Do-it-yourself EC

Welcome

2016-01-08T15:43:00.009-05:00

I created this blog to provide everyone out there with patterns and instructions to make baby friendly items. With the help of my dear friend Lisa at Ecaware Baby I have been able to provide dependable, downloadable patterns that anyone (hopefully!) can use. If you have questions or comments please email or post and I will get back to you as quickly as I can:) Happy Sewing!

For some reason some people have had trouble downloading some files. I'm not sure why as they all work for me...if you have trouble, please email me at info@appledumplinggear.com and I will gladly email you a copy! Thanks!

Making a wet bag

2015-01-22T14:26:00.001-05:00

A wet bag is always useful to put wet diapers/trainers in while you are out and about or to use in your diaper pail to make for easy clean up. If you make the wet bag from PUL you can throw it into the washer and dryer along with your diapers and have it nice and clean to be used again for the next outing. Other materials suitable for a wet bag: fleece, 100% wool (lanolized), or rip stop nylon.

Here are instructions to construct your own wet bag from PUL, a shoe lace and a toggle.

Download pattern. Some download times are long.
Here is a large version of the pattern. The great thing about this pattern is that you can easily make it any size. By increasing or decreasing the width or height of the pattern (in the middle of the pattern) you can tailor the size of your wet bag to your needs. You can make it fit a large diaper pail or a small diaper bag. The downloadable pattern is small because this was the easiest to digitalize, to make a larger version just add inches to the center of the pattern through the width and height.
Here I'm showing how I folded the pattern over to make the width smaller. If your pattern is made out of paper you can simply cut it in half, remove a small amount, and tape the edges back together.
Here I made the height smaller by folding the pattern twice as I did with the width.
I've cut the pattern out of PUL, the pattern is cut on the fold, make sure you read the pattern markings to insure you put the correct side of the pattern on the fold so that the seam allowance allows for the bag to symmetrical.

Fold the wet bag along the fold line with right sides together. Pin along the two long raw edges and sew with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance. IMPORTANT: Do NOT sew the top 3 1/2" at the top of the long seam of the wet bag.

Hint: I know at other times I've said not to use pins with PUL (and you certainly don't have to when you make your wet bag) but I find it much easier in this case and since I don't plan on filling my wet bag with water, a few pin holes along the edges makes no difference.
Pull the bottom of the bag in opposite directions (see red arrows) to bring the bottom seams together. Pin and sew each seam with a straight stitch and 1/4" seam allowance. The seams will have diagonal ends (its designed that way, don't worry you did it right!), make sure you sew right to the very edge or over a little, so that the corners will be sharp.
Turn your iron on hot and lay your wet bag on your ironing board with the top edge facing away from you. Open the top seam that you didn't sew and fold it flat along the seam allowance.
Lay some parchment paper right over the seam and place your iron on top, leave it for 15 seconds.

PUL has this amazing quality that it permanently sticks to itself when ironed with the shiny sides touching!

Hint: I'm too afraid to lay my iron right on the shiny side of the PUL but you are welcome to try:) I'm sure other things would work if you didn't have parchment paper. Wax paper, regular paper...?
Removed the iron and the parchment paper to find a nice, permanently folded edge.
Fold over the raw edge (top) of the wet bag by 1/4" and then 1" to form a casing for your drawstring. Sew along the edge of your fold with a straight stitch as close to the fold as possible.
Take a shoelace ($1.23 for two 36" shoelaces at Walmart) and put a safety pin in the end. Feed it through one end of the casing all the way around to the other side.
Grab both ends and put them inside a toggle (two holed, bought at Joann's), tie a knot at the very end of the shoe laces so the toggle can't come off. Now you have a complete wet bag!

Wool-in-two training pants with FREE pattern

2015-01-07T15:51:00.002-05:00

These instructions explain how to make a wool-in-two training pant. I really haven't seen anything like this out there so I was interested in coming up with something that would be fairly waterproof, not too bulky, 100% wool with a flannel soaker, and an elastic waist band so that they stay up by themselves (as opposed to wool soakers which need a snappi or fitted underneath to stay up). I put the snaps in the front as opposed to the back (as in regular diapers) since the location of the soaker in the front is the important part when you EC. You don't have to worry to much where the soaker is in the back although I did mark snap locations for back snaps on the pattern if you want to use them. Maybe this would be necessary for a toddler who is pulling their own pants up? (SEE UPDATE)

These fit my 9 month old who is 20lbs, however, they are fairly large. The wool interlock stretches a ton (although it is felted) and I'm pretty sure they will fit him until he doesn't need them anymore. If you make yours out of recycled sweaters the stretch might not be so much and you might need to make the pattern bigger (use a photocopier and increase by 5% until you get the size you want).

New multi-sized pattern. Some download times are long.
Here are the pieces cut out. I have used felted 100% wool interlock bought from the Covered caboose co-op, you can use recycled sweaters but make sure they are 100% wool (or close to it).

I used a serger to make these trainers, if you don't have one you can use a regular sewing machine with a wide and close together zig zag stitch. All seams have a 1/4" seam allowance.

Here you see the sides serged and the leg bands serged on. The waist is unfinished as of yet.
Check out the instructions for the nonwaterproof trainers to get you to this point.

Fold down the waist by 1/4" and then another 1" to form the elastic casing. Pin and sew all the way around and leave a gap to feed the elastic through. I used a small zig zag stitch since the fabric can stretch with the elastic and on its own as well.
Feed the 1/4" wide elastic through using a safety pin and zig zag the ends. I used a length of 1/4" width Stretchrite elastic the exact size of my son's waist and then overlapped it by about 1 1/4" when sewing it together. It is just tight enough not to fall down, nice and comfortable. Sew the hole in your casing up.

Hint: Pre-wash your elastic, it shrinks too.
Here is the finished trainer before adding snaps.
For the soaker I cut 4 layers of flannel and put the snaps through only two layers (so that they would be hidden and not resting against my son's skin.) I put the other two layers of flannel on top of the caps so that they are hidden. I serged this soaker, if you do not have a serger you can zig zag using a very wide and very close together stitch or you can add a 1/4" seam allowance and turn and topstitch.

Hint: To add a 1/4" seam allowance to a pattern, attach two pens together with an elastic and trace one pen along the pattern, the other pen will accurately mark a 1/4" all the way around on the outside.

Hint: if you are serging around your soaker keep the knife exactly along the edge of the fabric but don't cut it otherwise your serger will struggle and it will be hard to achieve the curved shape. This will also allow you to add more layers since the serger can sew through thicker material than it can cut.
Here is the finished soaker piece . You can see the snaps on one side.
But not on the other.
I didn't mark the snap placement on the pattern of the trainers because the interlock is so stretchy I wasn't sure if I'd get it right. Instead, I just placed the soaker inside and made sure it was high enough and centered by using my quilter's ruler. You can see the two dots I have drawn to indicate where the snaps go. You could do the same thing on the back if you wanted the soaker to snap in the front and back.

Hint: If you have snaps on the front and back you need to make sure that the soaker is lying flat on the trainer before you mark for the snaps otherwise when you place it in the trainer and your little one sits down the front snaps will pull down on the trainer and it won't sit straight (trust me on this!).

Reinforce your snaps with an extra piece of wool on the back to ensure the snaps don't pull through.

Hint: If you make a mistake with your snaps you can remove them with pliers. Make sure you reinforce with a scrap of fabric and zig zag over the spot or the new snap will pull through the old hole.
Here I'm showing how I folded the flannel 4 times and traced the soaker pattern as many times as could fit. You don't have to pin the flannel it sticks to itself pretty well. Just smooth out all the layers so their are no wrinkles, trace and cut away.

Hint: Pre-wash your flannel - it shrinks a lot!
Here is what the soaker looks like snapped into the trainer when the trainer is turned inside out.

I love these trainers! They are loose enough to be extremely comfortable but trim enough to fit under the correct size of pants (unlike some other wool diapers). The four layers of flannel can hold a substantial pee (I've even used them over naps sometimes).

I made 4 pairs of trainers and 13 (I miss counted, was aiming for 12!) soakers and this was plenty so that I could wash the soakers whenever I did regular laundry and relanolize the trainers about every two weeks.

I'm thinking about dying them will Kool aid.....

UPDATE:

I've been using these trainers almost exclusively for 2 months and I finally broke down and added the back snaps to the flannel soaker. The soaker just kept shifting when I'd pull the pants up and down and it was getting a little frustrating. Now that the back snaps are in, it is a breeze to pull them up and down. I was a little concerned that the combination of the back and front snaps would be irritating to Jonah but I realize now that he doesn't even notice them!

Here are the instructions to add the back snaps after the fact. (If you are making these for the first time I strongly suggest adding the back snaps in the first place!)

To add the back snaps I first put them in using the placement from the pattern, then I cut a rectangle of flannel (3" x 1 1/2") and pinned it over top of the caps so that the caps would not be against my baby's skin.

I sewed around the edges of the rectangle using a wide and close together zig zag (like aplique), this will secure the rectangle and prevent the edges from fraying all at once.

To add the snaps to the wool trainer follow the instructions for adding the front snaps. Make sure the flannel soaker is laying flat against the wool, push it down in the crotch area before you measure to add the back snaps, to ensure that when your little one sits the front snaps won't be pulled forward.

Three seam split crotch pants and FREE pattern

2015-01-07T15:33:00.003-05:00

Split crotch pants are a popular choice for babies and toddlers when practicing EC (elimination communication). When the baby is held in a squat or an older child sits on a potty the pants split at the crotch to allow for elimination without having to pull the pants up and down.

Here are instructions to make a pair of split crotch pants by sewing only three seams. Hopefully these instructions are simple enough so that anyone can be successful!

New multi-sized pattern. Some download times are long.

Here is a pic of what the pattern pieces look like cut out and taped. I cut out the largest size:)

Some people have had trouble figuring this out and hopefully this helps!

By choosing a fabric that doesn't fray (come apart in the wash) you can get away with not hemming the split area and the bottom of the leg. Good fabrics to choose are fleece or some wool fabrics (flannel for example). These fabrics don't fray, will repel the pee (not absorb it) and can be repeatedly hung to dry until they are soiled or become smelly at which time they can be easily washed. You will also need at least 22" of 1/4" or 1/2" elastic for the waist band. I used a sewing machine to sew my pants but you could absolutely do it by hand by using a straight stitch. All seams have a 1/4" seam allowance.
Fold your fabric in half and line the pattern up along the fold so that you are actually cutting two of the pattern with one of the edges attached. These pants do not have a front and back so you don't have to worry about which is which when putting them on.

SEAM #1 and SEAM #2: Sew along the inner leg seams, use a 1/4" seam allowance.
Lay the pants so that the two pieces are facing each other. Open up the leg pieces as shown.

Hint: You can see that I serged the edge of the crotch area. I did this to make reinforce the fabric. It is not necessary but if you want to do this with an ordinary machine you can use a zig zag stitch.
Keeping the bottom layer of the right leg on the table, lay the bottom layer of the left leg on top.
Lay the top layer of the right leg on top of the bottom layer of the left leg.
Lay the top layer of the left leg on top of the top layer of the right leg.

If this sounds confusing, its actually not. Basically you are just alternating sides. It doesn't actually matter if you start with the right or left as long as they alternate.
SEAM #3: With the leg pieces overlapped, roll the waist down 1/4" and then roll that down another 3/4" so that you don't see the raw edge. I overlapped the flaps (horizontally) so that the total circumference of the waist was 20". My son's waist is 17" so the extra 3" leaves room for the stretch of the elastic. Start this in the split area of the waist and pin once you have rolled. Then pin the sides as well. When you sew remember to leave an opening to fit the elastic in.
Using a large safety pin, thread the elastic through the elastic casing. Remember to hold onto the end or you will lose it into the casing as you push the pin around!

Try the pants on your baby so that you know exactly how tight to make the elastic. I usually cut a length of elastic the exact length of my son's waist and then overlap 1 1/4" when sewing the ends of the elastic together.

You can sew the two ends of the elastic together or simply pin them using a small safety pin and tuck it back into the casing. This will allow you to adjust it later as you child grows. You can sew the gap in the waist seam closed if you wish or leave it open for future elastic adjustments.
Here are the completed pants.

If you choose to finish the leg hems, just fold up the hem by 1/4" and then again by 1/4" so that the raw edge is hidden, pin and sew around.
Here are the completed pants with the legs hemmed. It gives a more finished look but its not necessary if your fabric does not fray.

You can also partially sew down the overlap seam so that the pants only open when you hold your baby in the classic position. This makes the pants more discrete and warmer for the winter months. I only sewed down 2" (measured from the waist seam) because if you sew down too far the pants don't split enough, especially in the rear.

Non-waterproof tiny trainers with FREE pattern

2014-01-07T15:04:00.001-05:00

This is a set of instructions on how to sew non-waterproof training pants with a hidden waterproof layer in the soaker pad.

New multi-sized downloadable pattern . Some download times are long.

I used a serger to sew these trainers but you could use a regular sewing machine and just use a wide and tight zig zag on all the seams. All seams have a 1/4" seam allowance.

The pattern fits my 5 month old (15 lbs, 17"; waist, 10 1/2"; thighs, 14"; rise).

The fabric for the leg and waist bands and trainer piece should be stretchy in both directions. I bought some from Joann's in the swim wear section, it is 94% cotton and 6% spandex. Definetely pre-shrink your fabric.
The soaker piece is made from 4 layers of flannel and one layer of waterproof material (I used ripstop nylon but you could use PUL). Use the soaker pattern piece to cut all layers the same size.

Hint: You could cut the soaker from the same material that the trainer, leg and waist pieces are from since it is 94% cotton and somewhat absorbant. This is the style of the JC Penny training pants.

Assembly of the soaker:
Here I have layered the 4 pieces of flannel and put the nylon on top. Use a kids glue stick to glue the waterproof layer to the top flannel layer so it doesn't slide around while sewing. The glue will wash out in the wash and doesn't get sticky on the sewing machine needle. Next you pin the 5 layers sandwiched together. If you have a serger, serge the top and the bottom of the soaker and then baste (I used a long, big zig zag) the sides of the soaker. You want the top and bottom finished nicely because this will be showing in the inside of the trainer but the sides will be serged when you sew the leg bands so if you serge it now you will get a double serged edge and it will have lots of cut threads (if you know what I mean).

Sew the soaker to the trainer piece by pinning it to the wrong side of the fabric with the waterproof side facing towards the trainer fabric so it will be hidden. I used a small zig zag to sew the top and bottom of the soaker to the trainer piece, no need to sew along the sides of the soaker.
Turn the trainer piece right sides together and sew along both sides. Take the waist and leg pieces and fold in half so that the right sides are together. Sew along one side.
In order to make the leg and waist bands you turn the piece right side out and fold it in half long ways so that the raw edges are beside each other.
Turn the trainer right side out. Pin the waist band onto the trainer piece by inserting it into the piece. The raw edges should all be beside each other and the finished edge of the band should be pointing down towards the bottom of the trainer. The band should be smaller than the trainer so that you evenly stretch it around the trainer. I use four pins to make sure that the band is evenly stretched around the waist of the trainer piece. I like to put the seam at the back of the trainer and put my first pin there, then opposite it on the front of the trainer and then one pin on each side of the seams of the trainer piece. As I serge I take out the pins so they don't go through the machine. You need to sew slowly and stretch as you go so that the waist band is evenly stretched.

On the left is the waist band serged as it looks when you are just done sewing. On the right is how it looks when you flip up the waist band, the finished look.
You basically do the same thing with the leg bands but it is a little harder because you need to go through the soaker but just go really slow and check to make sure all the layers are there and lined up. I only use 2 pins on the legs because they are smaller. If you are having a really hard time, try making the leg bands longer (larger) so that you don't have to stretch as much. After I made about 4 trainers I got really good at the legs!
On the left is the back of the trainer and on the right is the front.

They work really well but because they are only partially waterproof they need to be changed fairly quickly. They start to wick in the legs first (because that's where there is the least amount of absorbency).

Recycled wool sweater longies instructions

2009-02-01T22:12:00.000-05:00

These instructions show you how to make longies from a wool sweater that you can find in your relative's old stash of clothes or at your local thrift shop. When choosing your sweater you want to look for a number of things. First of all choose, a sweater that is at least a woman's x-large or a man's large, it's going to shrink when you felt it and you don't want the longies to have to be shorties. Secondly, choose a sweater that is fairly soft and cozy. Finding something at a thrift shop is based on luck, if you don't see something you like, try a different shop or go back on a different day. Thirdly, felt the sweater in your washer and dryer. Now you are ready to get to work.

I used my serger for these longies but you could use a wide and close together zig zag. When wool is felted it doesn't tend to fray (because the fibers are so tightly knit together). All seams have a seam allowance of 1/4".

Cut the sleeves off the sweater by cutting as close to the body of the sweater as possible. That way you have the most sleeve to work with.
Lay the sleeves out flat with the seams facing each other. Measure up from the cuff and pin where you want your inseam to end. I measured my son's inseam by measuring from his heel to his crotch and I therefore pinned at 9".
Cut down, along the seam, until you reach the pin.
Now you have to trim the front and back of each leg to account for the presence of the butt in the back and the absence of it in the front. It is important to leave enough room in the back to avoid getting "bubble butt."

In order to figure how much to cut off you have to do a little math.
1) Measure how wide each sleeve is. Mine were 7".
2) Decide how wide you want your waist to be. My son's waist is 17" around so I want the longies to have a stretched waist of 20" so that there is room for his hips and prefold.
3) Figure out how much to cut off so that you will get the waist you want. For example: If each sleeve is 7" wide then if I made the longies without cutting anything I would have a waist of 28" (way to big) so I need to remove a total of 8".
4) Figure out how much to remove from the front and back of each sleeve. The front should have 1" extra removed from each sleeve then the back to account for the diaper and butt. Therefore, I removed 2 1/1" from the back of each sleeve and 1 1/2" from the front of each sleeve to leave me a waist of 20". I kinda discount the seam allowance but you can factor it in if you want.
5) Measure in from the location of where your waist will be when you trim down the top of the longies. Mark the location with a pin.
6) Starting from the beginning of the inseam, cut a diagonal towards your pin to remove the unnecessary material. Do this for the back and front of each sleeve.
7) Mark with a pin to indicate which portion of the sleeve is the back otherwise it will be hard to tell at this stage.

Hint: If you are making these longies to fit over underwear or trainers you could cut out more and have the longies be more trim.
Turn the sleeves inside out and pin the right sides together, being careful to match up the inseam seams.
Sew all along the crotch seam to join the sleeves together.
Measure up from the bottom of the cuff in order to figure out where to trim the top of the longies. Place a pin to indicate where to cut. By measuring up each sleeve on the front and the back and indicating the place with a pin, you ensure that your waist cut will be straight. Cut around the waist, removing the excess material.

I measured my son from waist to heel and came up with 16", therefore, I cut the longies at 17" up from the cuff, the extra 1" is to allow for turning to create the elastic casing.

Hint: You could even make the heel to waist measurement 1/2- 1" longer in the back to ensure that there is no plumbers butt, if you have a child with a large rise.
Serge or zig zag across the top that you just cut.

You can see the pin marking the back of the longies.
Roll over the top edge by 1" and pin and sew with a small zig zag, all the way around. Leave a gap with which to insert the elastic.
Using a safety pin, insert the 1/4" stretchrite elastic.

My son's waist is 17" so I cut a piece of elastic that was 17" and then overlaped it by 1 1/2" when sewing the elastic together. This creates a nice and comfortable fit.
After feeding the elastic through and sewing the ends together, sew up the hole. I use a size tag to indicate the back of the longies because you can't always tell just be looking.

The front has a nice amount of room to fit the padding of the diaper.
The back fits snuggly without looking like a "bubble butt".

Jonah in his Ecapants!

2008-04-15T20:35:00.001-04:00

Jonah in his Ecapants!

I was so excited when our ecapants arrived from Ecaware Baby. They are super cute and really nicely made. So detailed! Lisa is a great friend and great to work with. Jonah's wearing his rich burgundy ecapants in this picture, the colour is beautiful. There are lots of different colours and styles with velcro and snaps. We love Ecapants, they make pottytunities a breeze:)

Shirt Bib with free pattern

2008-04-04T15:25:00.015-04:00

We all know how babies and toddlers love to really experience their food.....I got tired of oxy cleaning every single shirt so I thought I'd make a bib that would cover the chest and sleeves and help keep those clothes just a little cleaner during mealtime.

This bib is made from PUL and bound with fold-over-elastic (FOE). I like using these materials because you can wash on hot and not worry about loosing waterproofing. Remember to pre-wash your FOE because it shrinks. You could use some other waterproof material (ripstop nylon?) and bind with poly/cotton binding from Joann's.

Download pattern. Some download times are long.

After downloading the pattern, cut out the pieces and tape them together by matching the corresponding dashed lines.
Cut on the fold and cut one of the bib and one of the pocket pattern.
Sew FOE onto the top of the pocket and the end of the sleeves. Start by sewing the FOE by itself using a wide and close together zig zag (or a three step zig zag). After you have sewn 1" lift the foot and insert the PUL, lower the foot. With the FOE encasing the PUL, zig zag all along until you come to the end. Trim the FOE to the edge of the PUL.
Here is what it will look like when you have the FOE binding the pocket and the sleeve edge.
Fold right sides together of sleeve portion of the shirt bib and sew a straight stitch with a seam allowance of 1/4" to create the sleeve. Zig zag over the end of the FOE so it doesn't fray. Repeat for the other sleeve.
Pin and sew the pocket piece onto the bib using a straight stitch, sew as close to the edge as possible. You could also use a glue stick to tack the pocket piece down before sewing on the FOE.

Starting at the back, top wing, begin sewing the FOE elastic onto the edges just as you did for the sleeve edge and trough piece. Run the FOE all along, do your best to keep it straight through all the curves and seams of the bib. Go slow and always check to make sure the FOE is properly wrapped around the fabric and is being sewn down by the needle.

Sew the FOE around the neck line in a similar manner.
Trim off the ends of the FOE at the wings and then sew an additional piece to finish the edge.
Zig zag over the edges onto the wrong side of the bib and trim.
Add snaps (or velcro) so that the wings will overlap to close.
Here's the bib on Jonah (11 months) with rolled up sleeves and room to grow.
Here's the bib on Cai (2 3/4 years) fitting just right.

Mia in her longies and skirtie

2008-03-15T14:52:00.003-04:00

Here's Mia, Christine Gross-Loh's daughter, in some adorable wool I sewed for her. Super cute pink longies and a wonderfully soft cashmere skirtie.

The pink longies have a little bit of a story to them. I over-felted the pink sweater and had to boil it in vinegar/water to unfelt it. While my husband helped me to stretch it out he accidentally ripped the sleeve - in two places! Thankfully I was able to sew up the rips and successfully make the longies anyway! I'm so happy they worked out because the pink wool was so beautiful:)

Ribbon Blanket

2008-02-22T15:45:00.006-05:00

Making a Ribbon Blanket, otherwise know as a "Tag Blanket," is a great, quick gift for a newborn baby. I usually do one layer of flannel and another of fleece but you could do any kind of fabric you like. I have found that I make so many of these that it is economical to buy rolls of different colours of ribbon, to keep on hand, rather than buying individual by-the-yard ribbon.

For this blanket I cut a square of flannel 18 x 18" and a square of cream fleece 18 x 18". I cut 16 pieces of ribbons, each 5" long. You could make the blanket whatever size you want, this is a great place to use up scraps.

Hint: Make sure to pre-wash your flannel, it shrinks a ton.
Lay out the fleece square, right side up, and pin on the ribbons by folding them in half, with wrong sides together, and pinning the raw edges in line with the fleece raw edge.
Lay the flannel square, right side down, onto the fleece and pin around. Sew all the way around with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance. Leave a hole to turn the blanket right side out.
After sewing, trim all the corners, turn the blanket right side out and remove all the pins. Fold under the fabric from the opening and pin it. Top-stitch all the way around, close to the edge, thereby closing the hole. Top-stitching also acts to reinforce the ribbons.
I like to top-stitch again 3/4" in just to add a nice finish and to prevent the blanket from trying to turn itself inside out in the wash.

Non-waterproof trainers out of 100% cotton interlock

2008-02-22T15:28:00.004-05:00

Cotton interlock is a lot cheaper, more available, and has cuter prints than the 94% cotton/6% spandex fabric combo I originally suggested for these trainers. I decided to try making some of these trainers with some really cute fabric without the waterproof layer in the soaker. These kind of resemble the trainers you can buy at JC Penny. The whole trainer is made from the cotton interlock (even the soaker), this will be slightly less absorbent than having a flannel soaker but with these type of trainers that amount of absorbency is not going to make a difference - the wetness will wick pretty fast regardless:) In addition, by using the cotton interlock as a soaker as well the stretch of the fabric goes throughout the fabric. I simply cut 4 layers of soaker from the same cotton interlock (you could use another colour if you wanted to save the cute print for the outsides of other trainers).

What I did discover is that the stretch of the cotton interlock is not as elastic as the 94% cotton/6% spandex and therefore you need to add elastic (I used 1/4" braided stretchrite elastic) in the waistband as I did with my Easy Up and Down Pants. This adds memory to the waist band so that it continues to hug your little one's waist even after it is stretched around their hips. You can follow the instructions in the pants link to find out how to do it.

Ergo suck pad with free pattern

2008-02-17T21:57:00.013-05:00

I love my Ergo. Jonah is in it at least five times a day! When he sucks on the straps (as all babies do) they get a little dirty and discoloured. The Ergo instructions warn you about not washing the Ergo too many times or the colour will fade so in favor of cleanliness and practicality I decided to make some sucking pads. They do sell these but I knew I could make them for cheaper and with cuter colours:).

Download pattern. Some download times are long.

Cut out the pattern using two layers of material. I chose to use a layer of stretch terry and a layer of patterned flannel. You could use two layers of terry or two layers of flannel or something else. Just remember, your baby will be putting their mouth on this so choose something nice that's 100% cotton. You want the material to be thick enough so that as it gets wet the moisture is absorbed and doesn't wick to the straps.

Mark snap positions on the right side of the fabric.

With right sides together pin all the way around. Sew, with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance, all the way around. Leave a 1 1/2" gap to turn the suck pad right side out.

(Just thought I'd mention that there are four pads here since I was making a pair for a friend)
After sewing all around trim the corners and any excess fabric from the sides.
Turn the suck pad right side out and fold in the fabric at the opening, pin it down. With a straight stitch, sew all the way around, thereby closing the opening with the topstitching.
Put on your snaps with 3 caps on the printing flannel and the other three caps on the terry. The suck pad should overlap by 1/2" when it is snapped with one edge tucking under the other edge.

If you don't have a snap press you could use buttons or velcro.
Make another suck pad to match and put it on your Ergo.

Sew your own baby hat with pattern

2008-02-17T20:48:00.002-05:00

Here is a super cute baby hat that could be a great gift.

Baby hat with pattern.

Sew your own Boppy pillow

2008-02-17T20:36:00.006-05:00

I found these great instructions and pattern and I thought I'd share. I haven't actually made this but next time I have a newborn around I will.

The pattern is actually for a Boppy cover but I think if you just stuff it with polyester stuffing and sew up the seam you will have a Boppy pillow. Then you can use the pattern again to make a cover....or two!

Sew your own Boppy pillow

Easy up and down pants with free pattern and instructions

2008-02-14T16:10:00.031-05:00

Since practicing EC, I always reach for Jonah's stretchiest, loosest pants; It makes pulling them up and down all day way easier and less time consuming. After seeing a really cute pair in a store, I decided that I would design some pants that were EC friendly. They have an elastic waist band and are made out of soft stretchy cotton. They are perfect for using over waterproof or non-waterproof trainers or diapers. The pants will stretch out over a bulky cloth diaper but when washed will shrink back to be trim over a pair of trainers. Additionally, they are a great pants for toilet training. If you want your toddler to learn how to use the potty independently, easy up and down pants are a necessity, a toddler will be more likely to pull them up and down themselves if they don't have to deal with button, snaps or zippers. The slightly flared bottom makes them fashionable for boys and girls alike.

The fabric should be a knit, cotton interlock for example, (stretchy kind of like a t-shirt). A thicker material will be warmer and easier to work with. Steer clear of the super thin knits with curly edges, its not worth the effort - trust me! You could even use old t-shirts from your husband's closet or from Goodwill!

I used my serger to sew these pants but you could use a stretchy stitch on your regular machine or a wide, close together zig zag along the edge of the fabric. All seams have a 1/4" seam allowance.

Download pattern. Some download times are long.

In case you were having trouble figuring out how to tape the pieces together here is a picture of the back piece put together. I cut out the XL size.

Instructions:

Cut out the pattern pieces, tape them together, and fold your fabric in half. Lay the pattern piece down so that the stretch of the fabric is horizontal to the length of the pants. The pattern should be on two layers of fabric, NOT on the fold, hold it in place by putting a book on it. Trace around the pattern, and pin the fabric together so it doesn't shift as you cut. Cut it out.

By laying the pattern on the fabric in this manner you will be cutting two of the front piece, one on the right side of the fabric and one on the wrong side of the fabric.

Repeat for the back pattern piece.

Cut out the waistband ON the fold with the stretch of the fabric parallel to the long part of the pattern piece.
Lay the back pieces of the pant on the table with the crotches (pointy parts) facing each other, and the good side of the fabric facing up. With right sides together, lay the front pieces of the pant on top of their respective back pieces so that the crotches meet up with each other (the good side of the fabric will be facing down). The front piece will be smaller at the waist and at the crotch, this is because we need less room in the front of our bodies as we do in the behind. Line up the outside edge of the pant and the bottom edge of both pieces. Pin and sew a 1/4" seam along the outside edge of the pant and the inside edge, stopping at the crotch.
Pin the crotch seam together (with right sides facing each other) so that the seams line up. Continue to pin up the back butt portion of the crotch seam and up the front portion of the crotch seam. Sew along the crotch seam with a 1/4" seam allowance.
Leave the pants for now and turn to the waistband. Fold the waist band with right sides together and sew up the shorter raw edge with a 1/4" seam allowance.
Take a length of 1/2" or 3/4" wide elastic that will fit your child's waist. For example: Jonah has a 17" waist so I cut a piece of elastic 17" and overlap it 1 - 1 1/2" when I sew it together. This gives a nice comfy, loose fit. You can always try the elastic on your child once it is sewn together.

Pin and sew the elastic the to fit your child's waist.Take the waistband that you sewed previously and turn it right side out. Fold it in half along the horizontal, with wrong sides touching, and lay the elastic inside the crease.
Push the elastic against the fold of the waistband and pin it there so it won't slip down towards the raw edge.
Take the pants that you had put aside and turn them right-side-out. Take the waistband/elastic combo and insert the pants into the waistband so that the raw edges of the waistband and the pant meet up. Pin all the way around so that the fabric of the waistband is distributed evenly. Line up the back seam of the pants with the back seam of the waistband and sew all the way around, thereby joining the waistband to the pants. Make sure you stretch as you go so that the fabric of the waistband is distributed evenly along the pant.
This is what it will look like after the waistband is sewn on.
In order to cuff the bottom of the pants you are going to make binding. This is actually easy to do. I have a 1/2" binding maker which is a $4 (Joann's of course) contraption that forces the fabric to fold in a certain way so that you can iron it flat, with the raw edges turned in. If you don't have one or don't want to buy one you can iron the binding by hand, it will just take a little longer.

Cut a strip of fabric that is 2" wide and as long as you need it for both pant legs, cut with the stretch of the fabric parallel to the long portion of the rectangle.

Small: 2” x 11” Large: 2” x 13”
Medium: 2” x 12” X-Large: 2” x 14 1/2”

Fold and iron each raw edge over by a 1/2". This leaves a tiny gap in the center where you will fold it in half again, to give a 1/2" binding, to cup the raw edge of the pant leg.Here is the binding maker. You feed the fabric through and pin it to the ironing board to secure it. As you slowly pull the binding maker back along the strip of fabric, it folds the edges down for you and you iron as you go.
In the end you have a strip of fabric 1" wide with the raw edges turned in.
Cut the binding to the correct length for each pant leg.
Open up the raw edges of the binding and pin with right sides together. Sew along the raw edge with a straight stitch and a seam allowance of 1/4". Trim excess fabric.
Fold the edges back, thus hiding the seam, and place the binding onto your sewing machine. If it is like mine you can take off the table to leave a much narrower table. Place the binding around the mini-table, past the foot.
Place the pant leg around the mini-table and on top of one edge of the binding, push the raw edge of the pant leg right to the gap in the binding (the middle of the binding).
Fold the other edge of the binding over the pant leg so that the binding completely encases the pant edge. Place all this under the foot of the sewing machine.
Sew a wide, close together zig zag all along the binding. Go slow and be careful to continually insert the raw edge into the binding as far as it will go. Make sure that the binding is being sewn from both sides, all the way around. Try not to stretch the fabric while you sew, otherwise it will leave a strange shape to the flare.
Here is one leg with binding. Do the same for the other leg.
Here are the finished pants.
Here's Jonah wearing his comfy, easy up and down pants. I also made a pair for Cai and he loves them too!

Making a wet bag to fit a particular container

2008-02-07T21:50:00.001-05:00

I've really been getting tired of washing out my diaper pails so I decided to make some PUL diaper pail wet bags. That way I can just throw the wet bag into the wash with the diapers and only wash the actual pail, once and a while. The containers I use for diaper pails are actually used Milkbone containers. We don't have a dog but I collected a whole bunch from my friend Tara. Really anything can be a diaper pail that is plastic and has a lid that fits securely.
In order to find the size of the bottom of your wet bag, trace the bottom of the container onto thick paper or cardboard (using a paper bag is great).

My diaper pail actually gets bigger going from bottom to top but I really didn't feel like figuring out the difference in the sizes and then how to make the sides so that they fit on the slight diagonal....so I just traced the larger size (the top) and therefore the wet bag will be a bit bunchy inside (no big deal!).

Take the tracing and add 1/2" all the way around so that the top of the wet bag will fold over the top of the diaper pail and be easy to take on and off.

Hint: Use a quilter's ruler (it's clear) and line it up with the straight part of the tracing.
In order to add rounded corners to your larger pattern you could just free-hand-it or you can use something round like a Tupperware cup and line it up with the sides of the pattern.
Here is my final pattern for the bottom of the pail cut out. In order to find out how much PUL is needed for the sides of the wet bag take a string and run it all the way around the outside of the pattern. Keep your finger pinching the string where it met up with the beginning and measure the length of string with your ruler. This is the exact size of the bottom of the pail. Now take that value and add 1/2" (2 X 1/4" seam allowances).

For example: My bottom pattern measured at 41 1/4" around but the final width of PUL that I cut for the sides of the wet bag was 41 3/4".
Measure from top to bottom of the pail to find out how deep to make the wet bag. Add 3 " to account for the 1/4" seam allowance for sewing the sides to the bottom, the drawstring/elastic casing, and enough fabric for the bag to fold over the pail.

For example: I measured the pail to be 15" but I cut my PUL 19" deep. Therefore, I cut a piece of PUL that was 41 3/4" x 19" for the sides of the wet bag.
Cut out the bottom pattern by laying it on the PUL, tracing around, and cutting.

Hint: Lay a book on top of the pattern to ensure it does not shift while tracing.

To cut the larger piece of PUL, for the sides of the wet bag, lay the PUL on the ground and flatten it out, smooth out any wrinkles. Line up your quilter's ruler with the uncut edge since you know this is perfectly straight. Measure and draw the large rectangle right onto the PUL and cut it out.
Take the large rectangle and fold it with right sides together. Sew a straight stitch seam with a 1/4" seam allowance. DO NOT sew the last 3" of the seam. See making a wet bag for the explanation and ironing technique.

Hint: Generally the shiny side of PUL is the "wrong" side but if you are making this bag to be strictly a diaper pail wet bag you might want to make the PUL the right side so that the seams are hidden when the bag is in the pail. I didn't do this in case I wanted to use the wet bag for other purposes in the future.
Now that you have ironed your opening you can fold over the raw edge by 1" to form the drawstring casing. Pin and sew with a straight stitch.

After stitching around, feed in the drawstring and place a toggle on the end. See making a wet bag for the explanation.

Hint: you might want to feed through an elastic so that the wet bag can just hug the opening of the pail if you don't plan on using this bag for anything else.

Hint: You could fold under the raw edge so that it is hidden but I didn't bother to do this with this wet bag (PUL doesn't fray so it doesn't make a difference). If you do fold under the raw edge you might want to add 1/4" to the depth of the wet bag to account for this.
In order to pin the bottom to the sides of the bag, first fold the bottom PUL piece in half and mark the halfway point (not shown). With right sides together, line up the middle marking with the vertical seam up the side of the wet bag (this is so the bottom is centered properly).

Pin all the way around, use lots of pins, especially at the corners. You may have to fiddle with it a bit to get the sides to be evenly distributed all the way around but keep fiddling until the sides lay flat with very little bunching. Now sew all the way around, with a 1/4" seam allowance and a straight stitch; go slow and watch to prevent puckering.

Hint: You might want to reinforce this seam by sewing another straight stitch seam 1/8" outside of the original seam (on the seam allowance).
Here is the inside of the finished bag.
And here is the outside.
Here is the bag inside the diaper pail.

You can use these instructions to make a wet bag for any shape of container, really the pattern of the bottom piece determines the shape of the wet bag. If the pail has a round bottom the bottom pattern piece will be round and the sides will be sewn from a similar rectangle as with this diaper pail.

Wool-in-two training pants made from recycled sweaters

2008-02-03T14:42:00.000-05:00

I made a friend of mine some covers using the wool-in-two trainer pattern. She uses flats so I did not add any snaps, she plans to simply lay in her flats after folding them up.

I actually ended up cutting off the cuffs from the bottom left one and adding cuffs just like the others. I just didn't like the way the sweater cuffs looked. I think these trainers are so cute I just can't wait for them to dry so that I can send them to her.

I followed the instructions written on the pattern to reduce the rise of the pattern. I only serged the top raw edge and then folded it over by 3/4" and zig zaged to form the elastic casing. I did not fold it 1/4" and then another 3/4" to hide the raw edge as I instructed in the original tutorial.

Instructions on the pattern:

Note: If you are using a recycled wool sweater or very thick wool and don’t want to roll under the raw edge, when making the elastic casing, you can remove ½” off of the top AND bottom of the WITTP pattern once it has been taped together. In this case, simply roll over the raw edge by ¾” and zig zag the elastic casing closed.

Shana's daughter in split crotch pants

2008-02-03T14:21:00.001-05:00

Marina is wearing a pair of split crotch pants made by her momma, Shana. The fabric is beautiful and the pants look great. Marina is such cutie:)

Here are the modificaitons that Shana made to the pattern to fit her daughter:

"I increased the length by 2 inches. ( 1.5 in. on the bottom and .5 at the top.) I also had to let the waist out 2" on each side to fit over her fanny. I kept the width of the pant leg the same and added a small flare at the bottom.
Next pattern modification will include the waist adjustment (2") and also a bit more length at the ankle. Marina is 20 mos, but is 32 lbs and 35" tall. She is literally off the charts. Right now she pretty much wears a 3T."

Shana sent photos these to me so that I could put them on my website.

Thanks!

The art of felting 100% wool

2008-01-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

When making a wool soaker or wool longies from 100% wool recycled sweaters, you always want to felt the wool to make it thicker so that it has greater protection against wetness. During felting, the wool fibers join tightly together, permanently shrinking and thickening the sweater. Depending on the type of diaper item you are making you may want your sweater to be very felted (thick) or only a little felted (thinner). You should always felt the sweater before you make your diaper item, if you felt after the item will shrink and will be too small.

How to felt:
1) Put your sweaters into the washer, add some detergent, wash on hot, rinse on cold.
2) Dry on hot in the dryer. (Make sure you empty the lint catch, felting causes a lot of lint buildup)
3) Look at the thickness and stretchiness of your sweaters.....If you want them thicker repeat steps one and two. If not, go ahead and sew your soaker/longies/wraps from your newly felted sweater.

In general, washing on hot only once will not fully felt your sweater, it will only be partially felted. This is fine since you are looking for that particular texture to make your diaper item. However, because the wool is not fully felted, you must always wash that diaper item by hand so that it does not felt further. Putting it in the washer/dryer once it is sewn will only result in a super small diaper that will only fit a newborn (if your lucky!) A fully felted sweater will be very thick and very tight and not actually all that appealing to make a diaper with anyway (in my opinion). Washing by hand isn't really a problem because you are going to want to wash with Eucalan wool wash and lanolize with lanolin anyway.

Felting is really an art because in some ways you can control how felted the sweater is, by the number of times you wash and dry, but in other ways you can't: it never ceases to amaze me how each sweater comes out of the dryer looking totally different. Some shrink a ton right away and become thick matted rugs, others remain soft and manageable regardless of how many trips they take through the washer/dryer.

If you happen to over-felt a sweater or a diaper item check out this website, you may be able to save the item.....

Potty scootin'

2008-01-25T14:41:00.000-05:00

Jonah can actually move more quickly on his potty then on his bum...what a talent! I always know when he's done going because he starts scooting to find something to put in his mouth.

Potty rhythm

2008-01-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

Here's Jonah having a blast on his potty! He scooted his way over to the TV cabinet and discovered how to bang the door. He's so cute.

What is EC?!?!?

2008-01-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

EC - Elimination Communication, IPT - Infant potty training, Diaper Free, Natural Infant Hygiene

EC means communicating with your baby about when they have to eliminate or go potty. When a baby is born he knows when he is hungry, when he is tired and when he has to go to the bathroom. He uses subtle (or not so subtle) cues to communicate his needs to his caregiver. By using timing, intuition, the baby's body language, and the caregiver's cues the caregiver is able to have a verbal/non-verbal back and forth discussion about when the baby has to go potty. This way the caregiver can hold the baby over an appropriate receptacle and allow him to eliminate without getting himself dirty.

For example, when your baby squirms 10 minutes after a feeding she is telling you that she has to pee because her bladder is full from the feeding. By recognizing this squirm you can then take off her diaper and hold her over the sink/potty/toilet..... and make a cueing sound. We use sssss (you can use anything you want). The timing, they way the baby is being held, and your cueing sound indicate to the infant that it is time to relieve herself and so she does. Now you can put the dry diaper back on and she will feel happy to have relieved herself and not have to sit in a wet diaper.

The baby doesn't always give a cue and you won't always make it to the potty in time but you feel so much closer to her and have such a deeper understanding about how to fulfill her needs. She will cry less and be happier because she can relieve herself in a comfortable way. Would you like to sit in a wet/dirty diaper? Why would your baby be different? Just because she can't say "I don't like sitting in a wet diaper" doesn't mean she does!

Lots of people keep their babies in diapers full-time and still practice EC. The simple act of giving pottytunities on a regular basis keeps the lines of communication open. Your baby will try their best to communicate their potty needs and you can try your best to take your baby when you can. Some people will pull over on the highway for a potty break, others won't. You have to do what you're comfortable with. Sometimes you can put a lot of pressure on yourself to "catch" all the pees and poops. This can be quite stressful and not very fun. Its important to remember that EC is about communication, not catches, and that your baby is, just that, a baby, she will not always be able to hold it or to tell you when she has to go. As she matures she will be more reliable and consistent and your communication will be even more effective.

Although it may feel strange (at first) to hold your tiny baby over the toilet, hoping something will happen, you will be amazed at the results! Your baby is waiting for you to catch on to what she has been trying to tell you since she was born......GIVE IT A TRY:)

EC books

2008-01-15T21:35:00.002-05:00

Here is a list of EC books:

Infant Potty Training by Laurie Boucke

Infant Potty Basics: With or Without Diapers-- The Natural Way by Laurie Boucke

D iaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer (a Canadian!)

The Diaper-Free Baby: The Natural Toilet Training Alternative by Christine Gross-Loh

Potty Whispering: The Gentle Art of Infant Potty Training DVD, Directors: Colin White and Laurie Boucke

The Continum Concept by Jean Leidloff
-Not only about EC but about how raising a baby is done in another culture.

Sewing tips

2008-01-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

~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.

Sewing with wool

2008-01-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

When sewing with wool remember to always make you absorbent soaker removable from the wool cover. The soaker has to be washed in the washer and the wool cover has to hand washed, if they are sewn together you will not be able to wash them properly. If you lanolize your absorbent soaker you are really making it un-absorbent!

FOE~
If you are tempted to use FOE with your wool cover, you may want to think again. Although I have heard of Mommas doing this with success, it doesn't make any sense to me. The FOE will just not behave as the wool does, it will get smelly faster and the wool cover will have to be washed more frequently then a cover without FOE. Your best bet is to use two layers of wool and hide the elastic between the two layers:
If you really want one layer of wool you could try using a wool binding to hide the elastic.

Wool soaker~
Here is a terrific free wool soaker pattern (for over top of a prefold or fitted).You can go to your local Salvation Army and pick up some cheap 100% wool sweaters, felt them, and create some really nice covers in about 30 min. I used a serger but you can also use a wide, close together zig zag for the same effect.

Check out my wool-in-two training pants instructions for a unique trainer that allows for breathability waterproofness.

Nursing pads~
One Momma I was talking to had a great idea for wool nursing pads. These nursing pads would have two parts. The first part would be a single layer lanolized wool circle, 4" in diameter, the second part would be a 3 or 4 layer flannel circle that is serged or zig zagged. Layered one on top of the other and placed in your bra, thus would create a waterproof, absorbent system that could combat any leak! I'm certainly going to try this for the next baby (right now I don't leak anymore!).

I think this wool + flannel concept could be applied to Momma pads, although I think it would be necessary to snap the flannel to the wool to prevent shifting.

Washing and lanolizing wool

2008-01-12T21:24:00.001-05:00

I love using wool for covers. It is so breathable and soft. Wool does require special care:

Washing wool~
Wool covers only need to be washed when they are soiled or start to smell like urine. Wool should be washed with a wool wash such as Eucalan to ensure that the water repellant lanolin is not washed out.

1) Put a teaspoon of Eucalan in the bottom of a big pot/bowl.
2) Fill the pot with warm water and swish until the Eucalan is dissovled.
3) Put in your wool and let it sit for 15-30 min.
4) Take out the wool, squeeze SOME water out (or you will be wringing out the lanolin) and lay flat on a towel on a drying rack.
5) Use when it is dry.

Lanolizing Wool~
I actually tend to wash and lanolize at the same time since my wool never gets soiled.

Lanolizing sould be done every 2 weeks or when the covers seem to feel wetter on the outside. This means they are not repelling the moisture as well.

1) Put 1 teaspoon of Eucalan wool wash and 1/2 teaspoon lanolin into your pot/bowl.

2) Fill the pot 1/4 full with hot hot water and stir until the lanolin is dissolved (this is important to avoid a big lanolin spot on your wool.)

3) Continue to fill the pot with warm water and put in your wool, make sure the water is only warm so that the wool item will not begin to felt.

4) Let the wool sit for 15-30 min. Add more warm water if necessary or the lanolin will come out of the water and you will see a film floating on top. Do not panic if this happens just add more warm water until it dissolves again.
5) Take the wool out and squeeze SOME of the water out. Lay it flat on a towel on a drying rack.
6) Use when it is dry.

Sometimes the wool feels sticky when it is dry. This just means that there is a lot of lanolin on the item, this will wear off after the first wearing.

A great soap bar for getting out stains in wool is called the Sudz and Dudz wool wash bar, this bar has lanolin in it so it will not remove that from you wool item. In addition, it miraculously removes any kind of stain old and new!

Mama pad panty liners

2008-01-12T21:03:00.000-05:00

Of course if my kids wear cloth why shouldn't I, right?!?! It's so much better for the environment to use reusable pads and better for your body.

I stumbled upon a terrific mama pad site that had a fabulous panty liner pattern.

The instructions tell how to turn and topstitch the panty liner so I thought I would post instructions on how to use a serger.Trace the wing and pad piece, mark the snap locations. Cut out the wing and pad piece and pin the insides of each. I used two layers of flannel for each.
Serge around each piece and then pin the pad on top of the wing piece. Tuck the serger tail from the pad piece underneath so it will get sewn down when you attach that pad piece to the wing piece. Sew a straight stitch all the way around the pad right between the edge and the serger stitching. This creates a very pretty look with 3 seams going around the pad (if you serged with 4 threads).
Use a straight stitch to tack down the serger tail from the wing piece.
Using the snap markings, place the first snap with the cap on the back of the pad.
Place the second snap with the cap on the front of the pad.

These are so soft and comfortable, I don't even notice the snaps when I'm wearing them. I actually ended up making 20 of them!

Waterproof training pants with free pattern

2008-01-12T14:53:00.001-05:00

Here are instructions to make waterproof training pants. These are "low bikini cut" style and trim fitting. The pattern fits my 20lb, 9 month old with a little room to grow.

The trainers have a PUL outer and a flannel inner with a soaker of 3 layers of flannel, the sides are attached with snaps, bound with 1" FOE, so that they can be easily taken off when wet but still pull up and down. You could make different variations on this:
-flannel inner, outer and soaker for non-waterproof trainers
-flannel inner, outer and soaker with a hidden waterproof layer in the soaker
-another type of material in the soaker, i.e. hemp
-sew together the sides and leave out the snaps

New multi-sized pattern to download! Some download times are long.

Here is the flannel inner layer with the 3 layers of flannel for the soaker. I have pinned and sewed all three layers of flannel, the soaker, to the inner flannel layer and used a wide and close together zig zag all the way around. You run the zig zag over the edge of the soaker flannel so that the edges are protected from fraying. I like to do this instead of serging the edge and then sewing it on because it takes less time and works just as well.
Cut out your PUL layer using the same trainer pattern as you did for the flannel inner. I draw the pattern onto the PUL and then use paper clips to hold the fabric still (its pretty slippery) while cutting.

Hint: I like to make my pattern pieces out of cardboard from cereal boxes, they hold up well and are easy to trace.

Hint: You don't want to use pins with PUL because this will poke holes into the waterproof layer and make it leak. You can use bobby pins, paper clips, or clothes pins instead.
Place the right sides together (the flannel should have the soaker facing out so that when you turn the trainer the soaker will be hidden on the inside). Use the same paper clips to hold the PUL layer to the flannel to prepare for sewing.
Sew the legs, the back and the front with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance. Leave the sides open. Take the paper clips out before the machine runs over them.

Attaching the elastic is a tricky. You want to use a medium sized zig zag. Take a long length of 1/4" wide elastic, don't cut it in advance. Anchor the elastic to the PUL side at the edge of the leg by backstitching, now pull the elastic with your right hand and guide the diaper with your left hand. Sew along the seam allowance so that the machine tacks the elastic down to the trainer. You will see it start to bunch up behind the foot. When you get to the end of the leg cut the elastic. Repeat this for the other leg, the front and back.

Hint: Pull the elastic by 50% (not fully tight) these trainers are fairly trim and if you pull the elastic too tight they will be too tight around your little ones waist and thighs. Try to pull the elastic the same amount for each seam so that the trainer is symmetrical.

Hint: Sewing the elastic to the PUL side of the diaper will cause the flannel to roll in on the finished trainer so that the PUL will be lying against your little ones legs to prevent wicking when wet.
Here is a picture of the trainer with all the elastic on. You can see that it curls a little but not too much because I only pulled the elastic by 50% of its stretch. You can see that it is pretty much symmetrical, no one side is curling too much more than any other.

Turn the trainer inside out through one of the back sides (there's more room there). Pin the sides so that the PUL lies flat and the elastic is straight on the ends. (I know I said not to pin PUL but you will put the snaps here anyway). Roll the end so that the flannel is rolled in, so that when you look at the right side all you see is PUL. This may result in the flannel being a little buckled but this is not important.

Hint: If you wanted to topstitch the trainer, now would be the time. Sew a straight stitch just outside the elastic, being careful not to catch it. You can do this with the waist and the legs if you wish. This may cause wicking which is why I don't do it.
If you wanted to sew the trainer together (and omit the snaps) you would pin with the PUL layer together and sew up the side seams. Turn inside out and be done. If you want to add snaps DON'T do this step.
To put on the 1" wide FOE run an inch through the machine sewing with a very wide and close together zig zag before you put the trainer in.
Sink the needle, raise the foot, open the FOE and then place the corner of the side of the trainer under the foot so that when you lower the foot it will rest on the trainer. The pins might poke through the FOE where it is folded but this doesn't matter. Then place the rest of the side along the FOE and fold the other side of the FOE on top. Lower the foot.
Sew along the edge being careful to catch both the flannel and the PUL layers in the FOE (don't stretch the FOE, you're using it as a non-wicking binding not as an elastic). When you reach the end of that side sew about 5 more stitches on the FOE without anything between (this is important because you will be folding over the excess and using to anchor the snaps) and then repeat the above step for the 3 other sides of the trainer. You don't have to cut the FOE, just keep inserting the sides and sewing along. If you are making more than one trainer you can just keep adding them on until all sides of all the trainers are bound.
Cut in the middle of each section of FOE to release each side of the trainer.
Poke a large needle through the trainer at the edge of the FOE where it meets the inner elastic (feel with your fingers to find it). This will make it easier to put the snaps on.
Take the front of the trainer and push the cap through the hole you made with the pin, fold over the FOE and push it over the sharp part of the cap. When you look at the PUL side of the trainer you should see the smooth side of the cap.
Use your snap press to put the rest of the snap on, thereby securing the FOE under the snap and finishing it off.

Repeat for the bottom of that same front side and for the top and bottom of the other front side.
For the back sides fold over the FOE first (towards the flannel) and push the cap through so that the smooth side of the cap is on the flannel side.
Put on the rest of the snap with the snap press and repeat for the other three snap locations in the back.
If there is excess FOE hanging off after the snap has been put on, cut it as close to the snap as possible with scissors.
Put all the snaps together and you will have a finished pair of trainers.

Baby Bjorn Little Potty Warmer/Cover

2008-01-08T15:27:00.002-05:00

Here are instructions to make a bblp warmer for those cold winter days and nights! The cover should be made out of fleece or wool so that any pee that gets on it will be repelled off (otherwise you might have to wash it each time it is used!).

Download pattern. Some download times are long. Tape section 1 to section 2 and section 3 to section 4. Then tape section (1+2) to section (3+4).

On the pattern I stated the lengths of the elastic needed but that was when I was using a fairly thick wool fabric and when I made this one out of fleece I need to make the bottom elastic shorter to achieve the correct shape around the top of the potty, therefore, before you cut your elastic, thread it through the bottom and try it on the potty to make sure the top opening rests just along the the back and doesn't cover the bowl area.

On the pattern I stated to put the short edge on the fold so that the seam would end up in the back of the potty, when I made this one I wasn't paying attention and I put the long edge on the fold. No matter, this just leaves the seam in the front! Either way it still works:)

Placing the short edge on the fold, trace and cut out your pattern. Fold right sides together and sew a straight stitch seam (1/4" seam allowance) along the open edge.

Hint: If you are having trouble drawing your pattern on fleece try using a washable crayola marker.

Roll each edge 1/4" and then 1" to form elastic casings on the top and bottom of the cover. Pin and sew with a straight stitch, leaving a hole to insert the elastic into each casing.
Attach a safety pin to the 1/4" wide elastic and feed each piece through its respective casing.
Over lap the elastic edges by 1 1/4" and zig zag to hold. Pop the elastic back into the casing and sew the hole shut. Turn right side out.
Here is the finished warmer, the longer side (left) goes to the back of the potty and the shorter side (right) goes to the front of the potty. The looser elastic goes on the top of the potty and the tighter elastic goes on the bottom.

UPDATE:
I found it much easier to put a drawstring and toggle instead of the bottom elastic. By placing the toggle at the back of the potty I can tell where the bottom is and which side is the back. I can also tighten the drawstring to ensure that the top opening is wide enough.

Kendra's Fleece Pants

2006-10-12T18:52:00.005-04:00

My good friend Kendra wanted to make some fleece pants for Memphis, I helped her with some alterations to the pattern and she came up with some super cute and awesome fitting pants for her little girl:) I think she's going to sew some from wool interlock next....

A cutie in Split Crotch Pants!

2006-10-09T15:01:00.001-04:00

Here is Mary's little boy in his new split crotch pants! What a sweetie:):) Thanks for the pic!

Another Rebecca's BBLP Cover!

2006-09-28T13:58:00.001-04:00

Another ECing Mommy sent me some pics of her potty warmer constructed from my pattern. I love the froggies and the perfect sewing job:):)

Thanks for sharing!