Free Fitted Diaper Pattern with Photo Tutorial!
Want to make soft, squishy diapers like this one? I’m offering a free version of my fitted diaper pattern – the same pattern used to make the diaper below (and all of these), and the same pattern I use to make the fitted diapers I sell in my store. Why am I giving it away? Because I believe that you only get as much out of life as you give to others. I also know there are a lot of people who choose cloth diapers for financial reasons, and can’t afford to buy fancy pre-made diapers – I’m one of them! And you deserve cute diapers, too – even if you don’t buy them from me.
This pattern comes in two sizes – Large and Small. The diapers are closure-less and designed to fold down in the front to accommodate a wide range of sizes. The Large size should fit reasonably well on babies about 10 lbs and up, and the Small size is designed for smaller babies – newborn through the first few months.
Click a size below the image to download (or right click to save). Happy sewing! :)
Large | Small
New! Photo tutorial for making a rolled-casing closure-less fitted diaper!
This is a really quick and easy way to make a nice, trim snappiable/pinnable fitted diaper. No special equipment is needed. All you need is a sewing machine that will do a straight stitch, zig-zag stitch, and a three-step (broken) zig-zag (often called an elastic stitch). For illustration purposes, I did this entirely on my dinky $60 clearance sewing machine. Click on the images to see a large version. :)
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Cut out your pattern pieces. I recommend at least 2 layers: 1 for the outer, and one of your absorbent/soaker material.
Suggested fabrics:
Outer: cotton interlock or jersey (t-shirt material)
Inner/soaker: Cotton or bamboo fleece or french terry |
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Put the pieces together and line them up, wrong sides together. |
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Serge or zig-zag the front, sides, and back of the diaper, but leave the ends of the back wings open for now. |
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Draw a line along the back edge of the diaper between elastic markings. I usually set it in about 1/2″. This line is where your elastic will go.
Create a pin casing by placing pins as shown, so that the distance between pin entry and exit is a little wider than the elastic you’re using. This will hold the elastic in place while you sew it down.
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Use the open wing to insert the elastic. I’m using a long ball-point bodkin, but a safety pin works just fine. |
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Thread the elastic through the pin casing and out through the other wing. Remove the safety pin (or bodkin) from the end and gently pull the elastic back through so that there’s about 1/2″ outside of the pin casing. You’ll need to do this part by feel. If you’re not comfortable doing that, you can leave the end of the elastic hanging out of the wing and then cut off the extra later, but it will waste a little bit of elastic. |
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See where the tip of my thumbnail is? That’s the end of the elastic, and the rest of the length is hanging out the other side. Just use one long piece of elastic for this – there’s no need to pre-cut it. |
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Now, starting at one end of the pin casing, use a three-step zig-zag stitch to sew the elastic down. First backstitch a couple of times over the 1/2″ or so on the end, then pull the elastic taut and stitch down the length. Backstitch at the end to secure. You may need to use a hand to guide the fabric through the machine.
Hint: the more snug-ly your elastic fits in the pin casing, the less chance there is of missing any elastic.
You can skip the pin casing and do this part by feel if you have mad skills. |
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This is what the gathered elastic should look like. If it looks loose or isn’t gathered much, you didn’t pull the elastic tight enough. If it’s puckered or curling up, you probably pulled too tight. You can serge or zig-zag the open ends of the back wings now. |
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To do the rolled elastic casing, simply roll the fabric in at the legs. I usually roll it in about 1″ in the middle, and it will naturally taper out at the ends. You don’t want the casing to be too narrow, or it won’t gather nicely when you put the elastic in.
Stitch on the very edge of the rolled-over fabric, but only between elastic placement markings! Remember, you don’t want to close your casings up, or you won’t be able to put the elastic in! |
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Precut your elastic and insert the elastic into the casing, leaving about 1/2″ outside the elastic marking. I use 8″ for the leg elastic on the large size, but the amount needed will vary depending on the brand. To determine how much you need, hold the elastic in your fingertips stretch it out almost completely between the elastic markings, then unstretch it and measure the unstretched length between your fingertips. Add 1″ for the stitching allowance. |
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Stitch back and forth across the elastic at the end of the casing a few times to secure the end. Stop the needle on the edge of the casing. |
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Turn and stitch down to the end of the wing. Pull the elastic through and out the other end of the casing, and repeat the process for the other end.
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Repeat for the other leg as well – now the body of the diaper is finished and should look something like this. |
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For the soaker, cut 4″ x 15″ strips of absorbent material. I like to round the edges. Serge or zig-zag together. I like to do 6 layers of cotton or bamboo fleece, in two separate “petals” of 3 layers each. For thinner fabrics, use more layers. You could sew them all together into one thick piece instead of doing petals, but it will take a lot longer to dry! |
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Sew the soaker petals down, one on top of the other, about 3-4″ in from the back edge of the diaper. |
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It’s done! |
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I ‘ve had a LOT of people ask me to put together a tutorial for my converted prefolds, so here you go! Nothing super fancy, but hopefully these step-by-step instructions will be sufficient. This is a relatively simple project – I bet even beginners could get the hang of this pretty quickly! :-) The thumbnails are small, but you can click on them to see full-size pictures with more detail. |
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The first step is to find a pattern you like that is approximately the same dimensions as the prefolds you’re converting. I happened to notice that the fabric cuts I had pre-made from my Fitted Diaper Pattern are about the same size as the premium prefolds I bought on clearance from Little Lions. |
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Cut a piece of fabric for the outer from the pattern and lay it on top of the prefold. Make any necessary adjustments, like cutting off excess, marking where you want to round corners (if applicable), etc. |
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Serge around the edge of the outer fabric, or cut around and zig-zag. Save the cut-out pieces from the edges of the diaper – you’ll need them later! |
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Turn the diaper over and make markings for the front/closure snaps. I use the prefold seams as guidelines to determine the center of the diaper, and place my snaps a ruler’s width (approx. 1.25″) from the edge. Make sure you have an even number of snaps (i.e. no center snap)! |
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See? No middle snap! (These will be sockets, by the way) |
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For rise snaps, I use my ruler to keep them lined up straight, and put each row a ruler’s width apart (1.25″). The first row of rise snaps (immediately under the closure snaps) should be studs, and then each row after that should be sockets. |
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For the wing snaps, I like to put them a little further in from the back edge of the diaper. I set my ruler in 1/4-1/2″, and place the markings at .5″ and 2.5″ from the tip of the wing. These will be studs. |
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I like to add a socket halfway between the studs on one of the wings for crossing over. Most babies will probably be too big for it, but it’s also handy for snapping a rolled-up diaper closed before tossing it in a wetbag. |
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After applying the snaps, make markings for the elastic. For my premium prefold conversions, I line the edge of the diaper up with my grid and put the leg elastic marking 4″ in from the edge. |
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The leg elastic markings on the back of the diaper are about 4.5″ from the edge of the diaper. |
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Back elastic isn’t necessary, but I like to add it anyway. I make the elastic markings about 1/4-1/2″ in from the prefold seams. |
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Use a seam ripper to make small cuts through approximately HALF of the layers of the diaper near the edge at the elastic markings. (usually you want to cut through 2 layers). |
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Now put the diaper down for a moment and grab those scraps from when you serged/cut out the diaper outline. |
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Trim off the narrow ends and open up/unfold the scraps to lay them flat. |
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Trace a rectangle with rounded corners to make a soaker. It should be wide enough and long enough to cover the snap caps on the inside of the diaper. |
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Serge around the edge, or cut out and zig-zag. |
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Pin to the inside/front of the diaper and stitch close to the edge (I try to line up my stitches with the edge of my serger seam). |
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Now that that’s done, grab something you can use to thread elastic through the casings you “made”. A lot of people use safety pins, but I highly recommend investing in a bodkin. They’re a few dollars at most, and they make inserting elastic a breeze! To determine how much elastic to use, I stretch my elastic between the elastic markings, then measure the un-stretched length and add 1/4″-1/2″ allowance. |
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Thread the elastic through one hole and pull it through until there’s 1/4″-1/2″ sticking out. |
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Tuck the excess elastic in so that it extends at least 1/4″ past the hole. |
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Stitch back and forth over the hole and the elastic, sewing down the elastic and sewing the hole closed at the same time. I like to use a 3-step zig-zag stitch for this. A regular zig-zag stitch works, too. |
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With the elastic tacked down on one end, pull it through and out the other side. Again, tuck at least 1/4″ through the other side. This time pin it in place, otherwise the tension will pull the elastic back through the casing when you let go, and it’s a pain in the butt to get it out again! Stitch elastic down and the hole closed, just like in the previous step. Repeat for remaining elastic. |
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Trim off any excess threads and finish off any serger tails, then sit back and admire your new diaper! |
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Thanks for posting! I just downloaded the large. I am going to try to sew one in the next few weeks. I need to save some money to buy some fabric.
FYI – my reason to sew my own diaper is because it is fun! I have money if I really want to purchase another diaper, but I have really been enjoying sewing, so I want to take on another sewing project!
Just be forewarned.. sewing diapers is addictive! :)
Ahaha Jahnavi- They are super addictive!!
You are so generous! What is the SA for this diaper? Also, how many layers for the soaker? Thanks so much!
HI Jahnavi! I would love to make this diaper out of flannel but can’t guess what to do with elastic since it’s not rolling up because the fabric is not knit. Do you have any suggestions?
I meant the edge is not rolling up.
You may be able to roll the edges if you cut the pattern out on the bias (diagonally). It wouldn’t be the most fabric efficient, but if you want to do this style of casing with flannel, that would probably be the only option. If you’re not attached to the rolled casing, this pattern also works great turned and top-stitched. :)
Jahnavi, thank you very much for your help , I have one more question, do I have to add seam allowance or is it already added?
do I have to add seam allowance to the pattern?thank you for your help…I admire your work.
I’ve turned and top-stitched with this pattern, and I never added any extra seam allowance. I just kept the seam allowance narrow (about 1/4″). If you need a wider seam allowance than that I’d add a little extra.
052212
Thanks for the free pattern & tutorial. Can you tell me what I need to do to get the wings made from a coordinating fabric? In the picture posted, the wings are of a cute print fabric while the bottom part of the diaper is a solid color? I did not see any explanation in the tutorial.
Please advise. I am anxious to try this pattern!
Thanks,
Pam
hellopf@yahoo.com
Can this be done with PUL
Pam, you can print an extra copy of pattern and cut an extra piece of the outer at what ever size you want in alternate fabric. Search Wing to wing embellishment I think its called for tutorials. Yo can attach it to whole outer piece or just piece 2 fabrics together and treat as outer layer.
Andread I have seen others say they did but I haven’t used it. If you did with all those layers it would be an All in One.
If i add snaps to the rise could the Large become a OS? Also the rolled elastic casing, is this the same as if i stiched it inside out and then turned it right side out and top stitched?
Could I make this with a cotton velour?
I want to try this pattern but want the rounds edges like on your prefold tutorial. Do I just extend a bit and around? What weight range will large fit? THANKS So MUCH! And I love your elastic explanation so much easier than the one i used to use!
I just have to say I think it’s AMAZING that you’re willing to put your pattern online! It’s so generous and hopefully people remember to pay it forward! :)