Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial
How To Sew Your Own Potty Training Pants
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31/01/16
Potty training is in full swing here but night time and nap time still means nappies for my toddler. The only problem is, since the introduction of grown up pants, nappies mean tantrums.
What You Will Need:
Fleece 1 x 35cm x 10.5cm
Towelling 2 x 35cm x 10.5cm
PUL 1 x 35cm x 10.5cm
Jersey 2 x rectangles - 12.5cm x approx. 13.5cm and 1 x rectangle 7cm x waist measurement (if your elastic is wider than mine, you'll need to add double that extra width to the width of this jersey rectangle).
Wide Elastic (mine was about 2cm) - waist measurement
Fold over elastic - approx. 75cm
How To Make It:
To make your potty training knickers, you need 2 main pattern pieces. The first piece goes from front to back and is a waterproofed section. It is a rectangle with small curves cut out in the centre to make it comfier on the legs.
Take a rectangle 10.5cm x 35cm and fold in half along the long length. Leave 8cm at the front, and 15cm at the back. In the centre draw as gentle curve that goes to 7cm at the narrowest point (unfolded width).
I made this pattern piece with PUL, towelling and fleece. PUL is waterproof, breathable and washes in the machine well. I used 2 layers of towelling as an absorbent layer to catch potty training accidents and a layer of fleece on top. Fleece lets the urine pass through to the towelling without wicking so it's less likely spread away from the waterproof layer (unless they do I really big pee lying on their side!).
The other main pattern piece is to go over the hips. Measure the child's waist then minus off 21cm (the width of the absorbent part) then divide by 2. That is the width of the next rectangle to draw. The height at the front is 7cm and the back is 12.5cm . Curve it down to 5cm before coming up to the 12.5. If you aren't confident on the shape, you could lay a pair of pants down on their side as a guide for the leg hole shape.
Cut these in jersey with the main direction of stretch running hip to hip rather than head to foot. Cut 2 face up and 2 face down.
First, lay your 4 long central pattern pieces of fabric on top of each other with fleece on one side and PUL on the other and the towels in the middle. Face the PUL fabric and the fleece right sides out.
Fix them all together by sewing around the edge. I did this with a straight stitch then an over edge stitch with an overcast foot.
Take 1 pair of jersey side pieces and face them right sides together. Sandwich the back edge of the central pattern piece in the centre of the jersey fabric so that the top and side edge of the piece you've just sewn is level with the top and side of the side piece. Sew together with a quarter inch seam (I like to use a quarter inch foot to help keep things looking uniform).
Repeat on the other side.
Then repeat with the shorter edge of the side pieces against the front edge of the rectangle. Tip - you may want to clip it or pin it then briefly turn it right side out to make sure you didn't twist it before you sew it.
Next add fold over elastic to the leg holes. Leave about an inch unsewn at the end to make it easy to finish off, then stretch it as you fold it over the edge to sew. I used a 3 step zigzag stitch to sew it on. A knit foot or walking foot may help you move through your layers easier.
When you get near the end, leave about 5cm unsewn. Pull the 2 ends of fold over elastic right side together and sew them together so that there is just enough elastic left that with a stretch it will fill the space. Flip it back over and wrap around the edge to sew in place.
Take your wide elastic and sew the ends together. I prefer to sew together then fold the ends back and zigzag stitch them down so the elastic moves easier in the casing.
Cut out your large jersey rectangle as listed above, making sure the direction of stretch is along the longest edge. Make a loop by sewing the short edges together with right sides together. It should be about the same size as your elastic loop but bigger than your nap pants. You can do it the same size as the nap pants to make it easier to attach if you want. My jersey was just very stretchy and I didn't want too much bunching with the elastic.
Fold the jersey over the elastic so there is a cm or so empty all around the edge. Pin or clip the raw edge to the toddler potty training pants but keep in mind that the jersey and elastic are shorter so will stretch as you sew, so they wont line up. Try to just spread it equally around for pinning.
Sew a quarter inch seam while gently stretching the jersey (trying not to stretch the jersey on the pants too!). Then I finished the edge with an over edge stitch.
Then they are done and ready! Good luck with potty training your toddler!
We hope you enjoy our free sewing tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk
Happy Sewing!
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Oh I love those!! Great tutorial! I’d love to invite you to my blog where you can submit your tutorials for a dedicated post! I pin to many pinterest boards and share on social media!
Thank you Denise, that’s very kind. I’ll send you an email 😀
Toilet training is all sorts of fun! I like how the absorbent layer goes all the way up at the front, you’ll be thankful you did that!!!
I saw all sorts of sewing tutorials for ones that just put a pad in the centre of a pair of normal pants and thought exactly the same myself!