Ordering cloth diapers from the United States is a little bit of a pain for Canadian parents like myself. Not all retailers will ship to Canada, and if they do shipping costs are high, and there is a potential for duties and taxes. Usually, the costs don’t outweigh the benefits. So when a pair of […]
I had some time to figure out how to scan my pattern pieces and make it accessible for you all. Remember, this is a 2T and you'll have to adjust if you need bigger or smaller. Make sure to print with no scaling. There are 3 pages total. Let me know how it goes or upload photos to my Flickr group. Workpraysew Training Pants Free PDF Pattern in size 2T Edit on 4/25/14: Please refer to this post for the tutorial.
Links have been updated! (11/15/15) Here is a free soaker pattern for use with wool interlock, wool sweaters, and fleece. **If you woul...
Over the course of the past year, I have reviewed all of the cloth training pants I could. While this is an extensive collection of reviews, there is a good chance there are still more options available. [interact id=”61e5c5376e1bce0018694412″ type=”quiz” mobile=”false”] One of the biggest factors in considering a cotton training pants is that price is associated with […]
One of the biggest issues I encountered with training pants was that most of them were not absorbent enough for one accident. But the GroVia My Choice Trainer definitely held up to the job, and survey respondents agreed! In this post, I'm going to show you the features of these training pants, and will also show you what survey respondents had to say about the training pants based on the 20 survey responses. TRAINING PANTS FEATURES You can see the video I did a while back for the Sneak Peek here: Side Flex Panels The pants include interchangeable Side-Flex panels
Here are instructions to make waterproof training pants. These are "low bikini cut" style and trim fitting. The pattern fits my 20lb, 9 month old with a little room to grow. The trainers have a PUL outer and a flannel inner with a soaker of 3 layers of flannel, the sides are attached with snaps, bound with 1" FOE, so that they can be easily taken off when wet but still pull up and down. You could make different variations on this: -flannel inner, outer and soaker for non-waterproof trainers -flannel inner, outer and soaker with a hidden waterproof layer in the soaker -another type of material in the soaker, i.e. hemp -sew together the sides and leave out the snaps Download Pattern Some download times are long. Here is the flannel inner layer with the 3 layers of flannel for the soaker. I have pinned and sewed all three layers of flannel, the soaker, to the inner flannel layer and used a wide and close together zig zag all the way around. You run the zig zag over the edge of the soaker flannel so that the edges are protected from fraying. I like to do this instead of serging the edge and then sewing it on because it takes less time and works just as well. Cut out your PUL layer using the same trainer pattern as you did for the flannel inner. I draw the pattern onto the PUL and then use paper clips to hold the fabric still (its pretty slippery) while cutting. Hint: I like to make my pattern pieces out of cardboard from cereal boxes, they hold up well and are easy to trace. Hint: You don't want to use pins with PUL because this will poke holes into the waterproof layer and make it leak. You can use bobby pins, paper clips, or clothes pins instead. Place the right sides together (the flannel should have the soaker facing out so that when you turn the trainer the soaker will be hidden on the inside). Use the same paper clips to hold the PUL layer to the flannel to prepare for sewing. Sew the legs, the back and the front with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance. Leave the sides open. Take the paper clips out before the machine runs over them. Attaching the elastic is a tricky. You want to use a medium sized zig zag. Take a long length of 1/4" wide elastic, don't cut it in advance. Anchor the elastic to the PUL side at the edge of the leg by backstitching, now pull the elastic with your right hand and guide the diaper with your left hand. Sew along the seam allowance so that the machine tacks the elastic down to the trainer. You will see it start to bunch up behind the foot. When you get to the end of the leg cut the elastic. Repeat this for the other leg, the front and back. Hint: Pull the elastic by 50% (not fully tight) these trainers are fairly trim and if you pull the elastic too tight they will be too tight around your little ones waist and thighs. Try to pull the elastic the same amount for each seam so that the trainer is symmetrical. Hint: Sewing the elastic to the PUL side of the diaper will cause the flannel to roll in on the finished trainer so that the PUL will be lying against your little ones legs to prevent wicking when wet. Here is a picture of the trainer with all the elastic on. You can see that it curls a little but not too much because I only pulled the elastic by 50% of its stretch. You can see that it is pretty much symmetrical, no one side is curling too much more than any other. Turn the trainer inside out through one of the back sides (there's more room there). Pin the sides so that the PUL lies flat and the elastic is straight on the ends. (I know I said not to pin PUL but you will put the snaps here anyway). Roll the end so that the flannel is rolled in, so that when you look at the right side all you see is PUL. This may result in the flannel being a little buckled but this is not important. Hint: If you wanted to topstitch the trainer, now would be the time. Sew a straight stitch just outside the elastic, being careful not to catch it. You can do this with the waist and the legs if you wish. This may cause wicking which is why I don't do it. If you wanted to sew the trainer together (and omit the snaps) you would pin with the PUL layer together and sew up the side seams. Turn inside out and be done. If you want to add snaps DON'T do this step. To put on the 1" wide FOE run an inch through the machine sewing with a very wide and close together zig zag before you put the trainer in. Sink the needle, raise the foot, open the FOE and then place the corner of the side of the trainer under the foot so that when you lower the foot it will rest on the trainer. The pins might poke through the FOE where it is folded but this doesn't matter. Then place the rest of the side along the FOE and fold the other side of the FOE on top. Lower the foot. Sew along the edge being careful to catch both the flannel and the PUL layers in the FOE (don't stretch the FOE, you're using it as a non-wicking binding not as an elastic). When you reach the end of that side sew about 5 more stitches on the FOE without anything between (this is important because you will be folding over the excess and using to anchor the snaps) and then repeat the above step for the 3 other sides of the trainer. You don't have to cut the FOE, just keep inserting the sides and sewing along. If you are making more than one trainer you can just keep adding them on until all sides of all the trainers are bound. Cut in the middle of each section of FOE to release each side of the trainer. Poke a large needle through the trainer at the edge of the FOE where it meets the inner elastic (feel with your fingers to find it). This will make it easier to put the snaps on. Take the front of the trainer and push the cap through the hole you made with the pin, fold over the FOE and push it over the sharp part of the cap. When you look at the PUL side of the trainer you should see the smooth side of the cap. Use your snap press to put the rest of the snap on, thereby securing the FOE under the snap and finishing it off. Repeat for the bottom of that same front side and for the top and bottom of the other front side. For the back sides fold over the FOE first (towards the flannel) and push the cap through so that the smooth side of the cap is on the flannel side. Put on the rest of the snap with the snap press and repeat for the other three snap locations in the back. If there is excess FOE hanging off after the snap has been put on, cut it as close to the snap as possible with scissors. Put all the snaps together and you will have a finished pair of trainers.
After testing out almost all of the potty training pants on the market right now, I feel like I have finally figured out the most important features to look for in cloth training pants! In my discussion of what I have liked for my kids, I've also included what many readers have liked based on responses to the Cloth Diaper Features survey. 137 of the respondents to that survey have tried training pants on their kids and indicated their preferences for different features. 6 Features To Look For In Cloth Training Pants Side-Snaps I personally feel that this is an
Best Bottom makes some amazing products. I’m still thoroughly smitten with the Best Bottom AIO; however, my toddler is moving on up and as we move from diapers to underwear we’ve been embracing the chaos of potty training. This potty learning journey hasn’t come easily, but it’s given me a chance to just explore the […]
This pattern is a one-size fits most flannel fitted pocket pattern that does not have closures. It fits tiny babies to large toddlers and is very trim. It is a very simple fast diaper to sew up and you can find everything you need to make one at your local Walmart or fabric store. Did I mention that RRPs are also reversible? Use cute prints as the outer and the inner, and you have two cute looks with one diaper. Above is the RRP on a baby and a toddler. Here you can see how folding down the front of the RRP makes the rise shorter for smaller babies. The fleece covers pictured on here are made from the Mile High Monkeys pattern which I can't find any more. Here is the free downloadable RRP PDF pattern.
The Best Reusable Cloth Underwear For Sustainable Potty Training
I use the Katrina's Sew Quick pattern for my soakers, which she has made public (and free!). You can find similar instructions on her blog ...
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! **update: These cloth training pants are now available for purchase at my shop www.etsy.com/shop/theflannellamb First of all, I have an important announcement: Abbey slept in big girl pants all night last night!! Yaaayyyy!!! She slept in these: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much for your support! We used cloth diapers for Abbey, and have loved them. We would use disposable from time to time, but for the most part she was in cloth so, when we started moving into potty training, we knew that store bought disposable trainers were not an option. As I started looking for cloth training pants (ones with some level of absorbency and a waterproof liner), I was incredibly disappointed. I don't mind paying $15-$18 for a diaper that will be used for 2 1/2 years, but for training pants? I don't think so! So, now I was on a mission! I knew I could make something for soooo much less than that, but how to do it? I wasn't really feeling making the training pants from scratch. That's a lot of work, and I knew I would be really picky about the fit, and I just don't have the time or energy for all of that. (If you're feeling ambitious, Elsie Marley has a very cute kids undies pattern HERE) Abbey already had some Gerber training pants , you know, the ones that have a little extra padding, so I decided to just start with those. I grabbed some flannel and some PUL and was ready to go! What's that? You don't know what PUL is, or where to get it? Well, let me tell you! PUL is the laminated fabric that is used to make the outer liners of cloth diapers, and you can now buy it at both JoAnn AND Hobby Lobby! Woot! Amazon.com Widgets I started by making my pattern; I used wax paper, pinned it around the trainer, and traced the seams of the reinforced section. I ended up with this: If you look closely, the bottom section is about half an inch longer than the top section. That part ends up on the back of your training pants. I labelled my pattern, just to be safe. Then I used my rotary cutters to cut out 4 layers of flannel, and one layer of PUL, leaving me with this: Quick note: PUL can be a little pricey, about $15 a yard, but you use so little for this project, that it's not a budget buster. I purchased 1/4 yard, and it was MORE than enough. I could easily get 15 of these pieces out of my little bit of PUL. I started by pinning and sewing the flannel into the inside of the training pants. Why flannel? It's soft, absorbent, and not too bulky. I pinned and then did a zig-zag stitch all the way around. One trip around is fine, since you'll do another trip around when you sew the PUL to the outside. Flip the training pants to the right side, and repeat this process with the PUL. (no, you're not crazy, I switched training pants on you! White on white doesn't photo well!) These two steps could probably be combined into one if you really want. I don't like sewing blind, so I did each side in it's own. There you have it! Your own (roughly) waterproof cloth training pants for...maybe $3.50 a pair? I will take that discount, thank you very much! I love these training pants! They are perfect for outings, long naps, and now over night. They catch any "oops" without requiring a change of clothes, which is just what I was looking for. Abbey has had one full accident in these. 4 hour naps will do that. These didn't keep her pants dry in that case, but they did keep her sheets dry, which in my book is a win! I hope these help all those cloth diapering Mama's out there! side note: I didn't plan on matching the PUL to the training pants, there just happens to be a pattern in the line that matched perfectly. It makes the OCD "things have to match!" side of my very happy! **This tutorial is meant for personal use only. Thank you for your understanding! Be blessed! Heather
Forget about the big name cloth diaper companies because there are SO MANY other fish in the sea of cloth diapering. Here in Canada, we have a handful of amazing brands designing AND manufacturing cloth diapers (and accessories) which create spectacular products. I wish I were exaggerating, but I’m not. This summer I got my hands […]
Cloth Training Pants are a great reusable option for pull ups. They offer an eco-friendly option to potty training while offering comfort for your child.
Today, we're talking about the oh-so-luxurious Ecoposh OBV Cloth Training Pants from KangaCare. These silky soft training pants have been in my stash since Black Friday, and let's take a gander at what I have to say about them. I've tried the KangaCare Lil Learnerz last summer and they were quickly
I don’t sleep train my babies and you don’t have to either. It’s okay not to sleep train a baby. Babies are notoriously miserable sleepers. Whether it’s teething, a developmental milestone (or leap) or just because; babies are terribly miserable sleepers. At least the babies I received. Luckily, they’ve perked up in toddlerhood to be slightly better, but you can’t […]
Home of Cloth Revolution's free diaper pattern.
As some of you already know, I cloth diaper my son at night. Unfortunately, he comes from a long line of deep sleepers, so he is not always dry at night yet. Once they get past 2 or 3 years old, it becomes harder & harder to find anything in cloth that will fit them, even though 20% of all 5 year olds still wet the bed. When he outgrew his last set, I ordered some from Daniel Creations, and they were absolutely perfect. I highly recommend them. I needed a couple more, but we've been on such a tight budget lately that I felt like I really needed to make some myself. Since Jack's skin is super sensitive, anything tight will irritate his skin, and I wanted to make something without elastic. I was thinking about how I could make something similar to his soakers, when it occurred to me that I should use Katrina's wool soaker pattern to make cloth pullups! For materials I needed something absorbent, stretchy, and soft, and found the perfect things... one of Jack's outgrown organic crib sheets, one of his organic receiving blankets, and a regular cotton receiving blanket from the thrift store (the stripey one). Since they were already used and washed several times over, the materials were already super soft & super absorbent. Since nobody will be seeing his diapers but us, I played around with different ways of sewing the soaker part (a few layers of waffle texture cotton from a receiving blanket) in, not caring how they look, and they all work just fine! The first one I made was the one on the top right. I made the mistake of using the pattern size he's in for wool soakers (diaper covers), not thinking that the wool soaker allows room for a diaper underneath, and the diaper itself needs to be smaller (duh!). It's quite big, but it still works. I learned my lesson, and made the next 2 smaller. I love that I was able to reuse things I already had to make these :) !
lets check out how some of my OS diapers fit on my Newborn... this will mostly just be photos with the occasional commentary.
Alright, you asked about the Super Undies Nighttime Undies and how they would compare to the Omaiki Hero Nighttime cloth training pants for bedwetting. I’ll do a separate comparison post in the coming weeks, but today I bring to you a general review of the Super Undies Nighttime Undies Disclosure: I use affiliate links in […]
Over the course of the past year, I have reviewed all of the cloth training pants I could. While this is an extensive collection of reviews, there is a good chance there are still more options available. [interact id=”61e5c5376e1bce0018694412″ type=”quiz” mobile=”false”] One of the biggest factors in considering a cotton training pants is that price is associated with […]
If you have a large toddler that no longer fits in disposables, training pants or cloth diapers, then give Imagine XL diapers a try!
Over the course of the past year, I have reviewed all of the cloth training pants I could. While this is an extensive collection of reviews, there is a good chance there are still more options available. [interact id=”61e5c5376e1bce0018694412″ type=”quiz” mobile=”false”] One of the biggest factors in considering a cotton training pants is that price is associated with […]
If you’re interested in switching to cloth diapers or thinking about using them from the get-go, you know how overwhelming it can be to research them. AIO, pocket, fitted, EUC, PUL. It’…
The Rumparooz Cloth Diaper Cover is designed to grow with your baby by featuring 2 sizes that fit your baby from newborn all the way through potty training. The weight range for the newborn cover starts at a small 4 pounds and will fit up to approximately 15 pounds. The weight range for the one size cover starts at 6 pounds and will fit up to approximately 35 pounds. This allows you to adjust the diaper to the proper size all while reducing the need to purchase various sized diapers making this diapering option one of Kanga Care's most affordable option. The Rumparooz One Size Cover is designed to fit over any type of diapering system that requires a waterproof cover such as Kanga Care Ecoposh Cloth Diapers, Kanga Care Prefolds, or Kanga Care Flats. The Rumparooz One Size Cover may be wiped dry between uses and used multiple times until being placed into the laundry at the end of the day or when becoming soiled. The Rumparooz One Size Cloth Diaper Covers are made of waterproof polyester TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) that comes in a variety of fun colors and fashionable prints.
As a cloth diaper blogger, I took it upon myself to try all the training pants. And, I pretty much did. I might have missed some, but I got most of them, and I still have one more child. If there’s a pair of cloth training pants I didn’t review but you want to know more about […]
If you have a large toddler that no longer fits in disposables, training pants or cloth diapers, then give Imagine XL diapers a try!
*Update* If you see a message that says the document is unavailable, it's just google docs being weird. Just follow one of the links below t...
A big part of me is being a mommy. I have a four year old son and a two year old daughter. I am pretty proud to say that I trained my daughter to use the potty in about 2 days last weekend. I took 2 days off completely to devote to her and the training. She is thrilled that she can use the potty. We still have the challenge though of staying dry through nap time and night time. I want to limit the use of pull ups if I can. From my first experience with Johnny, I found that the pull ups just delayed the whole potty training process, not to mention the cost, so for Mia, I skipped the pull ups and went straight into underwear for the training which worked. Yes of course there was plenty of messes that first day, but it paid off. But what to do during naps and night time when she doesn't quite have the ability to hold it while asleep? My neighbor who also has a 2 year old daughter, mentioned to me that Target carries cloth training pants that are thick like cloth diapers. So off I went to Target, and I found them. They came in a pack of 3 at about $8, in the most blandest colors of pink, yellow and orange. Then I spotted a package of bright and colorful My Little Pony underwear. Mia loves the ponies and it was about $10 for a pack of 7. Part of the reason Mia's initial potty training went so well was that she was excited to wear all the cute underwear I got her which featured Disney Princesses. Why couldn't these pony ones come in a training pant? I decided to put my DIY abilities to work and convert them to training pants myself. When the kids were babies people gave me a bunch of cloth diapers, which I used as burp cloths sometimes, and I still had a huge stack of 'em. My approach was fairly straight forward. Cut out inserts of the diapers and sew them into the already made, cute as a button, underwear. 1. I first cut off the left and right side of the diaper, so that only the middle thick part was left. I used pinking shears which worked well. 2. Fold them over and position them into the underwear on the inside. The diaper will be longer than the underwear. 3. With a marker draw out the curves of the leg holes and mark where you will be cutting off in length. 4. Cut off where you have marked. If I had to do this over again, I would have added a step and sewn closed my cutoff areas before I sewed them into the underwear to prevent fraying that occurred. 5. Turn the underwear inside out and pin your diaper piece in place. 6. Using a zig zag stitch, sew the diaper insert in. This is a little tricky with all the pins and the small size of the underwear but just go slow and be careful. and Ta-daaaaa! Easy peasy training pants. So as soon as I finished I showed little Miss Mia her new underwear and she was super excited! I got a "Wow! I like it!" and then she grabbed a pair instantly changed into them all by herself in the middle of the living room. Now that makes me a happy Mama. Now I have read in other tutorials that you can also add a layer of material called PUL, which will give it a waterproof barrier. I think I might try this on the next pair.
I knew as soon as I started sewing cloth diapers that I would be just as excited to sew cloth trainers when the time came--always something new! Normally our boys don't even look at the potty until three, but Little Guy is completely aware of his pee-pee and will tell me immediately afterwards. He tinkles ALOT, so lately I'm changing diapers ALOT! I thought to myself this week, "Why waste a big fat diaper on one wetting?" Aha--He needs trainers! I did a little research on patterns for cloth trainers. There isn't a whole lot to choose from. I piddled around with a few freebies I found, and then decided I just wanted to buy a pattern. After looking them over, I decided I wanted the style that has a separate center panel like boys undies because I would be more likely to use PUL scraps than if the PUL covered the whole outer. I briefly had my heart set on the Tinkle Time Trainer Pattern , but I kept looking for a few days. I came across the Bella Bum Big Boy Trainers Pattern on Etsy and decided to go for that one. I liked how many options there are for the stages of potty training. They also have a girls' version. You never know until you actually look at and use the pattern how much you'll like it, so I held my breathe while I was waiting for the email with the download (which was only a couple hours). Verdict: I like it. The pattern is nicely organized and nothing is left unexplained (that I noticed). The pattern even explains how to measure for and choose the correct size, which is always helpful. Let me say this, I would save myself a lot of "OOPS" if I would just read and follow instructions. But I have issues with this! After you've sewn a hundred different diaper patterns you tend to think, "I've got it down." Trouble is, not all patterns work the same, or why would there be different patterns! I made a couple of boo-boos but was able to make it come together nicely in the end. My biggest mistake was not clearly paying attention to the instructions on measuring the Fold-over Elastic. I ended up piecing my elastic after some misinformed cuts, and I never waste FOE! Oh, and I also forgot to prewash the FOE, which I might have ignored anyway because I was so eager to try the pattern. In the end, the back side pieces came out a little wider than the front side pieces and the snapping ends didn't line up exactly. I was later able to determine that this was my error in cutting out the pattern. I had chosen the Stage 1 style but cut out the stage 3 pattern (which basically just includes seam allowances because you don't use snaps on those edges), and this made the widths not line up correctly. When I was trying to figure it out I emailed the pattern maker and got a quick response from them, although I ended up figuring out my mistake as I was getting ready to take photos to send them for analysis. An "AHA" moment. The assembly is pretty basic. You start with your soaker pad. I didn't make mine exactly like theirs with soaker layers and a booster layer because I was using two edge pieces of a prefold diaper sandwiched between a good diaper flannel and a repurposed white undershirt. I just zig-zagged around the prefold layers to keep them in place in the soaker, and serged around the outer layers' edges. The prefold layer is a little stiffer than I would prefer, but I have a bunch that I want to use up. For the center outer layer I used some of a PUL remnant I bought at JOANN'S that was really too short for most diapers, but great for this. For the stretchy side wings I used a pique knit polo shirt that Hubby had thrown in the repurpose pile. For the inner layer I used the repurposed white undershirt. And I happened to have a piece of white FOE for binding that had been slightly abused and torn off of another project. The pattern recommends twill tape to stabilize the stretchy wing edges where the snaps go, and all I had was black, but it turns to the inside anyway. The pattern actually suggests using non-absorbent stretchy knits for the inside and wings to avoid wicking, but I am big into repurposing, so we just make do. Besides, If I'm going to be changing him after every little tinkle, wicking shouldn't be an issue! Most of the time I don't even put a waterproof cover on him at home when it's warm. I love how the soaker is only attached at the front and back for faster drying. So, aside from a few deviations, which I can't seem to help doing, I followed the pattern and was able to complete a pair in a couple hours (printing pattern, measuring for size, cutting pattern, cutting fabrics, serging soaker, sewing body). Of course I had to put them on him immediately to see how they fit and I was very happy. I did notice when I took them off later that there were some little elastic marks on his thighs, so we will size up the elastic next time! If you are looking for a trainers pattern, I would definitely recommend this one. If you are new to sewing, some challenges might be working with PUL and FOE--but if I can do it, SEW can you!
