Sized Diaper Pattern

You can use this pattern to make your own Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large diapers.  I made them for a few years under the CookiePants label and they sold great!

This is a turn and topstitch pattern.

I attached the soaker to the front of the diaper, because I hated looking around for soakers, and it was faster drying.

The front is the smaller part of the hour glass shape you will cut out

Pattern pieces

XL, Large, Medium, Small

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Materials

Fabric

If you’d like your diaper to be an AIO (all in one, not needing a outer cover)100 % wool (be sure to felt first—wash in hot water and dry on hottest setting three times), PUL or Polartec (Malden Mills) 200, or Wind Pro (WP) fleece.  You may want to treat the fabric with Nik-Wax or lanolin.  See appendix for more information.

Lining: This is what will rest against your baby’s skin.  I recommend a very soft knit with at least 70% cotton content.  You can also use hemp fleece or knit burley with nice results. For easy clean-ability, use microfleece.

Thread: If you are using a regular sewing machine, we recommend using polyester Gutermann® thread.  If you are serging, use Maxilock.  I still use Gutermann in the needle. 

Needles: We recommend always using ball point stretch needles, Stretch 14/90  Schmetz are a good choice. Hint: if your machine is skipping stitches, your needle is dull.  Change out your needle after 7 hours of sewing for best results.

Elastic: it is cheapest to purchase by the yard.  I usually buy 5 yards at a time.  You can use ¼ inch, Lastin®, Stretchrite cotton or poly blends, or 5/8 inch fold over elastic (FOE).

Absorbent fabric: I recommend knit burley or hemp fleece.  The toweling knits you find at local fabric stores wash up stiff and uncomfortable for baby.

Instructions for sewing your diaper

It is recommended you first try this with a piece of muslin or other ‘extra’ fabric you have, so you ensure proper fit for your baby before cutting into the more expensive fleece or wool.

Line the long side up with the grain of your fabric. Cut one on the fold.

Adding elastic around the leg openings:

Regular method:

Fold your fabric to the inside 1/2 inch along the leg opening edges. Sew with a straight stitch along this fold.   Using a small safety pin, insert the elastic through the hem casing. Zig-zag titch the ends of the elastic together.

Fold over method:

Using FOE (fold over elastic) Fold the elastic around the edge of the fabric.  Sew around.  Hint: Colored or variegated thread makes this a fun touch!

With right sides together, sew the side seams together with a ¼ inch seam.  You will be sewing over the elastic.

Preparing the fabrics:

Lay the lining fabric and the outer fabric on top of each other on your cutting mat.

Cut your absorbent layers.  I recommend that you use three layers of hemp fleece, cut 10 x 3 inches. If you have a serger machine, serge around all layers.  If you have a regular sewing machine or are doing this by hand, sew a straight stitch around the edges so the layers won’t pull apart in the wash. (hint: sometimes, I just glue stick them together, as I will be sewing them all together in the next step, and the glue washes out)

Lay absorbent layers on the wrong side of the lining. Sew a straight stitch around the layers. Wanna be fancy? Use the zigzag stitch!

Contributed by Megan from CookiePants Advocacy

Diaper Sewing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0

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