Diapers on the Mind

It's obviously no secret that I love to thrift. Even when I am shopping retail stores I find myself still being as thrifty as I possibly can. I just love the challenge in finding the best deal. The other day I found myself shopping Zulily.com and I had added diaper covers in my cart that ranged from $8.99 to $12.99. And then I thought to myself, "Am I nuts?!" First of all, I have been scoring some beautiful brand new outfits for the baby for $3 to $4 a piece. How could I spend 3 times that on a diaper cover that goes under those clothes. Second of all, I sew! I am sure I could take this on. 
After a few minutes on Pinterest.com, I found a tutorial that explained how to make one so well that even a first timer like me could pull it off. The tutorial is for "the Perfect Diaper Cover" over on the blog Made. She even provided a free pdf of the pattern. I was off to the races. 

I was so proud of myself! Even better, my aunt is a photographer and loved the thought of this cover being used in newborn photos! My confidence was boosted and suddenly I was finding inspiration everywhere. 

This is my favorite dress that I have found for the baby so far. I got it for 99 cents at the thrift store, which meant it came without a diaper cover. But now that problem would be solved. I followed the tutorial exactly, except I added my ruffles before doing any other sewing. 

Then I sewed the front and back together, followed by the casings for the elastic. Just like the tutorial states, you cannot worry about how messy the leg holes may look after sewing your elastic casing. 

I had a hard time getting past this part . . . that mess was killing me . . . but the pattern designer was right. Once the elastic was in, all you could see was total adorableness.

And it looks so perfect with the dress. I can't wait to see this diaper cover peeking out from underneath!

I made a few more diaper covers, but they were very time consuming. I found the casings were very thick and hard to push elastic through, due to having to create hems before creating the casing so that there would not be fraying. 

I had been telling my dad about how much I was enjoying sewing some garments for the baby and how much I wanted to attempt some bigger things, dresses and such for her. Imagine my surprise when my father (who listens to me talk about sewing but who has no real interest in learning about it) showed up at my house with a brand new serger for me! I seriously feel like the luckiest girl in the world! Of course, by the evening I was watching instructional videos and giving it a test run on another cover I am designing. 

It created ruffles in a breeze!

And oh my, how I was salivating over those professional looking seams! Did I really do that? The casings were where the huge difference was. Being able to serge my edges, then fold them over made creating these a total breeze. I was done in less than an hour and the elastic fed through like butter. 

There is still some embellishments I want to add to this one but I am officially over my fear of garment sewing thanks to the wonderful tutorial and the serger that dad surprised me with! In fact, I would love to chat more, but I have a dress I want to attempt before dinner!  ;)

Until next time, happy quilting (or sewing)!