yard x 1 yard = 4 half-flats (29.5″ x 15″) flats @ $4 each
    • $74 total for 12 flats
  • Wool Wraps @ $54/each x 6 = $324
    • Total = $398

 

Additional supplies

  • Wool shorts
    • I prefer wool over wool, and so Kai wears a lot of wool bottoms. You don’t have to wear wool over wool, but in the spirit of this challenge, I’m limiting myself to three pairs of Wild Coconut Wear interlock shorts that I purchased used from the b/s/t. They were $20/each, which brings the budget up to $458.
  • Snappis
    • We usually padfold, but for the challenge we experiment with folds and need a snappi. I don’t think I actually ever paid for a snappi, they all came free with some other purchase or in GCDC giftbags.

How this is different from our usual stash:

  • My husband prefers all-in-ones, and so that’s what he uses when he does diaper changes
  • I almost always do a cover and flats. My flats stash also includes stretchy flats from Sweet Iris (bamboo) and Truly Charis (hemp).
  • Our wool bottoms stash is out-of-control large, and includes machine knit and hand knot wool alongside our interlock.

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