Tutorial: Footie's That Fit

I love footie pajamas- they have the promise of warm cozy fuzzies… They are cute, soft and are an outfit all in one! What’s not to love?

The only problem I have is I can’t find the perfect size. If they fit well in the leg, my baby can romp around the house fine- but when she wants uppies, they ride up, making it uncomfortable for her and sometimes triggering the step reflex which causes her to pop her seat.

Luckily, there is a solution! All you need is big footies, scissors, elastic, a sewing machine and 15 minutes. (You could hand sew as well, but I think a machine would be the best option!)

In a nut shell, we are going to cut the big foot down on the footies, and then add elastic to pull up any extra fabric, making it easier for Baby to be mobile!

For reference, I used a 24 month size for my 13 month old, who is 30 inches, 21lbs and leggy.

First: Cut the foot of the footies down to size. Use a pair of fitting jammies as a template, mark on the footies the correct size. Zig zag stitch once or twice right over your mark, then cut right along the stitches, leaving no seam allowance.

Second: Add the elastic in the legs to cinch up any loose fabric when Baby is not being worn.

Cut two pieces of elastic, about 6 inches each. In the leg that has no zipper, try to get it down as far as you can and anchor that end of the elastic with a pin, about 2 inches from the side seam. (if you really like to sew, you could use a seam ripper and open this leg, then sew it shut again once the elastic is in place). On the leg with the zipper, match how far down the elastic goes, and pin.

Sew the elastic along each leg, pulling it tight as you go, using a straight stitch.

NOTE:  Having done multiple of these now, I will say the more leg you have to cinch up, the farther down and more elastic you would  use. For example, for the biggest pair of footies my daughter had, I went about 3 inches from the heel and used 7 inches of elastic. In the picture below, I went about 8 inches from the heel and used 5 inches of elastic.

And that's it! Perfectly fitting footie jammies for babywearing!

This fantastic tutorial was written by Volunteer Toria Marquard-Schultz.  Thank you Toria for sharing your crafty ways! Now off to do some sewing...