That you have probably heard eight billion times. Anyway:

I just bought a honey boy pattern, and two yards of fleece.For the insides, and the soakers, the pattern is recommending terry cloth- which isn't in the budget right now. Can I just recycle some regular beat up towels, or some sweat pants? And, must I use flannel for the lining? Can I recycle tee- shirts? Could I use plain weave fabric?

Where does one find microfiber, like in the FuzziBunz soakers? What is it made from? Can I find any of this stuff at Joann's, or at Walmart?

This really is a whole new world for me.

Ari

I use microfiber towels from Walmart...in the auto section. Last time I looked they had a rainbow of colors :) You can also buy yellow ones from Sam's super cheap. The only set back is they are yellow.

Okay let's see...
You can certainly recycle a towel for the soaker, but regular terry toweling gets stiff over time and I doubt it's going to be as absorbent as BTK. But if it's your only option, it's not a horrible one.

You could use t-shirts for the hidden layer. It calls for flannel for stability (I believe), but since you just really need something to attach your soaker to, that would be fine.

As far as your microfibre question, I assume you mean microfleece? If you want to buy it locally, the Joann's microfleece is acutally pretty good. Just make sure you buy the MICROFLEECE (and not their regular or anti-pill fleece). It's expensive though, so you'll want to buy it on sale or with a coupon.

HTH!

Whatever you use, make sure it's mostly cotton. Sometimes sweats have a lot of poly in them and won't absorb well.

I would think that flannel blankets would work great! I'd use stretch terry on the inside. Old tee shirts that are 100% cotton are good too.

Towling can get stiff and yucky after a few washes.

heres a page you should see :)

http://fernandfaerie.com/frugaldiapering.html

I have tried diapers out of old towells before, I found that they were bulky anddidn't absorb as well as BKT for example. I think better to use extra layers of old T-shirts, but try to stick to 80-100% cotton.
Microfiber is a great inner booster and even hidden layer is you can find it ini big pieces, but make sure that wash it heaps before using as it often looses a lot of colour and shrinks a lot.
I found huge microfiber towells at wall-mart in the car-washing section which I have used to the hidden layer, but they were more expensive by volume than the small ones.
have fun,
Meretta

Thank you!
I ended up purchasing knit terry cloth at JoAnns's, with a coupon, and finding a stash of flannel, some of it even pink.

DH, who is completely opposed to the idea, is finally sort of going along. I have nine days to make diapers. Fortunately, the boys are being cooperative- I bribed them with pajama pants fabric- I haven't made them yet, but I will.

I figure that if I do this, at six weeks, I'll be even, and anything past that is a bonus. Which is good right now. Very, very good.

Thank you all, very much, I know these questions come up all the time. I haven't been able, really, to see how these things are made.

Ari