~ Cloth Diapers: Are They Truly Money Saving or Just Trendy? ~

I just read this article over at the The Cloth Diaper Whisperer and was a bit blow away by what people will spend on cloth diapers when they are toted as the "economical choice" for diapering your baby. They highlighted their GroBaby Diapering System which looks fantastic but using the system as a hybrid system will cost you, get ready, $2551.45. Holy Crap!! Using the system as a cloth system is a bit better at 375.00 but that only gets you 12 shells, 24 organic soakers, and 16 organic boosters, which would last us about a day and a half because our little guy likes to nurse and his water, so he pees a lot!! The hybrid or Biosoaker option is presented for times when cloth just isn't feasible, in the last three years I have not had one time that cloth diapering wasn't feasible. It seems like such a waste to purchase something that is just going to be thrown away, plus I would never would be able to use the Biosoakers because they are made from corn and my kids are allergic to corn, their skin would not be happy.
Three years ago I paid 479.00 (that included shipping) and bought a prefold package from Tiny Tush. It included:
36 green edge prefolds
36 blue edge prefolds
5 each small, medium, and large prowrap covers
small wet bag and large wet bag to turn a garbage can into a diaper pail
6 snappis
6 small doublers
5 large hour glass shaped doublers
toilet sprayer
3 100 count packages of flushable diaper liners
6 diaper pins
12 citrus deodorizing disks

Their prefold package is a bit different now, you get 1/2 dozen less blue edge diapers and they don't include the toilet sprayer(we never used ours because we have two older boys and figured that it would be just to tempting to play with and make a mess) but they include the Tiny Tush Wraps which are way nicer than the prowrap covers that I bought. Our prowrap cover were definitely workhorse covers, my daughter was in the medium size from 6 months till she potty trained, they are pretty much shot now but will work for daytime use when the rest of the stash is in the laundry. Now I know that prefolds are not for everyone, but hands down they are the most versatile to use with several different ways to fold them or just laying them in a cover and you can't beat the cost. They are easy to wash and dry quickly because they are flat, in the summer we only use the clothesline saving even more money by not using the dryer. We use the infant size as doublers and I love this idea although I haven't been able to make any yet. I did go through a time when I wanted some fitteds because our daughter was so thin and there is such a size difference between the infant and premium prefolds. I went on an online search and again was shocked as to how much a fitted cost. I know that there is much more time involved and materials but still I am much to frugal to pay that much for a diaper.

So, what's a girl to do, I went and bought a basic sewing machine and some flannel(most of the flannel has been remnant pieces so they are half off), rounded up some old towels, search for free patterns and made myself a few. I have bought some PUL, other diaper fabrics and notions but would guess that I haven't spent more than $250 on those purchases(a complete list coming soon). My machine was a display model and only cost me $80. We still reach for the prefolds but when we go out we use fitteds just because I know that if my little guy poops it most likely won't get all over the cover. I used Tiny Tush for a reference only because they are the only store that I have purchase from, I know that there are a lot of great ones out there. What's your favorite store or WAHM to purchase diapers from? For all of you DIY, over the next few days I am going to show you the patterns that I have used and which ones I like the best.