quick and easy square prefold

This fold is the easiest for folks who are new to flats, folks who feel like they have two left hands when it comes to foldin' anything, and folks who are diaperin' on the go or don't have a surface where they can lay out a large flat for foldin'.  This fold works for all babies, although you may need to tweak it a little bit to fit, and on small babies, it will be a little bulkier.  To figure the approximate after-foldin' measurements, halve the measurement:

27" square flat:  13.5" square prefold

30" square flat:  15" square prefold

32" square flat:  16" square prefold

34" square flat:  17" square prefold

36" square flat:  18" square prefold

Just for reference, a premium-sized prefold is about 15x19", and a toddler-sized prefold is about 17x21"; Most of the mamas I've talked with say premiums fit their child through potty learning, so if you decide this is THE fold for you, and you want to use the same stash from birth to potty learnin', be sure to make/buy 36" flats (and not the more commonly available 27" flats).

1. Fold flat in half, linin' up the corners & edges to make a 2-layer rectangle.  If there's a "right side" that you would like to show/touch your baby's skin, make sure that side is facin' outwards.  

2. Fold flat in half again, linin' up the corners & edges to make a 4-layer square.  

If this is too long for your baby, overlap the edges (see step 2 for an overlapped prefold to get a visual) INSTEAD of foldin' in half.  For extra absorbency where you need it, put this overlapped area near the center for a girl or a little towards the front for a boy. 

If this is too short for your baby, fold flat so that the edges fall shy of bein' in half by however much longer you need the diaper to be.

Your flat prefold is ready to folded like a prefold diaper~ go back to the foldin' page to see a couple of folds put on a real baby step-by-step.  Note that if you have a small baby, or if you are using larger-sized flats, these will be wide, so most likely the "wings" will overlap in front until they grow into the diaper.

basic overlapped prefold

This fold works for all babies, but I prefer it for newborns, small babies, and thin babies.  I call this the overlapped prefold because these foldin' instructions overlap the center panel to give you extra layers through the wet zone, just like prefolds.  The basic fold will give you  4 x 6 x 4 layers of thickness.  Approximate after-foldin' measurements (includin' the math behind it all):

27" square:  11.55" back waist x 13.5" rise

30" square:  12.85" back waist x 15" rise

32" square:  13.70" back waist x 16" rise

34" square:  14.55" back waist x 17" rise

36" square:  15.45" back waist x 18" rise

formulas for custom sizes:  

(size of flat) / 7 x 3 = back waist 

(size of flat) / 2 = rise

For the prefold, you'll get to add about 1/3 of the back waist measurement to itself to get the total waist measurement.  

1. Fold flat in half.  If there's a "right side" that you would like to show/touch your baby's skin, make sure that side is facin' outwards.  If there's a decorative or thicker edge you'd like to use as the back waistband, keep it at the top edge of the bottom layer so that it isn't folded in this first step.

2. Fold the sides in so that they overlap by 1/3 or slightly less of the total folded width.

Your flat prefold is ready to folded like a prefold diaper~ go back to the foldin' page to see this angel fold put on a real baby step-by-step.

smaller prefold

If you have a preemie or tiny baby, it's easy to make this fold smaller.  This smaller fold will give you  6 x 12 x 6 layers of thickness.  

27" square:  10.15" back waist x 11" rise (3.4" is 1/8)

30" square:  11.25" back waist x 12" rise (3.75" is 1/8)

32" square:  12.00" back waist x 12.65" rise (4" is 1/8)

34" square:  12.75" back waist x 13.35" rise (4.25" is 1/8)

36" square:  13.50" back waist x 14" rise (4.5" is 1/8)

formulas for custom sizes:  

(size of flat) / 8 x 3 = back waist 

(size of flat) / 3 + 2" = rise

make these adjustments to the basic fold instructions:

Fold flat so that the edges fall 1" shy of bein' in thirds. Fold one side over about 1/8 of the flat size, then fold these sides in so that they overlap by 1/3 or slightly less of the total folded width.  If you have a boy, and would prefer to have extra absorbency in the front, fold in half (not thirds) in the first step, then fold the extra length down into the front when you do your prefold.

larger prefold

If you have a larger baby or toddler, you can easily make this fold larger, however I strongly suggest either usin' two flats (stack the two together and fold as if you were foldin' one), or usin' a folded up flat or doubler down the center for absorbancy.  This larger fold will give you  4 x 4 x 4 layers of thickness without a second flat or doubler.

27" square:  13.50" back waist x 15.50" rise 

30" square:  15.00" back waist x 17" rise 

32" square:  16.00" back waist x 18" rise 

34" square:  17.00" back waist x 19" rise 

36" square:  18.00" back waist x 20" rise 

formulas for custom sizes:  

(size of flat) / 2 = back waist 

(size of flat) / 2 + 2" = rise

make these adjustments to the basic fold instructions:

Fold flat so that the edges fall 2" shy of bein' in half.  Fold the sides in so that they barely overlap or meet down the center.