Monday 25 March 2013

Ruffled Nappy Cover...


When, Ros, from Sew Delicious, made her ruffled nappy cover last year, I just had to buy the pattern, even though I didn't have anyone to sew it for. As luck would have it, a friend has recently had a little girl and now I can justify making the purchase.




The outstanding feature of this nappy cover, is of course, all those gorgeous, girlie ruffles. Sewing ruffles isn't hard, but I wanted to finish off the ruffles with a rolled hem, a new technique for me. Rolled hems can be done with both an overlocker (serger), or a regular sewing machine. I wanted to use my regular machine, so this meant using the Roll and Shell Hemmer Foot I purchased a while ago, for the first time.


After watching the short video on the Bernina site, I was ready to start practising. I watched that video several times before I got the hang of it. My Roll and Shell Hemmer Foot # 69 allows for both straight stitching and zigzag. I had much more success using a zigzag stitch. Some rolled hem presser feet will only allow straight stitching, so make sure you check first before you attempt zigzag on a rolled hem, or you might break a needle.


I must say that I had to really concentrate to do the rolled hems and did have to use my unpicker a couple of times. The fabric feeds through a scroll and it wasn't always easy to keep the fabric in the scroll, particularly on the curved edges. The other thing that happened, as you can see in the photo below, was catching extra fabric in the hem. This little mistake and a few others, are staying, but there were two instances where so much extra fabric was caught up, that I just had to unpick it and start the whole hem all over again. All in all, I was very happy with my rolled hems and I'm sure the little recipient won't notice any imperfections. I do like the finished effect, as there is no way I could do a 4mm hem without a rolled hem presser foot.


I used the Fancy Ruffled Diaper Cover (affiliate link) by Tie Dye Diva and would happily recommend this PDF pattern to anyone sewing a nappy cover for a girl. Assembling the pattern was very easy, thanks to the very clear directions. As well as the normal 1" square for verifying the scaling, there were test asterisks to measure the length of the pattern, in case of differences in printing margins. Probably because I'm using a laser printer, I had to adjust piecing the pages together and so the test asterisks were very helpful. Without them, the nappy cover would have been too long. I was impressed with the attention to detail!

Because I was learning how to sew rolled hems, it took me quite a while to sew, but next time I'll be faster. The pattern gives instructions for sewing a regular hem, but assumes you already know how to sew a rolled hem if you choose this option. Aligning the rolled hem foot with the measurements given in the pattern didn't work with the presser foot I used and I ended up cutting off the excess fabric before I sewed the rolled hem. Perhaps the instructions given would work with a rolled hem on an overlocker (serger).

The comprehensive pattern is very clear and easy to follow. Bias binding is used to form the casings for the leg elastic; a very clever way to make the casings! Tie Dye Diva (affiliate link) recommends advanced / confident beginner sewing experience. I'll definitely be using this pattern again.


Do you call this a nappy cover or a diaper cover? Here in Australia, we refer to it as a nappy cover. Whatever you call it, this is my entry in the Fancy Feet Sewing Challenge over at Ricochet and Away! The aim of the challenge, was to make something using a presser foot we had never used before. I can now say I know how to use a rolled hem foot. 

In doing this challenge, I've learnt that there are 7 Bernina presser feet that can be used to make rolled hems, varying in widths of 2mm - 6mm and suitable for different weights of fabric. The foot I used is designed for soft fabrics and I was using quilting cotton. Perhaps I should invest in Zigzag Hemmer Foot #66, which is designed for medium weight fabrics.

I still have several more presser feet in my toolkit that I have yet to use. Perhaps I should learn to use these before I buy any more.


Now that the nappy cover is made, I need to make a dress to finish the outfit.



Once again, Rikka, thanks for another challenging challenge!!!


I'll be adding my ruffled nappy cover to:

... Pam

19 comments:

  1. Looks so pretty Pam, congrats on meeting another challenge.

    Thanks for linking up to New to Me in 2013 too.

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  2. Those ruffles are adorable on the back of the cover! I can just picture how sweet the cover will look on a little baby crawling around.

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  3. Though I have no need for such items anymore... not with a 20 year old daughter I was still enchanted by your natty little knickers. Wished /Id thought of it when my girl was small. I shall store idea away as one day I might get grandchildren. That might be a long time in the future as neither of my two seem to go in for long term relationships ha ha but I can do without being a granny yet a while.

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    1. Oh, I wish I'd sewn something like this for my own daughter, too.

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  4. oh how cute! Well done on conquering another new skill, you are pretty much a sewing expert by now.

    Definitely nappies over here, the word diaper sounds silly to me!

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  5. Excellent job! Looks like a pro did it.

    Gotta love BERNINA's feet! I've had mine for 12 years now and still sews like new. Did you starch the fabric before roll hemming? If not, try it next time. The stiffer the fabric, the easier it is to get a nice finish. Of course, starch won't be suitable for filmy, gauzy fabric but for some reason, I find chiffon a lot easier to roll hem than cotton anyway.

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  6. That is adorable Pam! Great work on the ruffles!

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  7. Looks fabulous Pam - such a great pattern isn't it! I agree about finding it tricky using a machine rolled hem foot - it is hard to keep the fabric running through the foot smoothly as it is such a small amount near the raw edge. That said, it is always a great thing to master a new feature on your machine!

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  8. Everything you make makes me think, "I wish I had a girl!"
    Thanks for linking up!

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  9. These are gorgeous Pam and great choice of fabrics, won't she look amazing in them? :)

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  10. These are wonderfully colorful and pretty!

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  11. How precious, Pam! Almost makes me wish I still had a girl in diapers...I said almost. I'm down to only 1 in diapers, and he's a boy, but maybe I'll try these as a gift.
    We call them diaper covers, but I learned the term nappy when I used to cloth diaper and would see others use the term in ordering/message boards. Thanks for sharing this adorable project at A New Creation party!

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  12. Congrats on meeting the challenge! There is just something about baby girls with ruffled bottoms that makes me smile! So darn cute!!! I'm wondering if my rolled hem foot would allow for a zigzag stitch as well.... Thanks for sharing, Pam!

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  13. Adorable Pam! Thanks for sharing this at my Pin Me Linky Party. I hope you come visit & link again.

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  14. Gidday Pam. I wished I could've seen this when my daughter was much younger. I always covered her nappy with little undies and nappy covers were relatively unheard of. These are so cute. I'm featuring this at tomorrow's linky party. Thanks for always linking up. You make such lovely things.

    Anne xx

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  15. I love your project, nice colors!!!!
    You did a beautiful job on this diaper cover!
    Marisa from
    http://passionetcouture.blogspot.ca/

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