Saturday, October 3, 2015
My daughter just turned 2 and we started potty training!  I've been testing a few different styles of training pants out on her and although we haven't made progress actually training, we have found out that pull-up style training pants are a pain when it comes to POOP.  
Yep, every time we pull down those other training pants, the poop rolls out.  It's disgusting.  Luckily, I recently came across someone using a Trimsies Trainer Pattern in one of the cloth diaper sewing groups I'm in.  It looked like the exact style of cloth training pants we needed to try.  
I am a novice at sewing.  But because I sew, I am able to quickly get cloth diapers with adorable prints and stay below budget.  The most I have spent per diaper is probably about $3.  I've made fitteds, covers, pockets and inserts.  They aren't nearly as visually appealing as what you'd get for $25, but they are perfectly functional and it's rewarding to know I created that!

The Trimsies pattern was sent to me in exchange for a thorough review.  I am reviewing the pattern and the trainers I made using the pattern.  Let me tell you first of all that the instructions and additional details that Monique, the creator of the Trimsies pattern has included in the download are wonderful and the possibilities with this pattern absolutely go past expectations. It's worth the buy, I haven't seen ANY pattern offering as many ideas and options!  There's a total of 5 different sizes, 4 different styles, making 54 pages of patterns and instructions/details.  There are ways to make this super quick and easy and ways to do it very professionally (if you planned to sell them).
This trainer pattern offers something for eveyone.  I found it simple to get this all sewn up and it works well for my little one!  This isn't a full tutorial, but I'll be sharing some steps I took along the way to show you that Trimsies are Easy DIY Cloth Trainers!
The first thing you do when you get a pattern is decide which materials you're going to use.  Trimsies offers an entire page of fabric recommendations.  If you're brand new to sewing, you may find flannel and cotton knits are the easiest to work with.  Practice and patience is key. The cloth diaper/trainer materials I use mostly now are super heavy organic bamboo fleece "SHOBF," Zorb, PUL, anti-pill and blizzard fleece, wicking mesh, cotton velour, suedecloth and some fancy knit prints.    
There are a few reasons I love fleece- it's cozy, it's breathable, it's water repelling and it has a slight stretch making it easier to work with.  I have a few fleece covers that are pretty much bulletproof for overnight cloth diapering! Many cloth diaper manufacturers have been adding fleece into their diaper materials lately. It works great as a hidden layer or outer layer. However, there are different types of fleece, some which are better than others at repelling moisture. and   To detect if the fleece is truly water repelling, you want to do a quick test.  Take a swatch of fabric, pour a little water on, move the fabric back and forth and watch to see if it begins to soak in. Press the puddle with your finger, pushing into the fabric.  Watch and see if it absorbs.  If it does, it's not the right fleece to work with.
I got some blizzard fleece last year to make some nice warm pants for the girls and had some leftover, so I gave it a quick test.
Since the fabric worked, I decided I'd go for an All-In-One "AIO" with a pocket adding extra absorbency for overnight.  I found the large overnight side snapping pattern and printed just ONE copy then cut it out along the seam allowance line.  When you cut your fabric, you'll notice the pattern is only one half of the entire pattern.  All you do is fold your fabric over and line the pattern middle line to the fold as shown below.
Be sure to take note of the fabric stretch BEFORE cutting.  There's a reminder on the pattern which way you want the stretch to go.
Fleece is perfect as an outer fabric, but this fabric I have is a directional fabric, meaning the print on it only goes in one direction.  So a tip with this is to cut your front and back separately, leaving a seam in the middle to make the direction up on both sides.
Sew the front and back together.
Grab your inner fabric, lay it down and line this outer piece up just like you did with the pattern.  Cut the inner (I'm using suedecloth).
Next, cut the soaker portion out of the pattern.  This way you've printed one copy of the pattern out and got all the pieces you needed without wasting paper!
Cut the soaker fabric with absorbent materials (I used 2 layers of SHOBF encasing a layer of Zorb). If you have a serger, use it... if not, like me, then you'll need to turn it through a hole and topstitch.  In this example, the soaker is attached to the backside of the inner fabric.
Then you sew that to the outer, making sure you have the good sides of the fabric facing in towards each other.
 The pattern instructions say to put the elastic in the seam allowance and zig zag them taut to create the stretch.
The only issue I ran into was I had a really hard time figuring out how to do a pocket.  The instructions stumped me a bit during these steps, so honestly I winged it.
I zig zagged elastic taut across the entire back but tacked (went forward and backwards twice with sewing machine) at the 1/3 mark across back.  I let the elastic loose until 2/3 across and tacked again then continued with the zig zag.  I turned it inside out and I decided to case the fabric over the elastic as shown below.
Just add snaps now, and you're done.
This is how the first try turned out!
That night, I stuffed a cotton prefold and a microfiber insert inside the pocket, put it on my babe and even tho it was HUGE on her it did not leak.  Which is a mom win!!!

I have to make MORE!
Last year, I came across a really good deal on snaps.  I ordered these Spider Engraved KAM snaps from Kimmy's Snabric Facebook Group and have been waiting to use them.
I was looking for fabric to match and when I saw this Marvel Spiderman Comic Scenes Cotton Fabric I literally yelled, "Woohoo!  I found it!!!"  Like I won the lottery!  I was in the Iowa City store, too.  One lady looked at me strangely.  Oh well...  Isn't this fabric perfectly awesome with the snaps?
The second trainer I made had a few alterations.  This one was a size medium instead of large, it has the cotton knit outer with PUL behind it and black cotton velour inner.  I used FOE (fold-over elastic) to close it all up.
This fit much better and was definitely way more trim.  Check out the action shots.
Ok so these are just a couple ideas of how this pattern can be used, but go check out some of the different variations of Trimsies Diapers and Trainers in the website's gallery.  The Trimsies Trainer Pattern is so  versatile itself, but if you have both the diaper and trainer, the possibilities are endless.  I highly recommend trying this pattern!  Here is some more info about the creator of Trimsies, Monique Daley.

What's my favorite thing about this pattern?  All the extra options, it helps get the creativity juices flowing!
Is there anything I'd change about this pattern?  I needed a little more specific information on constructing the pocket, and the instructions seemed to lack the details on this part.
I give Trimsies a 9.5/10!
I am hosting a giveaway for one Trimsies cloth trainer pattern valued at $8 (PDF download) and Kimmy's Snabric is helping sponsor this giveaway with $20 store credit to one lucky winner!  That way you can get pretty much everything needed to make a couple trainers yourself!  Keep up to date with all the updates, as well as more special deals/promotions by LIKING the Trimsies Facebook page and don't forget to join the Kimmy's Snabric Facebook group.
Enter the competition by filling out the form below.  The winner will be emailed, announced here in the giveaway widget once closed and I'll put a shout out to the winner on my Facebook page so make sure to sign in with the email address you check most often! You will only have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be drawn. Must be 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited. Giveaway will run from 10/03/15-10/17/15. Open to US only. GOOD LUCK!!!
Trimsies Pattern & Kimmy's Snabric Giveaway

Latched On Mom and other participating bloggers did not receive compensation to promote this giveaway, however Latched On Mom was given a free pattern in exchange for a review.  All opinions are my own, written by me. Please see my full disclosure for more information. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or associated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social media. Prize fulfillment is the sponsor's responsibilty. If you have any questions about this giveaway, or have a product you'd like for me to review, please email latchedonmom(at)gmail(dot)com.

7 comments:

  1. We use cloth diapers but have never sew our own. I'd love to try!

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  2. I'd love to sew my own cloth diapers... I'll steal my mothers sewing machine!!! With her permission of course...

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  3. I sew my own diapers and would love to add your pattern to my collection

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  4. I've never sewn my own diapers or trainers. I am working up the courage for it and would love to try soon!

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  5. I have never sewn my own diapers, but have thought about it!

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  6. I've known how to sew since I was about 8, so 25 years or so, but I've only just begun really enjoying only this year. This year I've made close to 40 hybrid-fitteds and AIOs that makes up about 1/4 of our entire stash. I love being able to customize her fluff and making one of a kind combinations.
    I really do enjoy it so much. ♡

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  7. I learned to sew when I was a kid with my mom and grandma. My favorite thing I've made was a repurposed dress shirt into a toddler dress. Would love to try diapers next.

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