Non-Serged Detail-Oriented Prefitted

This updated VIDEO tutorial might be easier and give a cleaner result.

Now a beautiful prefitted for those of you not blessed with sergers!

Cut out your fitted shape making sure there is enough room around the middle seam for double your elastic casing width. Leave the serging on the ends intact! Cut out the excess fabric from one side around the leg casing. Fold the outer 2 and 2 layers inward about 3/8" and pin in place leaving about 2" open at the top/back of each side. Close up of the area that will be left open. Sew down with an even straight stitch about 1/8" from the edge or closer. Use your seam ripper to pop the top 3-4 stitches at the back holding down the middle layering on your prefold. On the side without the exposed fold showing, about 1" to each side of those middle layers, cut down about 3/8"-1/2" through only the top two layers. I used a safety pin here to show the slit fabric. Now, sew a straight seam from a little beyond that slit and about 1/2" down from the edge of the serging to just past the other slit at the back to make your back elastic casing. Sew your leg casings the same way. Close-up showing the top of one leg elastic casing. Use a safety pin to feed the elastic through your small slits through your back elastic casing. Tack down, remove the pin, and then tuck in the exposed end of the elastic. Use a short length and wide width zig-zag stitch to close up the fabric and sew down the first side of the back elastic completely. Stretch your elastic to your desired tension and set in place with your pin. Cut your elastic about 1/2" longer than you need and tuck into the opening to conceal the end. Zig-zag down the other end like the first and remove your safety pin. Run the leg elastics the same way. You can sew them down normally though since there was no hole cut in the fabric. Then trim the elastics and sew up the little bit of opening at the top/back of each side by folding the fabric in again and top-stitching close to the edge. It makes for a very clean-looking finish. The front isn't quite as pretty unless you really want to mess with tucking around sharper corners. I just finish those edges by folding the edges in a little bit and zig-zagging over the raw edges to fray-stop. It is fast and secure though. :) Now here are your cutout extra fabric scraps laid over each other and trimmed down a little. Trim them down to about 4-4.5" wide and even them up a bit. Sew around the most of the outside a good 1/4" in. Invert through the end you left unsewn: Pin in that end and sew/top-stitch all around the outside of the soaker/doubler.

Here is your finished non-serged prefitted. :)

Soaker can be laid-in or stitched down on the end(s). Front. Rear-view showing the back elastic.

Amazon Contour Fitted Diaper #1

These: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XNDEYU

were $19.95 SHIPPED for 60 cheapie flannel contour diapers. They aren't great by themselves, so a lot of us sewing mamas were playing around with ways we could sew them up to make simple fitted diapers and even just reinforcing the basic stitching since the soaker layer area wasn't really sewn in very well the way they arrived. ;)

Basic reinforcing seams:

Here is my first little tutorial using them (I will be doing a few more over the next few months as I get the time. I might also incorporate them into other tutorials as well.):

What you'll need:
- elastic
- some extra cotton fabric (t-shirt, baby towel, receiving blanket, bed sheets… really anything will work) *I used part of an old flannel receiving blanket I had already cut up...
- cotton terry scrap or piece of old towel
- amazon cotton flannel contour
- safety pins
- sewing machine (only a straight basic stitch is needed)
- thread
- scissors
(optional - snaps, velcro, snappi, or diaper pins)

Pin a strip of your terry down over the middle of the contour. Sew down the sides about 1/2" in from the sewn-in soaker's seam edges (I used a contrasting thread to make my seams more visible).
Trim the terry edges and draw your diaper shape (I traced a diaper I already had).
Trim down the contour.
Lay over the fabric you'll be using for your outer and trim it to match shape.

( If you want to use velcro, sew your loops strip down on the front panel before sewing all your fabric pieces together.)
Have the inside of the outer facing outward and the terry strip facing outward. Sew around all but the middle 7" of the back/top side.
Turn right-side-out.
Sew your elastic casing channels.
Thread your elastic through using a safety pin through the open back of the diaper. Tack down, stretch, tack, and trim.
Sew your back elastic casing channel.
Thread and tack your back elastic, sew up the back, and do your top-stitching.

It is now ready to pin or snappi (if you used a snappiable outer fabric)... OR, you can add snaps. I think this would be best with a snappi or pins though because you can do a fold-over rise and make these fit from aound newborn to 30lbs+ depending on build.You can add any lay-in doubler or add snaps for a snap-in doubler/soaker as well. Here it is shown with a preemie prefold trifolded inside.
My 28lb 36" tall 25 month old wasn't in the mood to model much, but I caught a climbing butt shot. ;) She wore it on the 2nd waist snaps in and the outer most thigh/hip snaps. I was really surprised that the rise was enough for her, but it was. So, these could likely fit SOME toddlers through potty-training even!