I searched the internet far and wide to find a tutorial for replacing the elastic and aplix in a Freetime diaper, but had no luck. So I decided to create my own. This was my first time refreshing a diaper and I'm a novice at sewing, but I was pretty happy with the results. I purchased one of the $1 refresher kits from Cotton Babies. It comes with new laundry tabs, wing tabs, and elastic. It does not contain a the large piece of aplix for the front of the diaper.
The inserts are in great condition, but the elastic is not so stretchy and the aplix is not very sticky anymore. I started with my seam ripper and pulled off the aplix on the wings.
The instructions on the card in the refresher kit, say to sew the new laundry tabs on over the old ones, but I didn't see any good reason to not pull off the old ones. Unlike on a 4.0 the tabs are on PUL not on the fleece inner.
After much debating and inspecting, I decided the easiest way to get inside the diaper to replace the elastic was to open the diaper on the front rise. More seam ripping and I am inside.
I then turned the diaper completely inside out and found the elastic. It took a little bit of digging to get it fully exposed. I started with the one on the back. I unattached the elastic on one side then used a safety pin to attach the new piece of elastic to the old one. Then its pretty easy to pull the new piece through the channel. Its the same process for the leg holes, so I'm not going to show you all three.
Its a good idea to turn the safety pin long ways after you remove the old elastic. I didn't do that at first and accidentally pulled the new elastic into the channel and had to work it to the end again.
Since you are working in a small area, I found that using a bobby pin helped me to get everything flat and keep it in place.
Here is where you get to use your sewing machine to attach the new elastic to the seam of the diaper. The original pieces were sewed in two places, so I did the same.
I wanted to use my sewing machine for the new laundry tabs, but I couldn't find a way to do it. There was too much fabric and it was too deep in the back of the diaper. I sewed the new ones on by hand following the holes that were left over from the originals. This was the hardest, most time consuming part.
Next, I reattached the wings on the diaper. This was another time my bobby pin came in handy to hold everything all together. Instructions say to sew around the outside of the two pieces twice. Then you want to reverse stitch to make sure everything stays in place.
Finally, its time to close up the diaper. I lined up the front and back together as well as I could. I was lazy and didn't change the lower bobbin in my sewing machine from white to blue, so you can see my stitching on the inside of the diaper. Unfortunately, here is where you can also see my novice sewing skills, but I didn't feel like ripping it out and doing it again.
The front looks much better.
Here is the diaper compared to a few others with relaxed elastic. Its now much tighter and ready to be used.
Please feel free to comment with any questions.
Supplies Needed:
Seam ripper
Several safety pins
Sewing machine
New elastic
New aplix (velcro)
Bobby pin (optional)
Baby girl was very curious and wondered what that funny thing on daddy's face was, so she decided to pull them off and investigate. The results were inconclusive.
Day 62
We were helping with a baby shower for a friend. I forgot to take a good picture of us, but you can see baby girl sucking on her pacifier while in the ring sling. We can't wait for this new little one to arrive. This is the 3rd shower baby girl has attended. Most of my friends have decided this was a good year for having kids.
Day 61
We celebrated Mawmaw's birthday today, so baby girl make her a picture. She used her hands and mouth to draw.
Day 60
We were super busy today and I almost forgot to take a picture. Here are some baby feet after she was baby-ritoed.
Day 59
Many days baby girl will sit next to me at the table when I am having breakfast or working at the kitchen table. Today I got too boring and she fell asleep. It was super cute. Unfortunately, it was a very short nap since she woke up as soon as I tried to move her.
Day 58
We have tried making tummy time more fun by using her pillow pet. She liked noming on the osacones, which kept her happy for a little while.
Day 57
Baby girl really likes sitting in her jumper. Its one of her favorite things to do. She is even starting to figure out how to bounce in it.
Day 56
My mom has chickens and each year she orders a few new chicks. Since they hadn't feathered out yet, she had them in the living room. She also watches them to determine which ones are roosters and which are hens. Baby daughter loved watching them hop around and hearing them peep. Grandma and grandpa even let her touch one, but she wasn't sure what to think.
Day 55
We went to Columbia today to visit some friends. We got a little bit of snow, but they got a little more than a foot. It was pretty cool. Baby girl didn't get to go play in it though.
Day 54
My wonderdul daghter decided to get up at 5:30 today. While I enjoy early morning, I don't necessarily enjoy getting up quite that early. I really can't complain though, she sleeps well at night cuddled up next to me. I had to take the dog out this morning and when I came back in, she was napping sweetly. I need to figure out how to take an 8:30 am nap, too.
Day 53
We don't get a lot of snow here. It falls just a couple times each year and normally melts within a day or two. Baby daughter got to play in the last snowfall, but today she just watched from the window. She really enjoyed seeing the big flakes fall.
Day 52
When I was a little baby my mom didn't own a camera, so she was good about taking me to get professional pictures taken my first year. The first one I have is from when I was 4 1/2 months old. I decided to recreate these pictures with my little girl. I tried to do it as similar as possible. You can also see the original.
Day 51
Today baby daughter really wanted to be together. She wasn't going to be content unless we were looking at each other. I really needed to do laundry, so we took over the kitchen table to do the folding. She really loved it. Now I just need to continue her enjoyment of laundry folding into the teen years.
We decided to do something fun, so we rented What to Expect when You're Expecting from Redbox. Having just had a baby, it was pretty timely. Baby daughter decided to cuddle with Matt and then he fell asleep as well.
Day 49
Baby girl decided to take a super long nap today. At one point Matt decided to nap with her. It was pretty cute!
Day 48
Today we had fun going to the Cotton Babies $1 diaper sale. We picked up a few new to us Freetimes for a really good price. Our friend found a whole bunch, which is great since she is just starting her cloth diaper stash.
Baby girl had some fun time playing with her giraffe in the baby crib.
Day 47
We went out on our first baby-free date. It was kind of odd being alone together, but it was really good for us to enjoy being together. We went at 4 pm with all the "old people", then stopped at the grocery store after. What happened to us? We used to be young.
Since Matt was out of town and returned late on Valentine's Day, he bought flowers for baby daughter and I today.
Day 46
We went and delivered Valentines to many of our friends today. One of my goals this year is to be a better friend. Matt is my best friend and my mom and I are also close. I have a lot of good friends, but very few that I feel really close to. I feel like the best way to change that is to be a better friend.
When we got home baby girl had a package from her great aunt.
Day 44
