Mama Cloth

In my time of creating cloth diaper patterns, I also took out time to create a pattern for cloth menstrual pads. I developed a design that would provide an overlap opening in the waterproof layer of the pads so that water and air could flow through the pad for complete and thorough cleaning. I like the pattern and the design very much and I am still using my mama cloth to this day. You can find much more information about use and care on the internet. This post is merely to provide a simple pattern and unique design with a few sewing tips.

Contoured Nursing Pads

One of the downsides of closing my Pampered Cheeks website was no longer providing access to the free patterns that I had available there. I didn't have a ton of traffic (probably less than my faux fuzzis post on this blog receives), but I did have some traffic. Someone contacted me today via Facebook requesting my pattern for contoured nursing pads. I took a few minutes to turn my old webpage into a pdf document and shared it. I decided to publish a blog post so it could be easily accessed. I hope in time the Google search bots and other web pages that used to link to pamperedcheeks.com will direct people here (at least as long as this blog lasts).

You can download the pattern for the pieces here (links to Dropbox):

Contoured Nursing Pads Pattern

And the sewing instructions here:

Pattern Instructions

This pattern was one of my most favorite patterns. These are hands-down the best pads I ever tried, loosely modeled from a commercial set I came across that were made from lesser-quality fabrics. The pattern is also a great use for "scraps" of fabric that might otherwise be thrown away (especially unique leftovers from cloth diaper patterns).

This post originally appeared on my family blog: http://stephsoundoff.blogspot.com/2016/01/contoured-nursing-pads-pattern.html

Little Cheekies Fitteds Newborn Pattern

I have never seen an official poll, but I will venture to guess that the majority of cloth diapers that are sold are either size newborn or one-size. I'll tell you right now, newborn sized diapers are ADORABLE. If you can make your own, DO IT. You will not regret having tiny squishy diapers that fit your newborn perfectly. And if you're making them yourself, it isn't as bad on the wallet. Most newborns grow out of the newborn diapers within the first 2-3 months, so they don't get a lot of use out of the diapers.

Growing Cheekies Pocket and All-in-Two Diapers

While I loved the one-size diapers for their versatility and long-life, I spent most of my time working on my patterns for sized diapers. I called these "Growing Cheekies" since they are made to fit your growing child. Apparently I have never made the "fitteds" version of this pattern available for download. That requires a bit of tweaking to the original pattern. For now I'll work on getting up the pocket and all-in-two version.

One-Size Pocket Diaper

In my last post I shared the pattern for the very popular One-Size Fitted Diapers. That pattern also contains the patterns and instructions for the One-Size Pocket Diapers and the One-Size All-in-Two (AI2).

One-Size Pocket diapers are a very popular diaper. The outside of the diaper can be made from waterproof fabric such as polyester urethane laminate (PUL). The inside of the diaper can be made from a thin quick-drying polyester fabric such as microfleece or suedecloth, or athletic-type fabrics. Then a pocket opening provides access for stuffing in the absorbent part of the diaper. This design allows you to customize the thickness and absorbency of the diaper, while at the same time disassembling the dirty diaper to wash means that all the parts get thoroughly cleaned and dried.

One-Size Fitted Diaper

The first diaper and pattern I developed for sale was the One-Size Fitted diaper. This diaper features customizable snap-in inserts that make it easy to adjust the diaper to the size needed as well as adjust absorbency needed. Having snap-in inserts also means a faster drying time, making these diapers easy to wash and use in a varied diaper stash. Understandably, these diapers were very popular! They make a good basic fitted diaper and are effective for overnights.

Welcome to Pampered Cheeks!

I started Pampered Cheeks in 2006. For a few years, I designed and produced custom cloth diapers from my own patterns and sold them on Hyena Cart. After some time, I also developed a commercial pattern and sold it from my own website. As I added to my own family, however, my time devoted to developing my business declined. Regulations regarding products made for children were both heavy and confusing. I didn't want to get in trouble, but navigating CPSIA and labeling requirements was difficult--not impossible, but difficult, especially given how little time I had to work on the business anyway. Eventually I stopped manufacturing diapers and only sold patterns. And at some point even that became too much. I felt I wasn't giving Pampered Cheeks the attention it deserved. So I shut the doors, canceled my website hosting, and, in what was a mistake, gave up my domain. I was deeply saddened a few months later to find that it had been snatched up by someone else and appears to be a "fake" website selling diapers. It is confusing at best. I wish I had invested $10/year to keep the domain. ::sigh:: Lesson learned.

Another hard lesson came as I realized that even though they are few, some people are still searching for my patterns. While I am no longer in business and I'm still not going to develop the patterns, I do want to make them available for the public to use. That's what this blog is for.