My plan worked out, and I couldn't be more happy!!!

So I've been hinting that there is some great and wonderful new development on the diaper front, and it's time to tell you what it is.  But, like any good story, I'm going to have to just tell you a couple of things first.  Hahaha...

First off, when I started making cloth diapers, I had SIX sizes.  LOL  Seriously, it was a huge pain, but I wanted the diapers to fit as well as disposables do...but as I'm sure anyone who has ever bought sposies knows, babies don't stay in one size of diaper long...sometimes they skip entire sizes.  And keeping track of six sizes was a nightmare.
So I whittled it down to four sizes.  (Small, Medium, Large, Toddler.)  Which is still what I have listed in my etsy shop right now.  The sizes are precise, and fit the weights I have listed PERFECTLY.  From the start, what mattered to me, more than anything, was that the diapers fit properly so Baby is comfortable.  When they fit the way they should, they keep the wet and mess INSIDE the diaper.  Like they're supposed to.  I can honestly say, I couldn't be more happy with the 3rd generation of diapers.  (Love them!!)

But.  People don't want to buy four sizes.  Everyone else offers OS diapers that they claim fit a NB to a potty learning toddler.  I call bullshit!!  I've yet to personally purchase a cloth diaper that ACTUALLY fits up to the weight they say it fits to.  The general rule seems to be, if it fits a baby, it's NOT going to fit your toddler...no matter what they tell you!!  

But guess what??  I found a way.  :D  Yes, this is the big news...

What I've done is once again, is whittled my selection down to two sizes.
One for newborns (Small), which will cover from birth to 16 lbs.  
And, a ONE SIZE diaper that will fit 16-45+ lbs.

I know it sounds crazy.  I know it does.  But with the self-made pattern I use, it really does make a one size diaper that properly fits the bum of a baby, and the bum of an older toddler.  Not only that, the leg opening is perfect for children in that weight range, and with three sets of snaps down the front, you can lower the rise up to 3 inches!!

16 lb. little prince in PeepOoie OS cloth diaper

I've been working on this little number for about a month, since my son decided that he thought it would be funny to try on one of his little sister's diapers.  I was shocked when it fit him because he's 45 lbs.  So I put it on his twin sister who is 34 lbs.  It fit.  And it fits our little one who is 24 lbs.  It got me to thinking.
A very slight adjustment to the pattern, and TADA!!  A perfect OS diaper.

My 24 lb. little stinker

So.......what does this mean for YOU??  Let me tell you.

Starting tonight at 7pm, all Medium and Large diapers in my etsy shop will be on sale for $20 plus shipping, to make room in my bins for this enormous stack of OS diapers I have ready to sew.
The Med. and Lg. diapers are all perfectly made, and fit better than any diapers I've ever found in my life, but what people want are OS diapers, not sized diapers, and the ones I will be offering at my next listing will be fantastic.

I'll see you at 7pm!!

**Stay tuned...I'll be publishing my website in the next week, and you'll be able to see the whole range of wear in this OS diaper.**

Sale Items

I've decided to focus on making and selling diapers, but I have a few things sitting here that need a good home. I'll list them below, with links under them to the listings on etsy. (There are a few old-style diapers on here too.)

**I will remove the items as they sell.**

2T Over the shoulder pillowcase dress

Frosty The Snowman blanket

Wow Wow Wubbzy Blankie

Child's sun hat, tractors/gingham 2T

Size 4/5T sunhat.  Tweety, green/aqua stripes

Firetruck blanket, fleece backing

Small pocket cloth diaper, ultra soft!!!

So that's that.  You can click on the links for more information.  :)

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
Have a great day!!

~Katie.

I'm Shifting My Focus To Diapers

Since I started sewing, I've always made a ton of different things.  I can make pretty much anything.  I love sewing, and I'll always make things that aren't diapers, but from this point on, I'm not going to be selling my non-diaper items on etsy.
Here's a picture of some of the things I have made that are not diapers.

Mei Tai carrier for a friend's baby shower.  (Shown with cover.)

(without cover.  Sports mesh to keep Baby cool.)

A reversible hat for my nephew.

"Lego Ninjago"

Dresses for the girls...

And a few "Batman" capes.

That's just a few of them.  I also made my older daughter a princess dress for Christmas, and made myself a bunch of long "hippie" skirts that I'm not really sure how I managed to live without, before.  All my kids have hats I made them, and two of the kids have blankets.  I'm currently in the middle of figuring out how to make my older daughter a quilt (her choice for a blanket).  And I've dabbled in bonnets and family cloth, and all those types of things.  I like finding new things to create on Pinterest.  It's a little addicting...

That was all before I sat down and actually came up with a business plan.  I'm a by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal.  Always have been.  And to be honest, it's worked out pretty well.  LOL  But I want PeepOoie to be something more than a hobby.  I want it to be something that can help take some of the financial burden off my husband, while I'm doing something I love.  The cherry on top is that I can give people something that they're going to love as much as I do.  I consider that a win/win/win!!!  The only way I'm going to do that is to focus on one thing...the thing I love making the most.  My diapers are my obsession.  To be successful, I need to put all my energy into them.

So now that I have a plan in place, I'm moving toward making it happen.  That means that ALL the non-diaper items in my shop are on sale right now.  There are dresses, hats, blankets, and family cloth that I need gone.  Deciding that this is going to be a successful business, instead of just a hobby, means that I'm counting my pennies and all sales are even more appreciated now than ever!!

If you aren't interested in anything you see on sale in my shop, I'd super appreciate it if you could pass the link along to someone who might be.

You can find those sale items RIGHT HERE.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!!
I hope you have a wonderful day.  :)

~Katie.

Where This All Began

I guess before I get too far ahead of myself, I should start at the beginning and explain where all of this began.

Back in the day (when I was first pregnant with my twins), I bought two bags of cloth diapers from a mom-to-mom sale.  They had sewn-in inserts, and needed covers.  It seemed like a daunting task.  I wasn't sleeping more than 3 hours (that would be 3, 1-hour naps at night), and the idea of having more to do...having laundry that HAD to be done every day, no matter what, was just more than I could deal with.  It sounded like more trouble than it was worth.  I ended up selling them for next to nothing, and used disposables on them.  I never thought I'd used cloth.

Then, after I had our singleton, I saw something online about how to make a cloth diaper.  I did the math and realized how much we were spending on diapers that we used for a couple of hours, and threw away.  It BLEW MY MIND.  In the four months of her life we'd spent no less than $250 on diapers.  In a year we'd be spending more than $750., and that would be if we kept buying the cheap ones when they were on sale.  If she was potty trained by 3, it would work out to over $2200.  On diapers.  What the...?!  

(When I thought about the money we spent on diapering our twins, I felt sick.)  

We aren't rich, by any stretch of the word.  My husband supports our family of five on his one income.  With twin toddlers and a newborn, we just didn't have money to throw away like that...and using disposable diapers really was, literally, throwing money away.

So I sat down and drew out my own pattern.  I had to try.  Even if I only used cloth every now and then, it would help out by saving some money.

The first diaper I ever made.

I decided to make her a couple and see how it went.  I fell in love with cloth diapers, and ended up buying a ton of Alva diapers because they were inexpensive.  At the same time I kept making my own, and realized very quickly that the diapers I bought left a lot to be desired. Over time I went from using the thin velcro on my diapers, to thick velcro, and my pattern changed slightly, to "fix" the problems I had found with other diapers out there.  I was tired of "settling".

2nd Generation diaper with thick velcro.

I have made slight changes to my patterns three times to make them perfect.  That's where we are now...3rd generation.  Every change improved them, and eliminated the "issues" I had with other brands of cloth diapers.  At this point, I could not be more happy with the fit and comfort of these diapers.

3rd Generation diapers, KAM snaps

My own little bubs loves her cloth diapers, and we don't have to spend money on something she pees in once, and we throw away.  That's not even mentioning how much better cloth is for the environment.  It's funny to think that I was someone that said I would never use cloth because it was "too much work", and now I have a personal stash of about 20 diapers, and a pile of several prints yet to be sewn (also for my daughter).  I may have a problem.  LOL

My little Megan in her Cars diaper.

I hope that as time goes on that I can make this little business into one that can help my husband support our family.  He's still the only income for our family of 5, and as the kids are getting bigger, the cost of having them is increasing.  I would love to be able to take some of the burden off of him, while doing something I really love.

So, what started as a way to save money has turned into something of an obsession, and a business.  Now you know how this all began.  :)