Even though it’s technically designed with diapers in mind, and I definitely don’t have any rugrats of my own running around, I couldn’t wait to review the Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ line from Prym Consumer USA! I may not be a mom, but the promise of breathable, waterproof fabric still sets my heart all aflutter, and polka dotted fold over elastic makes me a little weak in the knees. I mean, what sewer isn’t always on the lookout for good waterproof fabric options or high quality elastic?
For this review, I tried out all of the major categories in the line, including waterproof, breathable PUL fabric, EZ adjust tape, fold over elastic, snaps, and snap pliers.
According to the Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ website:
What’s Babyville Boutique?
• PUL fabric in charming prints and solids— it’s waterproof and breathable, perfect for creating easy-sew diapers, bibs and more.
• Fold Over Elastic, Snaps and EZ Adjust Tape™—they’re functional and fun.
Add personality with playful labels, appliques and buttons.
Boutique Waterproof, Breathable PUL Fabricâ„¢
PUL Waterproof Fabric is available by the yard or in convenient 3-packs. Solid colors retail around $12.99 per yard, and prints retail around $14.99 per yard. The 3-packs contain three 21†x 24†pieces of fabric, and retail for around $14.99 per pack.
According to the Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ website:
Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ PUL can be used for Diaper covers and other diaper styles. Bibs. Changing pads. Wet bags. Drawstring socks. Diaper pail liners. Breastfeeding pads. Much more.
Our trendy prints can be combined with our solid PUL coordinates and with Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ Appliques- Fold Over Elastic- EZ Adjust Tape- Plastic Snaps- Buttons- and Labels to make your own style creation!
Material: 83% Polyester/15% Polyurethane/2% Agglutinant
What I loved:
1. The fabric comes in tons of colors, including prints, pastels, and primary colors.
I can’t tell you how excited I am about the primary colors. It makes the whole line a lot more useful to non-kid crafters and sewers and/or parents who aren’t into pastels.
2. The fabric is soft to the touch, stretches a bit, and doesn’t feel plastic-y.
3. The fabric has two layers: a fabric side that is a soft layer of polyester knit, and a stretchy, waterproof polyurethane laminate film (PUL) on the back for extra protection. This makes it waterproof, not just water-resistant.
4. The fabric cuts cleanly and easily with a standard rotary cutter.
5. When I flipped the fabric over, the PUL layer gripped tightly to my ruler, making cutting the fabric a snap.
6. Fabric markers marked cleanly and with minimal bleeding on the fabric.
8. According to the instructions, the sewing holes around the seams can be closed by throwing your finished project in a hot dryer for 20 minutes. (Alas, I live in a Brooklyn apartment without a washer/dryer, so I was unable to test this statement.)
9. The fabric is legitimately waterproof. I placed a piece of fabric in a water glass, then filled it up. After more than half an hour of sitting, absolutely zero water had seeped through the fabric, and there was no dampness at all on the outside.
10. To further test the fabric, I made an emergency waterproof cover for my phone, which I plan to keep in my purse in case I get caught in the rain. Even without being able to run the finished project through the dryer to close the sewing holes, I stuffed it with a napkin and sprayed it with a spray bottle to simulate a downpour. When I was finished, the napkin inside was still completely dry.
11. You can buy the fabric in multi-color 3-packs or by the yard, depending on your project needs. (Now that I know I can get it by the yard, I’m seriously considering making a full raincoat. Waterproof fabric that’s breathable would be perfect for staying dry but not feeling steamed!)
What I didn’t love:
1. The fabric package indicates that you shouldn’t iron the fabric, which makes it difficult to remove wrinkles before sewing. However, the FAQ on the website states that you can steam press the fabric side, but never to use an iron on the PUL side. Since ironing is such a huge part of making sure that your sewing projects come out the right shape, it would have been great if the ironing information given in the FAQ would have been on the package as well.
I used my steam iron on the polyester setting on the fabric side, and it smoothed out the wrinkles and didn’t cause any noticeable damage to PUL layer on the back.
2. The PUL side makes pinning difficult, and the slippery texture on both sides makes it hard to keep layers aligned. Adding to the difficulty, you also need to take care to keep pins within seam allowances, or risk compromising the waterproof surface of your project. (These are concerns with any waterproof fabric, not just Babyville Boutique PUL.)
General fabric tips:
1. Fabric markers are more visible than standard tailor’s chalk on this kind of fabric.
2. The fabric is slippery. Connecting multiple layers with a fabric glue stick before sewing worked better for me than pinning alone.
3. To avoid making unnecessary holes, fabric clips worked very well in place of pins.
Boutique Fold Over Elasticâ„¢
Fold Over Elastic (FOE) is packaged with two 1†x 2 yard rolls per pack, and is available in 8 different color combinations. Each 2-pack retails for around $6.99.
According to the Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ website:
Fold over Elastic 2 pieces per pack.
Material: 69% Nylon 31% Spandex
What I loved:
1. The fold over elastic comes in many colors and designs, including polka dots, prints, and solid colors.
2. FOE stretched evenly and consistently when pulled, then bounced right back to its original length. According to my 4†sample, it stretches to about 150% longer than its original length.
3. FOE was easy to cut with fabric scissors or a rotary cutter, and the cuts were clean with minimal fraying.
4. You can use FOE to create stretchy openings like waistbands and armholes, but you can also use it in place of bias tape, for a thicker decorative finish to seams.
What I didn’t love:
1. On the heart print FOE, the hearts were only on one side of the fold. If you’re using it for a reversible garment or as stand-alone elastic, one side will be plain.
According to the FOE product listing on the website, this is the case for the circle and heart prints, but not for the polka dots. I happen to have the Babyville Boutique red polka dot FOE, so I can confirm that there are dots on both sides of the fold.
2. You can only buy FOE in mixed packs, so you might end up with a second color that you don’t like.
Boutique Snap Pliersâ„¢ and Boutique Snapsâ„¢
The snaps are available in both solid and design styles (smooth or textured with a shape). They are size 20, and come in sets of 60 that retail around $7.99 per package. There are 8 different color combinations to choose from.
The snap pliers are squeeze-style pliers that retail for around $19.99. They can fit size 16, 20, and 24 snaps.
According to the Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ website:
Snap Pliers are the quick and easy solution for applying Babyville Boutique snaps to your project.
Package includes: 2 Shanks. 3 Die Trays; size 16-20-and 24. 1 Plier. 1 Awl. 1 Screwdriver. 2 Rubber Pressing Heads. 2 Washers.
What I loved:
1. The awl included in the package was sharp enough to easily pierce multiple layers of fabric, and it could even punched through two layers of fold over elastic.
2. With the pre-poked hole, the snap pliers were extremely easy to squeeze. They were much easier to use than my usual heavy duty snap pliers.
3. The snaps can accommodate at least two layers of PUL fabric and FOE.
4. The snap pliers come configured for size 20 dies, which makes them ready for immediate use with the Babyville Boutique snaps, which are also size 20. If you have different sized snaps, you can use the included screwdriver to change the die configuration to fit size 16 snaps or size 24 snaps. (Shanks, pressing heads, and dies are included for all three sizes.)
5. The instructions included in the package were easy to follow, and the pliers didn’t require additional assembly when used with the Babyville Boutique™ snaps.
What I didn’t love:
The pliers and snaps worked just as described, so I don’t have any issues or concerns to report in this section.
EZ Adjust Tape is 1 ½†wide and contains 1 yard of loop tape and ½ yard of hook tape. It comes in 7 different colors, and retails around $3.49 per package.
According to the Babyville Boutiqueâ„¢ website:
EZ Adjust Tape makes a quick & easy adjustable closure for all your projects.
Material: 100% Nylon
What I loved:
1. Both the hook and loop sides were easy to cut to length with regular fabric scissors.
2. My sewing machine easily stitched through the loop side and the hook side without getting caught, breaking the thread, or jamming.
3. The tape is noticeably softer and more flexible than similar fasteners of its kind.
What I didn’t love:
1. The EZ Adjust Tape came in a roll, which made it difficult to flatten. The package suggested that I hold it in place with clear tape, but scotch tape wasn’t strong enough to prevent it from curling. I used fabric clips instead, which worked better.
2. The package came with 1 full yard of loop tape, but only half a yard of hook tape. As someone who tends to use equal lengths of both hook and loop tapes, this didn’t make much sense to me, and I think other non-diaper making sewers might find this to be confusing too.
Waterproof Phone Protector
Overall impressions
I was quite impressed with the quality of the whole Babyville Boutique™ line. The fabric actually was waterproof, so it would definitely be useful for making anything from diapers to rain coats to reusable sandwich bags. The fold over elastic was thick, easy to work with, and had good stretch and recovery, the EZ Adjust Tape didn’t break my thread or damage my sewing needle, and the snap pliers and snaps were easy to use and yielded beautiful results on the first try. Overall, I found the whole line to be reasonably priced and a good value.
Disclosure: Samples provided for review, but my opinions are honest and my own!
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There’s only one problem with this review–you didn’t wash or dry any of the fabrics. And there are reports from many cloth-diaper-sewing moms that the Babyville Boutique PUL “delaminates” (the PUL detaches from the poly fabric base).
If you Google “Babyville Boutique Boycott”, you should be able to find more information.
Given that the actual durability of the fabric is at question, a thorough independent review of the machine wash- and dry-ability would be marvelous.
For anyone who is interested in using plastic snaps–there are also much better quality snap pliers and snaps available, at much better prices, on the internet. The brand you are looking for is called KAM. 🙂
I’d like to try this to make gifts for baby showers. Moms are going back to cloth many times.
I made some covers with this stuff. It’s great.
I’ve been using these covers on my daughter for 5 months. I haven’t had any delamination. Great stuff!!
I love Babyville PUL and their other products. I haven’t had any problems with delamination at all. And my dryer dried HOT! I think they are a great product!