The fit of the OSFA depends on your bub and the brand you choose. We have been using OSFA since Ari was 5wks old and have had no fit problems but my bubs chub up pretty quickly so we would have grown out of sized nappies way too quickly. If you are looking at sized nappies you can get the most use out of mediums 5-11kg.
Sewing your own - there are a number of ladies who sew there own and you can join a coop to get fabric like bamboo and hemp fleece (nappy body) and microfleece (stay dry liner or fabric against bubs skin) You can of course use flannellette which is available from most fabric stores but bamboo, hemp and microfibre have more absorbtion for the amount of material you need makiing them trimmer.
PUL (the waterproof outer) cuts can be bought from a couple of online stores or you can send in your own fabric to be laminated in some places or you can use fleece (needs to be a specific type) which naturally repeals water.
You can also knit the covers and lanolise them which create a waterproof barrier.
There are a couple of online stores which sell patterns to shorties and longies (knitted covers) and also for the actual nappies if you google cloth nappy patterns you should find a few.
As for how many you will need we stared off with 5 OSFA and 12 flats and every time I didn't buy a packet of disposables I used the money to get another nappy.
Generally a newborn will go through more nappies than any other age and a lot of people prefer prefolds (square with extra layers sewn together in the wet zone which you fold in three) or a trifold (fabric folded in three) /and covers for this time - prefolds/trifolds are really easy to make yourself.
After the initial pooping every change stage you use about 6-8 nappies a day and now we are down to about 4-6 a day. Depends on how often you want to wash but 12-14 MCN is a good place to start off and if you are going to buy them try a mixed pack so you can try out a few different brands before buying up lots of one type.
snaps vrs velcro - most of the commercial nappies use 'hook and loop' which is a stronger version of velcro and it does give a good fit bt bubs can also undo them and if you do get the cheaper variety it can 'wear out' and loose it's grippiness. Snaps are good and there are tricks to getting a good fit. If you are going to make your own you can purchase a snap press and snap your own nappies but they aren't cheap. My hubby isn't fond of snaps as he has big fingers/hands but he doesn't change that many nappies and mostly DD is in just a shirt and a nappy so snaps are a must for us or all our nappies would be off :-)
have fun shopping and beware MCN is very addictive :-)
PS wool covers - depends again on the brand, some are softer than others and some work better than others. My DD didn't like the feel of the machine woven covers but loves her handknitted woolies.
Is there anyone out there who uses mostly prefolds? I have found a Canadian website that carries many different brands of cloth, and explains how they all work, etc, and it seems like prefolds are quite economical, fit most sizes, and are really easy to wash and dry. They carry three different types, two kinds of unbleached indian cotton (I think) for about $3/piece, and one organic hemp and french terry for about $9 a piece. Not sure which kind to pick, either. But anyways, I thought that if I paired them with a "snappi" thing to close them, and then a really good diaper cover, I'd have a system that works pretty well, and isn't too expensive. What do you think? What's the down side here?
Check out the flat nappy discussion thread for info on prefolds and covers. You can also use a flat nappy and add boosters if needed. This way you can adapt for different absorption needed between kids and between day/night/naps.
in terms of sewing, prefolds are pretty easy to make yourself, if you want to go that way. Boosters are easy to make, much easier if you can access the overlocker.
To make good mcn with the proper materials, when just making for yourself, probably doesn't work out much cheaper than buying. You need a good tool to press the snaps, it all adds up.
prefolds are great and easy to dry and very trim, the only downside is that they aren't as absorbant as some of your pockets and AIO.
If you want you don't even need to snappi them you can just fold in three called the pad fold and lay it in the cover. Make sure your cover has gussets for the first few months to help with containment and as for the different types cotton is the least absorbant of the two but trimmer follwed by hemp which is more absorbant but bulkier.
For newborn, I just used the terry flats and a pocket nappy as a cover... and now I can use the pocket nappy as a pocket nappy, so twice the use...... although I will be selling my pockets and only using aio & ai2 now....
I had the terry in either the pad fold or chinese fold and never leaked out..
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