Fuzbaby Gallery: Before Binding

Late 1999

The first diapers I made in early 1997 were plain flannel, "green" before organic was available. No one used them or cared but my daughter.

When I was pregnant again, I decided to make more diapers. Ah-ha, said I, I could make these diapers for other people, too. Be careful what you wish for.

I used my old pattern made on a cereal box, made it a bit more curvy, then used old T-shirts I had on hand. I insisted then on using every bit of the T-shirt for the soaker inside. Some diapers were very fat and surely impossible to dry; others weren't nearly thick enough. I loved these T-shirt diapers, though. I came back to that idea later to create Refuz diapers from reused cotton T-shirts.

I sold a few of these and similar diapers at a local Holiday boutique sale late 1999, so I count that as the beginning of Fuzbaby as a business.

Details
Late 1999 Flannel Fish diapers My first step in making diapers for sale was actually to go shopping for fabric, naturally. I went to G Street Fabrics in Rockville, Maryland. When I lived in Washington, D.C., I was a frequent shopper. I don't know if I have diapers made from that fabric, so it may just have been an excuse to fill my car with terry and flannel. The first fabric I bought for diapers I intended to sell was this flannel fish pattern. I sold most of these to members of an intentional community who made these part of their communal cloth diaper stash.
Late 1999 Recycled knit baby wipes Small cuts from the T-shirt diapers above became cloth baby wipes. We had a friend / professional photographer take these and most of our other early photos. What lovely knit wipe flowers! If the diaper is smashed flat on a grey-green surface, that is just me and my scanner.