A diaper stacker is a handy thing to have in a nursery. No more stacking up boxes of diapers - drop them into the diaper stacker which can hold as many as three dozen or more. You can make one to match the other nursery accessories and you can make it as large or small as you want. If you’re short on room, make a short diaper stacker. Plenty of space? Make one that hangs to the floor. The fabric choice is yours. Some suggestions are satin, pink or blue corduroy or something to match the theme in the room.
You’ll first need a piece of cardboard that will be the basic size of the bottom of the diaper stacker. With right sides together, lay the fabric out on the table, then place the cardboard on the fabric. The cardboard should be an inch or two smaller on the sides than it is on the front and the back, so trim the cardboard if needed. You should wrap cloth around the cardboard that goes in the bottom, but if that will make you short of fabric for the diaper hanger, leave the cardboard plain or use a coordinating fabric to cover it.
You’ll cut four pieces, one each for the front, the back and the sides. You also need two squares, to form the bottom of the stacker. Choose the coat hanger that you’ll be using to hang the diaper stacker. It will be needed for the width measurement. Lay the cardboard on top of the fabric, which is folded with right sides together, draw the base measurement for the stacker by drawing a line along the widest side of the cardboard. Decide how tall you want the stacker to be and place a dot on the fabric, above the base line, to indicate the length of the stacker. Lay the hanger across the dot, with the dot in the center opening of the wide part of the hanger. Place a dot 3/4" away from the edge of the wide part of the hanger. Do this on both sides. Remove the hanger and use a straight edge to draw a line between the three dots. The center dot should not align exactly, it should be slightly higher than the other two dots. Now draw a line from the base corner to the end dot, then from the other base corner to the opposite end dot, forming the front and back panels.
To form the side panels, use the short side of the cardboard for the base measurement. Go up from the base to the height of the diaper stacker, and draw the line again, this time placing a dot directly in the center. Now draw a line from one corner of the base to the dot, then from the opposite corner to the dot, forming a triangle. Cut the two triangles out and set aside.
When assembling the diaper stacker, sew around three edges of the two squares, right sides together. Turn the cloth, right side out, and sew the end shut and set aside. On the front piece of the diaper stacker, cut a slit which runs from just below the hanger to just above the cardboard insert. Hem the slit back and edge around both sides of the slit with lace or ribbon. Place the front piece and back piece together, right sides facing each other. Fold the two pieces in half, lengthways. Use the scissors to cut a small arc from about an inch down the fabric, over to about an inch across. This makes room for the hanger to be inserted. Use lace to sew around the edges of the arc.
Now sew from the side to the center, along the top. Stop, cross over the center hole, and sew from the center hole to the edge. Leaving the diaper stacker with right sides together, pin the side pieces into the stacker, one between each front and back piece. The point of the side pieces should come up to where the front and the back pieces meet. Sew the side pieces in.
Align and pin the four pieces to the perimeter of the bottom fabric piece, making sure the corners of the diaper stacker line up with the corners of the bottom piece. Sew the bottom piece in. Now place the cardboard liner inside the diaper hanger. Work the hanger up through the opening and into the top of the diaper hanger. If all you have is a plain coat hanger, glue ribbon around and around the hanger for a prettier look. Now you’re ready to stack your diapers.
