Sweet home with sweet love :): 1. DIAPER COVER

CUTTING:
* Print a copy of each pattern page (on standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper):

Here’s what I like to do….
* Trace the diaper sizes you need onto blank sheets of paper so you have patterns for various sizes. This saves on printing and plus, it’s easier to reference the original pattern when you need to.
* Label your patterns with appropriate info so you don’t mix-up the sizes. If you make changes to the sizing or the elastic, note that on the pattern along with the date you made it, or what fabric you used, or whatever info will help you out the next time around:

* Fold your fabric in half, lay the pattern piece on the FOLD (where marked) and cut out ONE for each pattern piece:

A serger makes this project even easier. But NO WORRIES if you don’t have one! There are just two added steps that we’ll point out as we go.

Okay,
With RIGHT sides of your fabric together, sew the Front and Back pieces together. Line up the sides and sew down both sides. Line up the bottoms and sew that together too, in the places marked below:

Serge off your seams, do a zigzag stitch, or leave them raw (serging and zigzagging makes your seams stronger and keeps them from fraying over time).

Next, serge all the way around the edge of each leg hole:

If you don’t have a serger, iron each leg piece under about 1/4 inch. You don’t want to lose too much fabric here. You’re just ironing under a tiny bit so that the raw edges aren’t exposed. In the next step you’ll iron the leg piece over again to create a casing (same goes for the waistband).

Serge the top of your waistband, all the way around:

If you don’t have a serger, iron the waistband over 1/4 inch, just as you did for the leg holes.

Iron out all of your seams:

Then iron casings for the leg holes and the waistband. Iron the LEGS over a 1/2 inch. Though we’re using 1/4 inch elastic for the legs, it’s good to give yourself a 1/2 inch casing. This will make the project easier, the safety pins will go through better and thus, your life will be happier.

Your leg holes should look like this:

side view:

Okay, iron the Waistband over 3/4 of an inch to create a casing.
NOTE: I prefer using 3/8 or 1/2 inch elastic in my waistband; it just looks better to me. This is why the casing is 3/4 inch wide. If you want to keep it simpler, make your casing 1/2 inch wide and use 1/4 inch elastic in the waistband just as you did with the legs. Either way works fine.

Stitch down your casings in the waist and in the leg holes. MAKE SURE you leave a small opening in each so you can get your elastic in and out.

I use pins to mark a Start and Stop point, so I don’t forget to leave a hole:

Sewing the leg casings can seem tricky because your creative mind will tell you to make it as smooth and beautiful as possible. IGNORE your gut! It will (almost) never happen.
Because the legs are cut on a curve, it’s near impossible to fold the edge over smoothly without trimming the edge in (which you don’t want to do here) or using bias tape (which has more “give” and is meant for curves). But with a diaper cover it really doesn’t matter because the leg holes will be gathered and you’ll never notice the tiny imperfections in your seam. So…start sewing from your Start point:

And, without being overly obsessed about it, use your left hand to push and pull and to keep the fabric as smooth as you can:

Don’t stress over it but do your best to keep a 1/2 inch casing all the way around. This is another reason we made the casing a 1/2 inch instead of 1/4 inch. More room for error!

When you’re done, your legs should look like this:

See! All sorts of imperfections. And no one will ever know once the elastic goes in there.

Okay, with all your casings sewn down, we’re ready for elastic.
As stated earlier, I prefer 3/8 or 1/2 inch elastic for the waistband and 1/4 inch elastic for the legs. Do whatever works for you. You don’t need much of each (see the pattern for sizing lengths)

Clip a Safety Pin to the end of your elastic:

Insert it at the hole in your casing:

And push the elastic all the way around till it comes out the other side.

Overlap your elastic by ONE INCH (the elastic lengths listed on the pattern are all meant for a 1-inch overlap):

Zigzag stitch the elastic ends together:

Do Not sew the leg casings closed till you look at the two legs together. Make sure they look even and that one elastic didn’t end up shorter than the other.

If your elastic is too loose: Make a snip in the elastic, cut out a small piece, then overlap and sew it together again.
If your elastic is too tight: Make a snip in the elastic and sandwich-in another two-inch (or more) piece of elastic, then sew everything together.

If both legs look even, sew the casings closed with a normal stitch:

Follow the same steps and string elastic through the waistband:

When you’re all done, add a personalized tag or patch to give it some character (more info on my labels HERE).

And you’re done! One colorful diaper cover ready to go!

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Now that you’ve mastered the perfect diaper cover, let’s do a slight twist by using bias tape. This adds a bright pop of color and interesting contrast:

First, cut out your pattern pieces:

Since we won’t be folding over casings for the legs and waistband (we’ll be sandwiching bias tape around them instead), you need to snip off the excess.

Trim a 1/2 inch off of each leg hole:

And cut 3/4 inch off from the top waistband. It’s best to cut both the Front and Back pieces at the same time so they match up perfectly:

Decide what kind of Bias Tape you’d like. You can make your own using a bias tape maker(very cute and easy, and especially fun if you an interesting fabric). Or you can use store-bought bias tape (mostly found in solid colors). It comes in various widths, 1/2 inch being the most common. Make sure you get DOUBLE-FOLD tape (rather than single fold).

Once you start sewing with bias tape, you’ll end up with a bag like this….full of bias tape odds and ends. Diaper Covers are the perfect project for your stash!

For my cover, I used 1/2 inch tape on the legs and 1 inch tape on the waist. If you don’t feel like buying both sizes, use 1/2 inch on both. I just happened to have two sizes on-hand.

If you look closely at bias tape, you’ll notice that one side is just slightly wider than the other.This makes it easier to sew the bias tape to your fabric, making sure that it’s sewn on both sides without any holes. Place the shorter end on the side of your fabric that faces up, where you’ll be sewing. The wider end goes on the underside.

Sandwich each leg hole with bias tape:

Go all the way around and when you get to the end, overlap the tape a bit and trim it off.

Store-bought bias tape tends not to fray so you don’t need to worry about folding the end under. If you’ve made your own bias tape, however, you’ll want to fold and tuck the end under as you sew the casing closed, to keep it from fraying.