Adelaide wears cloth diapers. As you may or may not know, cloth diapers can add a substantial amount of booty to an otherwise scrawny kid. This wasn't a major problem in the baby sizes, but now that Adelaide is firmly into the toddler sizes, we're having issues. Because you know what doesn't work on a huge cloth-diapered tush? The teeny-tiny fitted shorts with a low rise and a half-inch inseam that I always see in the toddler girls' department at every store ever. The toddler boys' department is usually a bit better fit-wise, in that the shorts have some space in the rear. However, they usually are way too long and/or only available in two or three ridiculously boring colors.
Obviously, I needed to employ the magic of sewing.
So I took the one (seriously, the only one) pair of shorts we own that I consider a truly good fit for her diaper-clad tush: a pair of knit shorts from the boys' department of Old Navy. I traced a pattern, grabbed some interlock and ribbing from my stash (both from JoAnn Fabrics, I think), and whipped up these shorts.
I'd make them a bit shorter next time, but otherwise I am very happy with them. They fit well, both in the waist and on the cloth-diapered booty! And Adelaide didn't protest wearing them! And they seem comfortable! And sturdy! Also, I really felt good about the sewing of the knits this go-round. The interlock helped, as it's a rather sturdy and easy-to-sew fabric, from what I can tell. But I've also been messing around with my machine trying to figure out my stretch stitch options, and I think I'm making some progress. So hooray! Can you tell that I'm very excited about this? Victory is mine!**
Problem-solving sewing is the best. Especially when it works.
*Admittedly, my extreme joy over my moderate success with this project probably has something to do with how not-so-great I felt about my last sewing project.
3 comments:
Super cute! (The shorts and the girlie!)
The shorts look great, definitely a sewing victory.
I remember the cloth diaper days well - and I ended up doing the same thing - hitting upon a pair of shortalls that fit the diapered tush at our house and making a pattern from them.
I love this! We use cloth diapers, too, and so my not-quite-12-month-old has been running around in 24 month shorts all summer. They're a little big on the waist, but they are the only thing that fits over her giant diapers. I've never made any sort of pants, but I think I may need to try.
Post a Comment