Sewing tips

~Always wash all fabrics and elastics before sewing.

~Use paper clips, bobby pins, or clothes pins when working with PUL. Using pins will add holes that will cause leaking.
~To increase or decrease the size of a pattern proportionally, take the pattern to a copy store and increase or decrease it by 5% in a photocopier, until you get the size you want.

~When checking to see if a diaper pattern will fit your little one, measure their thigh (all around the thickest part on the angle), their waist, and their rise (from belly button, through the crotch, to the back where their belly button would be). If the diaper will be made of stretchy material (wool soaker) such as fleece or wool then the measurements of the diaper pattern should be the same as your little one. If the diaper will be made of non-stretchy material (waterproof trainers) the diaper pattern should be quite a bit bigger then your little one's measurements and the length of the leg and waist elastic (at rest) should be the same size as our little one. Otherwise the elastic will be too tight and leave red marks (ouch!).

~To add a 1/4" seam allowance to a pattern, attach two pens together with an elastic and draw all the way around the pattern. By running one pen along the edge of the pattern the other pen will draw a line 1/4" on the outside. You can do the same thing on the inside of the pattern to get rid of a seam allowance.

~When serging around corners, run the fabric so that it just touches the knife but does not cut. This will allow you to turn the fabric quickly enough to make it around the curves. When the knife has to cut through the fabric it slows the machine down and will cause you to have a misshappen curves.

~If you need to remove a snap you can squish it sideways with pliers and then pull the top off. Before replacing it, zig zag a scrap of fabric right over the hole to prevent the new snap from pulling through the old hole.
~When marking snap placements on a pattern use a hole punch. That way you can easily transfer the markings to fabric by making a dot through the hole in the pattern onto the fabric.