There are endless uses for fabrics. Endless. Probably thousands more uses than there are types of fabric.
Have you ever considered what the other uses of your nappy fabrics could be? I mean, - well, there were fabrics around BEFORE modern cloth nappies - and they must have been used for something, right?
So, let’s have a little brain-storming session about possible uses. I say brain-storming. I mean - let me think about it, after all I am the only one doing the talking here.
Microfleece.
Microfleece is that super squishy polyester fabric made out of recycled PET bottles. We use it in the nappy world as a liner between bubs’ bum and the absorbent part of the nappy. Sometimes we can double it up and use it as a breathable outer layer for a daytime nappy.
You’ve probably seen it used as a winter school uniform fabric. It keeps you warm with only a light layer and washes up well time and time again. It’s also difficult for boys to wear through the knees of, so it makes fabulous trackies.
Have you ever wondered what else you could do with it? Here’s a few ideas that I threw together that you might want to try - and if you do I want photos!
- Softies - making little soft toys for your children is easy peasy out of microfleece. It doesn’t fray, and therefore doesn’t need hemming OR overlocking - just cut and sew and stuff! It’s also easy to wash so if you stuff it with polyester you can machine wash them when they get covered in spaghetti sauce and weetbix.
- Scarves - oh so easy peasy fringed scarves, warm and toasty, NO SEWING REQUIRED! Just cut it long and then chop the ends into strips for tassles. A great fun winter school holidays project.
- Blankets! - There are so many different ways of making microfleece blankets. You can patchwork it, you can sew them seams out for texture (remember, no fraying!) and you can even make blankets with NO SEWING - cut large squares, cut fringes into all four sides - and tie the fringes together with the square next it - voila! Blanket in no time!
Suedecloth is another polyester fabric that washes up beautifully that we usually use as a nappy liner or inner. It’s not so warm as microfleece, but it certainly has other uses!
- Upholstery - yep, I said it. Fabulous for chair backs/cushion covers/seat covers. Heck, you could even try covering a couch with it - a couple of swappable couch covers would be perfect to save your couch from the vagaries of texta and corn chip crumbs, and will wash up in your machine and look like new. Team it with the fold-over elastic to snuggle your edges in tightly and you’re good to go.
Bamboo Terry
- Towels. OK, so it seems obvious, but Jodie has made a towel from the bamboo terry, and I have seriously contemplated holding it for ransom. I want one. Or 6. Soooooo thirsty and fluffy and soft despite repeated washings. *sigh* I have bamboo towel lust. You could easily do face washers too. And if you really care a lot about Grandmas old crystal collection you could spoil it with a bamboo terry tea towel.
- Blankets and wraps. Because of the pile on this fabric, it not only works fabulously to trap the wetness in cloth nappies, it also traps air. Which means it insulates REALLY well. It’s super soft, and with the extra insulation properties, you have the perfect winter blanket, pram blanket, or wrap. Just overlocking the edges of a single layer will keep your little one snuggly and warm, encased in a purely natural fabric.
Flannelette
Whilst the traditional use for flannel is pyjamas, there are loads of other options that work equally well.
- Bibs made from flannel are fabulous. Edge them in bias binding or just turn and top-stitch. Using flannel as a bib at mealtimes means that you can use the bib to wipe your little one’s face clear of the spaghetti sauce and throw the whole thing in the wash - without the itchy scratchy feel of a synthetic against the skin. Or course, you can back the bib with PUL, meaning that brand new white top he’s wearing won’t turn pink after dinner too.
- You can buy a nappy cut of the flannel, to use JUST for the gorgeous prints - cut around them, and use them as applique on the corners of towels, facewashers, and wraps.
- Speaking of wraps - nothing is better than a flannel wrap for a newborn in winter. Thin enough to wrap securely, a double layer flannel wrap is cosy and warm too!
PUL
Because of it’s waterproof qualities, PUL has a whole range of uses other than just the outers of nappies.
- Swim bags! Yep, keep your kids bathers and towel in style. PUL will stop the usual slow leak from the nylon-style bags you get at the shops, it will mean no plastic coles bags are required, and it’s super strong too - no tears or rips are likely! And it comes in so many colours your child will recognise the bag from miles away - and so will their teacher, when they leave it behind. Seal the seams up with our seam-seal tape, and you’ve got an extra layer of protection in place that will prevent soggy schoolbooks at the end of the day.
- Backing bibs, as per the flannel conversation. Also, using as the front of a bib for those super-messy, wipe-ups required style meals. Works well if you have a husband who slurps his soup, too.
- Nappy bags, Wipe bags, backing washable menstrual pads, even backing your nursing pads if you are anything like I was when breastfeeding - one side feeds, the other showers the entire neighbourhood - having a PUL-backed nursing pad with 3 layers of bamboo on the front was PERFECT for that let-down rush.
Bamboo Velour
I’ve already raved about bamboo velour, in my bamboo post from earlier in the year. I love bamboo velour. It’s slinky and soft and sexy and just superb. Blankets, wraps, facecloths, tracksuits - so many things you can do with it! Nappies are only one small part of the glory of the bamboo velour. I want bamboo velour handkerchiefs. Imagine how spoilt my nose would feel after it’s latest sneezing attack. I’m allergic to grass. Bamboo is a type of grass. But I’m SOOOO not allergic to bamboo fabric.
So, I hope I have proved that the only limit to uses for nappy fabrics - is your imagination!
Posts
