How to Make T-Shirt Prefolds

Cloth diapers are a healthy and economic choice for diapering babies.

Prefold diapers are usually the preferred choice in cloth diapers. Prefold diapers are already folded and stitched with absorbent material between the layers. You can easily transform old cotton T-shirts into homemade prefold diapers with a sewing machine. In selecting your material, only use T-shirts that are 100 percent natural fiber like cotton, hemp or bamboo, because synthetic materials are not absorbent and the diapers will leak.

Things You'll Need

• T-shirt
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Sewing machine

Instructions

Preparation

1. Lay the T-shirt flat with the front facing up on a hard surface. Smooth out all of the wrinkles so that the fabric is completely flat.

2. Fold the bottom portion of the T-shirt up so that the bottom of the shirt is even with the lowest point of the collar of the T-shirt.

3. Cut away the sleeves of the T-shirt that protrude past the sides of the folded portion of the shirt with scissors or a rotary cutter.

4. Trim away the collar and top of the T-shirt so that all of the fabric layers are even.

5. Unfold the remaining fabric and stitch the top and sides of the T-shirt closed. The shirt should now resemble a pillow case.

Making the Diaper

1. Turn the T-shirt inside out.

2. Create a trifold section across the center of the T-shirt with the folded section folded up toward the top of the shirt. The entire height of the T-shirt should now be 13 inches high and there should be 6 layers of T-shirt in the folded area and two on the top and bottom.

3. Stitch along the edges of the folded section in the middle of the shirt and along the bottom edge with a straight stitch on a sewing machine.

Tips & Warnings

• Extra layers of absorbent material can be placed inside the folded section of the T-shirt to provide extra absorbency.

• Pure cotton flannel shirts with the buttons removed can also be used to provide extra softness.