Getting Crafty: Replacing velcro with snaps and making a no-sew babywearing poncho

For some unknown reason, I decided I wanted to be more crafty. I will probably never be one of those moms who sews their kids' Halloween costumes from scratch, but maybe I'll get there. Anyway, there are two craft projects I've been meaning to complete and I finally got to them (at least partly) this weekend.

Replacing aplix (Velcro) with Snaps

We were given 12 Bumgenius pocket diapers by another JP Mom (JP Moms is like Craigslist mixed with a Q+A parenting forum for parents in my neighborhood), which is totally awesome because they are like $22 apiece, new. The aplix, however, was really worn out, so they kept coming undone at night and she would smell like a homeless person the next morning (although she kind of does regardless... we always do a butt bath first thing in the morning!). The aplix tabs also scratch her thighs.

Rather than give you the step-by-step of how I did it, let me instead direct you to the how-to I WISH I had read before I started: http://www.kamsnaps.com/bumGenius-Snap-Conversion-35.html. It took me forever just to get the aplix off the darn thing; that how-to gives some tips on how to make the process a little speedier. 

The supplies I bought for the actual snap setting are: KAM Handheld Snap Pliers for plastic snaps ($15) with a 2nd quality awl (included in plier price), 1 100-piece set of Glossy size 20 plastic snaps in BG111 Dazzle color ($4). That's it! Plus $6 shipping and handling = $25 for materials, which is about the cost of one new cloth diaper. Well worth it.

I chose to do two rows of snaps for a snug fit. I did not do snaps all the way across the front because as Partner pointed out, she isn't going to grow any smaller! Here is the first (okay, only) diaper I completed:

Next time I'll probably only do 3 rows of two on each side (I did 5 here), since as you can see, I have a couple extra there. So, one down, only eleven more to go! :-p

The No-Sew Babywearing Poncho

Being the "capitol" of New England, Boston is known for its chilly winters. What you might not know is that Boston is also apparently THE windiest major city in the US-- not Chicago-- "The Windy City" is actually a political rather than meteorological reference. Since November rolled around, naturally I find myself in need of some kind of outer layer to keep both me and my peanut warm. A decent babywearing coat upwards of $150, which as a grad student living on my husband's income, I wasn't able to justify. 

Instead, I bought 4 sheets of fleece, 2 yards each, from Joann Fabric online. I chose to stick with anti-pill or blizzard fleece prints, since a friend told me they are thickest and easiest to work with. Two of the sheets of fleece are for my poncho and two are for Partner's. He chose a brown bicycle print for his "fun" side and a brown plaid for his slightly "classier side, since it turns out it looks like you're wearing a Snuggy, I'm not sure "classy" has anything to do with it.

Anyway, here's the how-to I used: http://www.fineandfairblog.com/2013/09/diy-no-sew-babywearing-poncho-coat.html

She also links to a video on how to use it, which I found useful for back-wrapping. 

And here is the final product:

Okay, so I might be called into "What Not To Wear" going around town in that thing, but it was pretty darn comfy. Baby thinks so too!

In retrospect, I wish I had cut the fabric with it lying on the floor and then borrowed a sewing machine to sew the two pieces together (in order to make it double-layer). I had laid it over an arm chair to cut it because the floor was, of course, covered in dog hair. This resulted in some pretty interesting "lines," as you can imagine. I then hand-sewed the two pieces of fleece together-- three sides and the slit and neck hole first, leaving the fourth edge at the bottom open so I could then turn it right side out and do more careful stitches on the outside of that edge. Hand-sewing it made the edges kind of thick and lumpy for lack of a better description. 

When I tie it with her on my back, I have been tying it over the tail piece if that makes sense, to close off the fabric under her bum so air doesn't blow up underneath. I also use the sides of the part I'm wrapping around to cover her feet. So she's snug as a bug, even if my arms are a little chilly!