Cute Kids' Underwear Revisited

I'm all done!!  I finally got the time made the time to finish Little Love # 5's latex-free underwear!!

For those of you who missed the first post about Little Fishies Undies by Fishsticks Designs, you can catch it here.  No, I'm not getting any kind of monetary compensation (or compensation of any kind, for that matter) for mentioning these, but I really, really love this pattern and I really, really love how these turned out.

I had one yard each of the blue, pink, and yellow, and I had half a yard of the print.  I was able to get a dozen pairs.  Had I planned ahead before cutting and figured out the best pattern layout, etc, I maybe could have gotten another pair or two out of my fabric.  But I got too eager to get started to take the time to plan like that, so an even dozen it is.

It took me two days to get them cut out, pinned, and sewn--of course, that's with about 500 interruptions from the kids.  Something about needing to eat and potty and other such trifles.  Seriously, don't they understand anything about priorities?  =)

Anyway, the skivvies are so bright and fun and cute, and she keeps trying to put them on and bringing them to me to put on her.  I took a break from cloth diapering recently to try to get caught up on my other laundry, and now she refuses to wear cloth diapers again.  So it looks like we'll be potty training sooner, rather than later.  I may actually have a few months completely diaper-free before the new baby comes--I haven't had that in more than 8 years!!  WOO HOO!!!

Any potty training tips for a toddler under two years old?

Making Ultra-Cute Kids' Underwear

Kids are gross.  Seriously, think about it.  If your dog did some of the stuff your kids do, it would be kicked out the door to never set another paw in the house.  We expect more out of our dogs than out of our kids.  Thankfully, my dog, Darby, is a good, clean, even prissy boy who doesn't even get his paws muddy when it rains.  I LOVE my sweet boy!

Which brings me to potty training.  Little Love #5 does NOT like a dirty diaper.  As soon as she's messed it, she'll come up to you patting her bottom to let you know that she's a mess and needs to be changed.  If you don't jump up and change her immediately, she'll further press her point by reaching into her diaper and pulling out a handful to show you.  Sometimes it has corn in it.  Or raisins.

The other day she decided to forego the dirty diaper feeling completely.  She was in a disposable (I typically use cloth), so she just took it off and pooped on the floor.

So I've been thinking about potty training a LOT.  I've potty-trained all of my kids at 2 years old.  How many months after two has varied with each of them, and some have been easy-breezy, and my last one was horrible.  But even so, two years old has always worked for us.

#5 will be 2 in November.  I'll probably try to potty train her right away after that, which brings us to underwear.

Latex-free underwear is hard to come by.  And at $15+ a pop, it's simply not practical for a 2-year-old potty-trainer.  So I started looking around online for a pattern or tutorial to make underwear for her.  I then happened upon Little Fishies Undies by Fishsticks Designs.  I had never seen anything cuter than these!  So I purchased the pattern.

I'm not typically a pattern person.  I usually prefer to have a general idea of what I want to do--or a good tutorial--and then I just go with it.  But this is one of the simplest patterns ever, and the instructions are excellent.  It literally takes mere minutes to sew them up once everything is cut out and ready to go.  And I don't have a fancy serger or anything (though I really, really want one!).  I just used a zig zag stitch on my very basic machine.  I love how they turned out.

I tried them on her this morning, and they're great!  She looks adorable, and she had fun wearing them.  She keeps bringing them back to me, wanting me to put them back on her (and throwing a fit when I don't), so they must be comfy, too!

I plan to get a bunch more cut out today and then sew them up as I get the opportunity (nap times, bed time...).  They're thick enough to be great for potty training, thin enough to be great for everyday wear.  They feel nice and durable.  I used 100% cotton interlock.

And the best part is the pattern comes with sizes 2-12, so we're set for a long time!  Thank you Fishsticks Designs!!