DIY Best Bottom Diaper Tutorial

Hey guys! I was suggesting my diaper cover pattern + tutorial to a friend the other day and was saddened to find the link to the tutorial wasn't working. Granted, I am not a tech savvy person so fixing it will be an undertaking in itself. If anyone has advice on how to do that, I would be forever grateful! Until then, the most obvious answer was to post the tutorial into its own blog post and link it to the pattern. My main goal is to offer an inexpensive alternative to buying pre-made diapers and I hope this tutorial does that! 

Here we go!

First you need the pattern- you can find it at my original post HERE.

Step 1: Cutting

Cut out your diaper using the pattern, making sure to cut 2 of them but DO NOT MIRROR THE PIECES WHEN YOU CUT THEM. This is extremely important because you will be creating one diaper out of two fabric layers. Make sure the stretch of the PUL fabric is horizontal to the pattern.   

Also, cut two strips that are the length of your PUL fabric 

44/45 in. x 1.25 in. 

- this will be your binding for around the diaper.

(not pictured)

 Put the two pieces together just as you would for normal binding.  

Here is a tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts if you need help. 

***For this project I did not cut the binding on the bias since the fabric doesn't fray& I didn't iron to create the creases- it worked very well without doing that and I feared that I would melt the plastic. 

Step 2: Snaps

Using the keys on the pattern as your guide, add the snaps to the inside and outside layers of your diaper. The only snaps you should NOT be placing at this time are the ones in black that will go through both layers at the very end. You can also transfer the elastic placement marks. 

***To make the snap placement easier: I used my small hole puncher and punched holes in my pattern where the snaps were- then when I needed to transfer the markings I could simply place the pattern on top of my fabric and mark through the holes. To keep the color codes in tact (for the inside vs outside snaps) - I used a colored marker and traced the punched holes. In this photo is my original pattern. 

(This PUL fabric was thin, so I enforced the snaps with fabric.)

Now, place the inside layer plastic side down and the outside layer  on top with the plastic side down. When you are finished, there should be one side with plastic showing, the other side should have the design side showing. 

Step 3: Gussets and Elastic

I didn't use specific lengths of elastic, but instead made sure to pull the elastic as tight as possible when sewing it into place.

To do this you first secure the beginning of the elastic with a straight stitch where their is an elastic mark. Make sure to keep the elastic as close to the edge of your fabric as possible when sewing into place, you want to keep the elastic in the seam allowance so your binding will cover it later. Using your zig zag stitch, stretch and sew on top of the elastic until you reach the second marking. Once you reach the second marking, backstitch to secure and cut the excess elastic off. Only place elastic at the top front and back at this point. (NOT to the legs)

Place the elastic on your gusset using this technique- add it to the entire length of the gussets straight edge. 

You can choose to stop here and BIND the straight edge of the gusset using the technique described in Step 4 or do it once attached. I find it easier to attach it NOW.

Attach your gussets curved edge to the layers of diapers curved edge with wrong sides together. (make sure you get all 3 layers when stitching the gusset in place along the curved leg edges). 

***You will need to place elastic over the curved gusset seam you just created. It is easier to do this AFTER you have attached the gusset to the diaper. 

Step 4: Binding

Technique Tips: To bind you will first be attaching the binding strip on the WRONG side of the diaper using a straight stitch and a 1/4 in. seam allowance. You may have to use a slightly larger SA if your elastic is exactly 1/4 in. You want to make sure you sew just past the elastic (towards the inside of the diaper). 

Also, when you get to the elastic, stretch it completely out so the diaper is flat when attaching the binding. 

First bind the straight edge of the front of your diaper where the bulk of the snaps are and the top of the gusset (straight edge - only if you chose not to do it when you added the elastic).

Turn the diaper over to the right side (the outside, where there isn't plastic).  

Fold under the raw edge of the binding and topstitch. Make sure you cover all the elastic and when sewing past the elastic and that you stretch it so the diaper lays flat like you did on the other side. 

Then, starting at one side, attach the binding all the way around the diaper. When you get to the gussets, make sure you tuck the binding from the straight edge inside of the binding for the curved edge.

When going around the curves you may need to stop and use pins. Make sure to pin in the seam allowance. 

Step 5: Snaps (again)

Now that you've done everything else, you can add the snaps that go through both layers of the diaper. They are placed on the rounded corners of the diaper and are marked on the pattern in black. 

CONGRATS, you're done!!