Sewing ProCare and hidden layers
When I was selling nappies I used ProCare as a water-resistant layer and I’ve been asked how I sewed it, so I thought I’d share it here.
ProCare is a very durable coated fabric made by Wazoodle, a Canadian company. In my opinion it is far superior to PUL because it is much longer wearing but still soft, but it’s quite hard to get hold of in Australia. One thing to note – my ProCare did not last the advertised 1000 home launderings, possibly because of UV exposure, but it did last longer than PUL. One side has a knitted polyester, the other side is rubbery. You can use either as the right side, my rule of thumb was to have the fabric side towards where people would be touching, so the inside of a cover or pocket. I only used white because it was always a hidden layer, but it is available in plain blue, pink and green as well.
Most of my ProCare was sewn with an overlocker (serger). The dilemma here is that the rubbery side is quite ’sticky’ and you can’t pull things through an overlocker or you can break the needles and needle-plate. To get around this I kept the ProCare on the top, where it moved through easier and I could keep an eye on it. On a sewing machine I found the opposite worked better – having the ProCare on the bottom near the feed dogs. It takes a bit of trial and error to see what works with different machines.
I used a relatively heavy duty needle, size 90, but just a normal sharp – I’ve heard others suggest ball point needles for coated fabrics but personally didn’t find it made a difference. If you are using pins, it’s very important to pin inside the seam allowance, otherwise you end up with holes in your water-resistant layer! Bull dog clips are a good alternative to pins that won’t leave marks. I’ve also heard of people gluing fabrics with special fabric glues, this would be good to ‘baste’ a hidden layer and the fashion layer.
The difficulty with making pocket nappies with a hidden layer and outer fashion layer is stopping the outer layer coming in contact with the pocket itself. If it does, it can wick the moisture out and you end up with a wet nappy. I know of several solutions:
- The simplest way to avoid it is to use an outer that
is 100% polyester, like minkee. Gorgeous and non-wicking, what more could you ask for? Even better is if you top-stitch around the elastic, this makes it lie flat rather than rolling. - Use fold-over elastic to sew your layers together. This is definitely the simplest sewing solution, no turning, no separate elastic, just put your three layers together and sew. However I’ve only done it myself with non-wicking outers or on covers. For a cover I’ve found it works best when the crotch is very wide so there is a gap between the nappy and the leg of the cover, I suspect a pocket nappy with a cotton outer would wick if done this way.
- Make an overlocked (serged) frill. Sew the elastic between the ProCare and the inner, then put the fashion fabric on top and overlock the three together. You end up with an overlocked frill around the nappy.
- Make the pocket separate. Much the same as the overlocked frill, but
turned. Sew the elastic between ProCare and inner, then put the right side of the fashion fabric to the inner and overlock. Turn right way out, you get a line of the inner around the edes of the legs. It must have enough absorbent materials in the pocket or it will wick because there’s nowhere else for the water to go. - Make a partially hidden layer. I haven’t tried this myself, but I’ve seen a couple of brands that say the outer layer is separate from the pocket because some of the ProCare is visible.
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Categories: Fabrics, Sewing
