There comes a time in the life of the vast majority of parents that is both anticipated and dreaded. Potty Training. The allure of no more diapers, the independence of your child being able to go to the bathroom on their own, combined with the dread of the difficulty of teaching them this important skill and the mess that comes with it.
This is where we are at with my eldest. We started later than I wanted to. We had the potty for over a year, she even occasionally used it, we tried in fits and spurts to potty train her, but she wasn’t ready yet. Recently that we realized she was finally ready so we decided to give it a go again. I have to say, she has done a lot better than I anticipated, with one significant exception. She refuses to poop in the potty. Peeing she has down pat, but pooping is “too hard”.
My eldest, Rose, loves her Belle pull ups, she would wear every Belle in the box before she would let me put a Cinderella on her, and even that was a tantrum worthy offence at times. In an effort to get her switched over to underwear I decided to get her some Belle panties to make the transition easier. Of course I couldn’t find any. This is where the Vicki Hipsters pattern by Made for Mermaids comes in. I figured if I couldn’t find Belle underwear I would just make it myself!
I already had the pattern as I had used it and the woman’s version as a part of our family Halloween costumes back in the fall. I decided to start with a test pair anyway (which is referred to as a muslin in sewing circles) using some scraps leftover from another project as I had never used this type of lingerie elastic before. The two pairs that I had made previously I had made with bands rather than elastics.
No matter if you choose elastic or bands it is a very simple and easy pattern. It makes a great scrap buster. It is self lined. The girls size comes in size 1/2-14. It also comes with days of the week cut files so you can have a different pair of underwear for every day of the week. It has full booty coverage and a low rise at the front.
The Women’s Vicki Hipsters (also referred to as Mama Vicki) comes with 3 rise option- low, mid and high with semi full booty coverage. You can also use elastics or bands with the women’s version.
I love how simple it was to put together. You can put the whole thing together using a sewing machine or you can use a combination of sewing machine, serger, and coverstitch. Now my sewing machine likes to eat knit fabrics, and there is no good way of avoiding the sewing machine on this project. What I did to keep myself from throwing the machine out the window in frustration (totally the machine’s fault, not the pattern) was I took Wash Away Wonder Tape (a double sided tape that helps stabilize the fabric and keep it in place, but washes out when you wash your project) and used it on all of my seams that I was putting through my sewing machine and suddenly my machine wasn’t trying to eat my fabric anymore!
I was able to finish a quick test pair for my daughter and I have another pair cut out and waiting for me on my sewing table. (I got distracted by a few other fun projects). In the end my aunt found Belle underwear on amazon so I haven’t ordered any Belle fabric yet, but I probably will anyway because I love making stuff for my daughter.
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Sarah’s Sewing Space 