I think I like it

Today I made my first attempt at a snail shell nappy. The outer is from the free DDNB pattern, using some pink stretch woven I had left over from Helen's school photo dress that I made her last year. For the PUL pouch, I used mad skills' tutorial on Diaper Sewing Divas. The absorbent part is a quad fold pocket insert that used to go in Heather's nappies.

Putting it all together, I had my doubts about how it would turn out, but once the insert went in, the shape looked more like a proper nappy.

This is the first time I've tried using the 50mm touch tape. I quite like it and I think the fit will be better than narrower hook & loop. Proper tabs look neater than just whacking the hook on the inside of the wings, but are slower to sew and I also figured the wings on this pattern are plenty long enough.

The insert could be a touch longer. This one doesn't fully cover the snaps, so even though they are covered by a layer of PUL, they might dig into the skin a bit. The thread on DSD also indicates that a longer insert is less likely to leak.

I didn't have FOE (fold over elastic), so I used a strip of microfleece to make a casing around the PUL and threaded 3mm elastic through it. This seems to work ok, and I'm not normally a fan of FOE, but for something like this I think FOE would be better. It would be less bulky and I think it would also be more comfortable.

The legs on the outer are a bit loose - I was trying not to tighten the elastic too much, but I think I went too far the other way. Snail shell fans on DSD assure me though that the legs don't need to be firm - in fact some snail shell outers are made with ribbing instead of elastic and are quite loose, and if the legs are too tight they can curl inside the PUL pouch and cause wicking. So this one should work, even if the legs gape.

I really like the snail shell concept, but I'm a bit nervous about getting the elastic right. One option is to make casings on the back and legs and use button hole elastic, which is now available in a 10mm width for nappy making. So my nappy making shopping list is building up: 50mm H&L, FOE, button hole elastic...