Lullabye Panties Diaper Cover

¼ inch seam allowance included (¼ then ¼ for French seams) – Top stitching ⅛ inch

Bias Binding

If you are not using store bought binding, you will need to create double fold binding to bind the diaper cover.

Follow this free DIY Bias Binding tutorial to create the bias binding.

PLAIN OPTION – If you want to sew a plain diaper cover (no lace frills), skip straight to step 4.1.

Set your sewing machine to a gather stitch. This will be the longest stitch length possible with no locking stitch at the beginning or end. Stitch close to the edge on a Lace piece, leaving long threads at either end. Stitch again approximately ¾ inch from the edge.

Repeat with the other pieces of Lace.

TIP – Stitch in the same direction for both rows of stitches. It doesn’t matter which direction so long as both lines of stitches go the same way. It’ll make gathering a lot easier. 

TIP – Use a different color thread for the bobbin. The gathering stitches will be pulled out later and discarded so it doesn’t matter what color they are. It’s great to use up random thread colors you have left over from other projects. Plus, if the bobbin thread is a different color from the needle thread, it makes finding the two matching threads to gather easier!

Place a pin in the center of the Back (fold fabric in half to find the center). You will use this pin to line up your lace evenly as you pin it on.

Fold your first piece of Lace in half and pin the center with a pin.

Measure down from the top of the Back 1 ¼ inches and mark with a pin. This will be where the first row of Lace goes.

ALTERNATIVE: If you want more of the diaper cover showing above the lace, measure lower down and mark with a pin. If you want to have the lace higher up, remember to leave enough room for the waistband casing (see steps 5.1 and 5.2).

Use your ruler to mark a line of pins horizontally all the way across the Back from where you just put the pin.

Make sure your Back is right side up. Place the Lace right side up on your diaper cover. Pin the left side, right side, and center of the Lace to your diaper cover. Pin so the top of the Lace is lined up on your row of pins. Match the pin in the center of your Lace to the center of the diaper cover as marked by the pin in step 1.4.

Find the top two threads on the piece of lace. Very gently pull on both threads equally to gather the lace. If you used a different color bobbin thread to your top thread, you’ll know you have the top two threads because they’ll be a different color to the bottom two ones.

Continue to gather the lace all the way across the diaper cover until it sits flat on it. Spread the gathering out equally across the front until you are happy with it. Pin in place. Change your sewing machine back to a regular stitch and stitch straight down the middle of the two rows of gathering stitches. 

TIP – You want your stitching to be as close to the edge of the lace as possible, so it sits nicely when it’s finished, but don’t stray too close to the gathering stitches. If you accidentally stitch directly over any of the gathering stitches, they may become difficult to remove in the next step.

Remove the gathering stitches by gently pulling the ends of gathering thread so that they come all the way through the lace. Find the thread from the underside of the lace and pull this out too. 

TIP – You may find the thread snaps if you pull it too hard or your fabric is quite thick. If this happens, just pull the other end and the rest of the thread should come out there.

Measure down 1 ¾ inches from the first piece of Lace and pin. Line your second piece of Lace up with this pin and pin to the edge. 

Check you are happy with the look. If you want to, move it up or down. I placed my Lace, so it overlapped by ¼ inch. If you are doing the same, it should just tuck underneath the first layer. For a different look you could have yours overlap more or less.

Repeat steps 1.3 to 1.6 to pin your second row of Lace to the diaper cover. 

NOTE – You can place your second row of lace as far up or down the diaper cover as you wish. For the exact look in the photos, place it 2 inches under the first row of Lace. This will give an overlap of approximately ½ inch.

Repeat step 1.7 to gather, pin and stitch it the Lace to the Back. Make sure to fold the first layer up out of the way so you don’t catch it when you stitch.

Repeat steps 1.3 to 1.6 again to pin your third row of lace to the Back.

Repeat step 1.7 again to gather, pin and stitch it the Lace to the Back.

Pin the raw edges of all three pieces of Lace down at the side seam. Baste using approximately ⅛ inch seam allowance.

TIP – Basting is just like normal stitching except the stitches need to be long and loose so that they can be removed later, if needed. Stitch within the seam allowance, so that the basting stitches are not seen in the final garment, while keeping the stitches loose enough to pull out just in case they are visible. The purpose is to hold a piece of fabric in place until that section is properly sewn. Set the machine to a long loose stitch. Test it on a piece of fabric first to make sure that the stitches can easily be removed. Do not backstitch at either end. Leave the ends loose, with approximately 1 inch of thread tails at either end of the stitching. 

This will hold the Lace in place so that it stays out of the side seams.

Trim the excess lace so the edges are neat.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – Lay the Front & Back of the diaper right sides together. Pin the side seams & crotch seam together. Serge using a ½ inch seam allowance. Skip to step 5.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – We will be using a French seam to sew the side and crotch seams. If you have never done a French seam, don’t worry, we’ll have all the steps included here.

Lay the Front & Back of the diaper wrong sides together. Pin the side seams & crotch seam together. 

Stitch approximately ⅛ inch from the edge.

NOTE – The back of the crotch is longer than the front, so you’ll have to lift the back up a bit to meet the front (as shown in the photo).

Carefully trim the seam allowances so the raw edge is clean and doesn’t have any uneven threads.

NOTE – You are trimming here so that when you encase the seam in the next step, all the threads and raw edges are hidden. I generally try to trim my seam allowance in half, as I like to make sure absolutely nothing is sticking out. However, just neatening up the edge here will also work.

Turn the diaper cover inside out and press the side and crotch seams. Pin and stitch again approximately ⅛ inch from the edge. 

This will encase the raw edges so you can’t see them (a French seam). 

NOTE – Make sure before you stitch to check that the lace ruffles are only caught in the seam at the edges (e.g. no bits from the middle are trapped in the seam).

Fold the waist edge ¼ inch to the wrong side. Press. 

TIP – Turning over the hem and creating the casing can be tricky depending on your fabric & iron. To make it easier go slowly and stretch the fabric slightly as you iron it. If you have a fabric with a bit of give, you’ll find this step easy as pie. If not, or if you are making one of the smaller sizes and find you simply can’t get it folded over without wrinkles, try first to pin it without ironing. If that doesn’t help, try to make any folds or tucks into lots of little “wrinkles”, rather than a big fold. You will be elasticizing this bit later so it’s not likely to be very visible and spreading any excess fabric out helps keep it hidden.

Fold a second time approximately ½ inch this time. Press and pin. Then stitch close to the edge most of the way around but stop before the beginning again leaving a gap of approximately ½ inch. This will create a casing so you can feed the elastic through to gather it later on.

Slip the bias binding you just created over the leg holes and pin. Make sure the raw edge is fully inside the bias binding so that when you stitch around later the raw edge doesn’t show.

When you get to the beginning trim the bias binding, so it overlaps the beginning by approximately 1 inch.

Fold the end of the bias binding over by about ½ inch.

Pin the end of the bias binding that you’ve just folded over the start so there is now a continuous strip of bias binding around the leg hole. You might need to trim the corners of the end if they are poking out, so it looks all neat.

Stitch close to the edge of the bias binding around both leg holes. Leave a gap of approximately ¾ inch to feed your elastic through later.

I like to leave the hole for the elastic to go through quite close to the crotch or side seams, so they get hidden when worn. That said, it makes no difference to the functionality of the diaper cover so you could leave the gap anywhere around the casing you liked. It is best though not to leave it too close to where the start & end of the bias binding is folded over itself. Otherwise all your neat folding in the last step will unfold!

Pin one end of your elastic to the diaper cover securely just below the waistline casing. This stops it slipping into the casing as you feed the elastic through.

Then feed the end of the elastic with the safety pin attached through the little opening you left and all the way around the waistline.

When your safety pin gets back to the beginning, feed it back out of the casing through the same hole. 

Gently ease the fabric around the elastic so it is gathered all the way around the waistline. 

Pin the elastic ends together, letting them overlap by 1 inch.

FIT CHECK: If you have your child available check the fit of the waist elastic. Adjust if needed.

Stitch using a zig zag stitch on your machine several times. Let the elastic slip inside the casing.

Repeat steps 7.1 to 7.2 to thread both leg elastics into the leg casings.

Find the gaps you left in the waist and leg casings and stitch them closed. You may need to pull the gathered fabric away from this area in order to be able to stitch without catching any other fabric inadvertently.

NOTE – If you want to be able to lengthen the elastic so that the diaper cover lasts through several sizes with the child, then skip this step. That way you will be able to easily access the elastic to alter or change it.