Up-cycling Wool Diaper Covers

My Goodwill Find!

Little Man has been soaking through his diapers at night - which means I'm wet as well.  So I put the word out through Facebook that I needed advice on wool soakers.  I already knew that was the route we'd have to take because I can't fit anything else in his diaper as is - at least not comfortably.  So I got a few responses that led me to etsy and a few other diaper shops.  I looked at the diaper shops and while the covers looked great I was not ready to spend that much.  I did catch a sale at Continuum Family for 44% off wool covers and snatched up two of those.  By they way their Spring into Spring Sale runs until March 28th.
Etsy had adorable covers at great prices but they did not have them in the size I liked or a color I wanted but they all said this really cool word - Up-Cycled. What the heck is up-cycled?  Well it is when you take a piece of old unwanted clothing for example and repurpose it into something new that someone would want.  So if I happen to say 'ruin' one of my husband's wool sweaters I can convert it into a diaper cover for Little Man.  Well I was not going to throw one of my husband's nice sweaters in the wash just to get a diaper but I did visit my local Goodwill and take a peek in the $5 sweater bin and came away with some beautiful merino wool sweaters.
So now I am felting the sweaters.  Felting involves washing the sweaters on hot and drying them in the dryer on hot as well.  This shrinks the weave of the fabric so it'll hold more moisture.  Then I will cut my diapers using a combination of the popular Katrina pattern and some of the things I liked about the other diapers I saw online.  I will most likely be making shorties with an extended waist.  I also found this really cute and easy to follow tutorial if you already own a soaker.
There are three styles of wool diaper covers, four if you count wraps separately.  Each of the styles fit over a prefold or fitted diaper.  You can also put a folded pre-fold or pad inside and pull on the wool cover.  Soakers look like underwear and cover just the diaper area.  The second are called shorties and they have a longer leg that goes to just above the knee.  Lastly there are longies, these look like wool pants.  Because wool is a natural and breathable product your baby can wear it year round.  It is just a preference as the style you want them to wear.  Little Man is wearing these at night to start so I am choosing the middle of the road style to keep him warm but not too hot either.
After I have finished the felting process I will cut and sew my diapers.  Then I will need to lanolize them to prevent leaks.  So in about 48 to 72 hours I will be the proud owner of at least 6 up-cycled wool diapers.  Wish me luck!