Up Cycled Onsie Diapers!

As I was folding my 8 month old sons laundry one night, I realized that onsies could easily be transformed into diapers. I'm expecting my second baby at the end of the year so I decided to experiment with my idea! I took my sons old onsies that I won't be using on this baby and got to work. This is a step by step tutorial on how I made my onsie diaper.

I have yet to test these because I don't have a newborn. If you try these let me know how they work for you! Also, these are made pocket style. They will need an absorbent insert and a waterproof/water resistant cover (which i'll cover in later tutorials!)

*Don't forget to "Pin it" on Pinterest by hovering over this image and clicking the "Pin it" button!*

You will need:

 Sewing Machine, Thread, Onesie (I used a 0-3 month), Elastic, and optional aplix (you probably know it as velcro, but velcro is just a brand name for aplix)  You could also apply snaps if you preferred. I'll cover snaps in a later tutorial.

First take your onsie and turn it inside out. Take your elastic and hold it in the underarm area of the onsie and hold it there with one hand. With the other hand stretch it down the side to the very end and hold your finger in place at the bottom. Take your hand off the top of the elastic and cut the elastic. This piece is going to look super small, it's okay! Use that piece to measure and cut a second piece of elastic for the other leg.

Sew the elastic horizontally right under the arm. I usually stitch and back stitch 3-4 times just to make sure it is secure. Next take the bottom of the elastic and sew it at the bottom of the onsie, by where the leg opening should be. Again just sew it horizontally to hold it in place 3-4 times. Do the same on the other side of the onsie. Then flip it back inside out.

Now can be the tricky part! You need to "encase" the elastic. First put the needle down in the seam of the sleeve, close to, but outside the elastic. When stitching you DO NOT want to catch the elastic in your seam or it will not stretch correctly!  So put needle down to hold your place. Then stretch the bottom of the onsie so that the elastic pulls to the inside seam of the onsie. Stitch a few forward and then back stitch. Using one hand, hold the elastic and seam together, and with the other hand guide the onsie when sewing. when you reach the end, back stitch.  You're now done with one side! Repeat to the other side.

If you plan on using pins, CONGRATULATIONS! You're done! Trim the extra strings, stuff with an insert, snap the bottom and put it on your babe!  Using alpix? Continue reading!

APLIX: 

Make sure the bottom is snapped and fold it up, as you would if you were putting it on a baby. Then, just eyeball where you want your aplix. Use the fuzzy side ( i really don't know the technical term haha) and measure how big your strip needs to be. Cut and pin it on each side. ( only pin through the top layer)  Unsnap the bottom now and sew the aplix only on the top layer.

Next, resnap it and fold it up. fold a sleeve over to estimate where to place the other aplix tabs. (i make mine about an inch long)  If you want to measure and make your diaper perfect, by all means do it! But to me, it's a diaper inner so it doesn't need to be beautiful, just functional.  :)   Sew the tab on and repeat on the opposite sleeve. 

Your diaper is done! Congrats! You just up-cycled a onsie into a diaper!  :)

If you feel like the waist is still too large, you can add another fuzzy aplix tab onto the outside of a sleeve like so. This makes it so that you can cross over tabs for a tighter fit!