Babyville Boutique® Stay-Dri™ Wicking Fabric Tips and Techniques

Babyville Boutique® Stay-Dri™ Wicking Fabric Tips and Techniques
Success in cloth diapering often times is finding the right
combinations of materials that suit your baby’s wetting
needs. This is especially true of soaker fabrics, but your
choice of lining fabric also plays an important part in
whether your diapers perform admirably or suffer from
dreaded “leaking.”
The optimum diaper needs a soaker that will absorb
baby’s wetness quickly and a lining that will still keep baby
feeling dry and comfortable. Babyville Boutique Stay-Dri
Wicking Fabric fills this diaper lining role admirably!
Babyville Boutique Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric is 100% Polyester fabric with micro perforated openings. When baby
wets, the Stay-Dri Wicking fabric permits the assault of
moisture to quickly penetrate down to the absorbent
soaker layers below. Because the polyester fabric does not
absorb or hold the moisture, it creates a “stay-dry” barrier
between baby’s bottom to the absorbent soaker layer below.
Babyville Boutique Stay-Dri Wicking fabric has no “right” or “wrong” side. Whichever side you use facing up
next to baby’s skin is fine. Most moms prefer to use it with the dimpled side up, but the other way will work
just fine too. For best results, lay out the diaper pattern so that the stretch of the Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric goes
across the diaper wings and the diaper.
It’s important to remember that Babyville Stay-Dri Wicking fabric is not an absorption layer, it is a lining layer,
also called an “inner”, so you’ll need to put absorbing layers beneath it.
Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric should be sewn with good quality polyester thread and a medium stitch. It can be a
bit slippery if you haven’t sewn with thin knit fabric before. Pin diaper layers together well in the seam allowance or use fabric clips. You can also use fabric glue in the seam allowance to secure it well to the fabric side
of your PUL or other diaper fabric before stitching a turned and topstitched style diaper. For a diaper bound in
FOE (Fold Over Elastic), use fabric glue to adhere the wicking fabric to the laminate side of the PUL before applying your FOE binding. TIP: When using pins on PUL, remember to keep the pins in the seam allowance area.
If your machine tends to feed multiple fabrics unevenly, a walking foot or “even feed” foot will be beneficial as
well. But most machines handle the wicking fabric fine.
Another possible problem when sewing with wicking fabric
is “snagging” the initial starting threads. To avoid possible
“snagging,” make sure that you hold your thread tails taut
behind the presser foot when you first start sewing. This
keeps the needle from grabbing the lightweight fabric too
quickly and carrying your thread tails down into the needle
plate, Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric and all! So, hold thread tails
taut as you start to sew and make sure you are starting your
stitching on the fabric.
A tiny piece of transparent tape at the first inch of the fabric,
or a piece of tissue paper placed below your fabric is also
helpful when starting to stitch on a thin or stretchy fabric.
This technique works well for any type of knit. Simply tear
the tape or tissue paper off after your project is stitched.
You can also serge wicking fabric, but the fabric will tend
to slip with the very fast stitching done with a serger. Slow
down when serging on wicking fabric and use fabric clips to hold layers together well (remove clips before
nearing the cutting blade).
It’s not unusual for moms to think their PUL is leaking or their Stay-Dri Wicking fabric is repelling or not
working properly when they experience moisture migration to the outside of the diaper. In essence, probably 99% of the time, the culprit is not the PUL, the Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric, the polyester thread or even the
required “heat seal” of the PUL after sewing. Instead, it is using inadequate soaker materials and layers of
absorption for your baby’s wetting needs.
It is not necessary to prewash wicking fabric before sewing because the polyester wicking fabric won’t
shrink. However, it is a good idea to wash the newly sewn diaper to remove any residue and to then dry the
diaper to seal the stitching holes in the PUL. Make sure any diaper sewn with PUL is dried at least 20 minutes
on high heat to seal the PUL. After this first sealing process, PUL should be tumble-dried on low heat, or to
provide the gentlest environment and even more longevity for your diapers, line dry or hang to dry.
There are wetting instances where Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric is not
the preferred inner lining in a diaper. If your baby is an especially
forceful wetter or a quick wetter, it is possible that the polyester
fabric will not conduct moisture quickly enough to the absorbent
soaker layer below. This can be remedied by using an organic
fabric booster soaker on top of the Stay-Dri lining. This will absorb
the quick, forceful assault of moisture better, and allow the heavy
wetting to saturate down below to the soaker rather than leak
out of the diaper.
In some instances, an organic lining such as cotton velour may
be a better lining choice for especially heavy, heavy wetters. The
organic material absorbs and holds the moisture, quickly at first,
then allows it to penetrate to the soaker layer below as it saturates. Babyville Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric is the quickest absorbing
poly lining and works well for most heavy/fast wetters; but, ones who are extreme fast wetters would have
the best luck with cotton fabrics.