Friday, March 7, 2014

Crawling Baby Pants



What do you do when you have a crawling baby and nothing but hardwood floors in your house?  Make some crawling baby pants--- with padded knees!


Baby Jane has been crawling around for a while now.  But when she first started crawling, her little knees would get so red and raw.  In fact, after her first big day of crawling I noticed that she took it easy the next couple of days because her knees hurt.  We have a couple of big area rugs in our house, but otherwise it's all hardwood.  Pretty tough on little baby knees.  My mom and my aunt both bought her an adorable pair of knee pads.  I don't have a picture of them, but the actual knee pad looks like a piece of foam (or maybe neoprene?) and they are attached to a knit tube.  They have some grippy stuff printed on them, too.  Anyway, the knee pads were so perfect for this newly crawling baby that I decided to sew her some pants with knee pads sewn on.


I made five pairs but I tweaked them a bit with every pair.  The first couple pairs I made aren't great.  I changed around how I sewed the knee pads.  So bear with me while I post a picture of each and talk about the pads.  I want to remember what worked best in case I decide to make some of these again.  Which I might.


  I used this baby legging pattern by Melissa Esplin.  I shortened the legs and rise a little bit. The legs were really long, even on my long baby.  And I shortened the rise because I added a waistband.   The picture above shows the first pair I made.  The pads are made of two layers of fleece with one layer of quilting cotton on top.  I basted the layers together and then serged the edges.  And yikes, these knee pads are homemade looking.  It's really hard to serge a round patch, too.  Hence the pointy bit on one of the patches.

Pair number two is two layers of fleece with one layer of flannel on top.  Rather than serge the edges together I decided to bind the edges with some rib knit.  My stitch-in-the-ditch could use some work, I know.  I didn't like this pair at first but they have become the most worn pair of the bunch.  The patches are extra soft and squishy.   I should also mention that there is elastic in the waistband.  I tried a couple pairs of these leggings with just a knit waistband (like a yoga waistband) but found that they really needed the elastic to stay up.  Jane managed to crawl out of a pair that didn't have elastic in the waist.  The cuffs are just a knit band.


Pair number three I used one layer of fleece underneath some crazy fluffy minky.  Instead of serging or binding the edges of the patch, I zig zag stitched over the edges.  I sewed this pair in a hurry.  I was sewing while listening to baby Jane on the monitor stirring from a nap.   Nothing makes me panic more.   Just one more seam, baby please.... :)  There are some puckers around the patch that I'm not happy with.  As a result, this pair hasn't been worn yet.  But I think the fuzzy patches are pretty cute.


 The last two pairs I feel like I got it right.  The patches are only two layers.  The black patches are just two layers of black fleece.  The striped patches are self fabric with one layer of fleece underneath.  The patches are sewn on with a zig zag stitch set with a smaller stitch length.  I also rotated the position of the patches towards the outside of the knee.  I noticed on the other pairs that the patches ended up sitting slightly inside of the knee after some crawling around.  Not sure why.  Using a stretch fabric for all layers of the patch made a difference, too.  Both pairs are made from the same fabric, some sort of reversible knit.  Dots on one side, stripes on the other.


Can I just tell you how hard it was to get pictures of baby Jane for this blog post now that she's mobile?  It was nearly impossible.  I had to get her attention with kitchen items.  She doesn't sit still for her toys anymore.  It takes something new to pique her interest.  In this case it was the salad spinner.  And even then she only stayed in one spot for a moment.  Gone are the days where I lay my sweet little baby down on a blanket and snap two hundred photos.  She's on the move.


To prove it, check out this stop motion video of crawling baby pants in action.  It's pretty darn cute.   A good way to remember this crawling phase down the road.  Baby Jane is ten months old now and she's just the sweetest thing I've ever laid eyes on.  Can you guess why her first word is kitty?




30 comments:

  1. These are just too adorable - Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, they are such a practical item of baby wear for little mobile ones! She's a bit gorgeous too!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the video--how cut is that! Fantastic idea for little padded knees on the pants. I really like the striped and dotted pants in blue.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww your little girl is so cute! And how lucky is she to have a mama who makes padded leggings especially to save her knees! Just such a great idea. (Btw wish I could get hold of some of that last knit for adult clothes - it's lovely!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I got that double sided knit at Joann's and the quality is pretty good. I want some for myself, too! I may have to go back and see if they still have some.

      Delete
  4. That's ever so cute! I can't believe your baby has grown so much.
    Among the first words from my daughter was also "kitty", only it was "hello" first... "hello kitty". She still loves that cartoon cat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh, I was a huge hello kitty fan when I was kid. I bet Jane will be, too!

      Delete
  5. she is adorable! and those baby pants are adorable too! and i can see them as leggings for grown ups! i would wear those navy striped and dotted ones! well, to be honest, i would totally wear those with pink fluffy knees too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is it weird that I want to make something for myself out of that fluffy minky?

      Delete
  6. Baby Jane could not get any cuter! Those leggings are pretty awesome too--I need a pair in my size. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. SOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUUUTE! I would never have thought of the need for these, but of course it makes perfect sense! Theya re adorable, and so is she!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So very cute as well as practical. Thanks for showing the progression on the pants. I have a new granddaughter who will need some of these eventually and you have saved me much time and error! Baby Jane is a sweetie.

    ReplyDelete
  9. She is simply adorable!!!!! What a great solution and I love the variety. Thanks for keeping us updated on Baby Jane's progress!

    ReplyDelete
  10. She is ADORABLE! What a sweetie! And these are so cute and practical! My nephew never crawled, he just scooted on his butt, propelling himself with one arm and the opposite leg, and all his pants wore out on the butt! I should have made him some pants with butt padding!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my goodness. She is the cutest little baby in the world!! Especially in those pants, which you are so sweet to make for her! I love the ones with the heart patches too :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. oh you're killing me! i miss those baby days. the leggings are too adorable, such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love it! Baby Jane is just so cute! I love these little leggings. Such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  14. These are adorable! You are a fabulous mama! I love the patches with binding best of all.

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a clever idea! I should have done that for Imogen. I'll keep this in mind for next time.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Those are such a good idea, and so cute. We have hardwood floors too and crawling doesn't look comfortable on them. One of my kids never did like to crawl, just scooted around on their behind to get places.

    ReplyDelete
  17. How is Baby Jane even cuter than before?? What a smart idea to pad out her leggings.

    ReplyDelete
  18. She's gotten so big! Love the pants idea. I think my favorite might be the fluffy pink knees. It looks like they would do double-duty as mops/dusters . . .

    ReplyDelete
  19. Those leggings are so so cute! And your model is adorable, even if she doesn't stay still! Love the video at the end - such a lovely reminder of this time for your family :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. So much cuteness!! Her leggings are adorable and so smart. Love all the different fabric combos!

    ReplyDelete
  21. That's so adorable! :D Padded leggings sound like the best idea ever, I'll have to remember that.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. She is the most adorable thing! Padded leggings are a great idea, practically speaking, but they're also super cute.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have in family two little soon-to-be cawlers so I think I will use your idea since it looks like it's working.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Goodness she's gorgeous! And how genius to pad the knees! Duh. Clever, mama, you.

    ReplyDelete