Weekend break

I just wanted to pop in and say that I'll be gone for the weekend. I'm heading out of town to visit some friends and will be back to my sewing station on Monday. :)

Stay tuned!

Art by Wicks

Repairing Elastic in Cloth Diapers

First of all, I have to show you this fantastic link.

How to Repair Shot Elastic in a Serged Diaper

Now you should know, that I literally just stumbled upon this about two seconds ago. THIS is why I make mistakes. I fail to do my research before hand. After glancing over her tutorial, I have come to the conclusion that I made this process incredibly difficult for myself.

*sigh*

My gracious mother purchased some Swaddlebees, One Size, Fitted Diapers from eBay for my daughter. I believe we got twelve of them for about $70. We thought this was a steal seeing as how they're over $20 brand new. Well, we definitely should have asked questions about their condition before we decided to go for the gusto and win the auction. The elastic was completely shot in each diaper around the legs, as well as the back. Not to mention, you could definitely tell they were old. The feel of the fabric was super crunchy and not in very great condition. Oh well, I can handle that. I can even handle the staining (that again, was not mentioned). Realizing that there was no way my toddler could wear these without replacing the elastic, we decided to take on the project. She ripped out the threading from the legs (because they were serged on the inside) and I would be the one to tackle the sewing part.

(Remember... I had no knowledge of the super easy link that I provided you with above.)

This is what I started with after the seams were ripped out.

First, I cut my elastic to size. I stretched it from the point I wanted it to start, to the point I wanted it to end, pulled tight and cut.

Then, I placed the elastic where I wanted it to start, on the inside of the diaper and sewed a straight stitch back and forth to make sure it was secure.

I then did the same thing to the other side.

After the elastic was secure, I started sewing the the two outer edges of the diaper back together. I folded both sides slightly under and did a straight stitch all the way down.

After I stitched together (or maybe its, "hemmed") the outside of the diaper, I stretched the diaper on that side out to stretch the elastic on the inside so it would rest against the edge of the diaper. While holding the beginning end tight, I placed it under the foot of the sewing machine and secured it in place. I then created a "casing" for the elastic, by sewing on the opposite side of the elastic.

I repeated the same process on the other side. Only this time I messed it up. Either the fabric was stretched or I wasn't stretching both sides evenly, because I ended up with a small bunch of fabric at the end on one side.

Oh well, I just sewed over it.

The last process was putting the elastic at the top. This proved to be a bit trickier for me, but I made it happen. I basically did the same process as stated above. I secured the elastic on both ends, pulled tight, and sewed over it. I did NOT create a casing at the top because I had limited fabric to work with. Due to the sewn in soaker's position, I had to basically fold the fabric over the elastic and do a zig zag stitch to secure it.

And here is the finished product...

I have finished 4 of them and have what feels like (and looks like) a million more to go. It's too bad all of the stitching is ripped out already, otherwise I'd use the tutorial at the top to finish them.

So what is my lesson for the day?

---- Do your research prior to ripping apart your project.

Definitely a Sewing Fail on my part, but they are turning out okay. I just wish my daughter would grow more. She's so freakin' tiny that even on it's smallest setting, it's still too big and it's a one-size!

My next project (after these diapers are done) is ripping out the stitches in an unfinished wet bag that my mom accidentally sewed together the wrong way - and then fixing it. The last time I tried sewing with pul, I destroyed it and just tossed it aside. Maybe THIS time I'll do my research and get it right this time.