How to Fix BumGenius Elastic Tutorial *w/pictures*

[Cranberrycove]

After having tons of my BG OS pockets with bad elastic in the legs I decided to go ahead and try fixing them myself. I could not find a good tutorial that was easy to use, and I did not want to cut the fleece. I wanted it to look as "professional" as possible, but be easy. So, here is my attempt at sharing what I found. It took me less than 10 minutes to replace one elastic using this method. I hope others find it useful as well.

1) Get the BG Pocket diaper with the bad elastic and decide which elastic you are going to replace first. Here is mine, which you can see has really bad elastic on the left side. I'll work on that first.

2) Turn the pocket diaper inside out.

3) Next measure and cut the elastic you'll need. My super accurate way to do this is to measure using a Bic ballpoint pen. With the top on the pen measure from the end to the beginning of the black cap. (or about 4 1/4") But everyone has one of these pens around, and rulers are sometimes hard to come by especially when you need them.

4) Back to the pocket diaper. Look for where you see some of the elastic poking out of the seam.

5) Use a seam ripper to open up just about 1" of that seam to expose where the bad elastic is sewn down. (if you can't see any elastic, then open up the seam where you see the sewing line start veering toward the edge of the pocket diaper) Do this at both ends so you can see both ends of the sewn elastic. Black lines in the first picture indicate approximately where you will be opening up the seams. *I find it easier to see the thread from the outside and tend to start using the seam ripper from the outside once I know where to 'rip'.*

6) Now, once you have the seams opened up, cut one end of the elastic off but don't let it pull through to the other end. Pull the worn elastic through the opening a little to give you more to work with. Cut the worn elastic off on that end (disconnecting the end you just pulled to give you more slack to work with). With a needle and thread (what I used but I suppose you could also use the sewing machine) attach the new elastic to the old with one secure stitch.

7) Line up the new elastic (that is now stitched to the old elastic) where the old elastic was and sew a line to hold it in place (where the old elastic was previously sewn down). Is that too confusing??

8) Now here's the best part. When the end of the new elastic is sewn down pull the worn elastic (that is now stitched to the new elastic) through to the other end. This will pull the new elastic through the casing where the old elastic was. At this point you will have old elastic sewn at one end and new elastic at the other end, with the two elastic pieces stitched together in the middle.

You're almost done!

9) Now repeat the sewing on the other end with the new elastic. To do this:
When the elastic is pulled all the way through disconnect the old elastic from the diaper (but leave it stitched to the new elastic in one long new/old elastic piece). Sew the new elastic down where the old elastic was sewn. Then, cut the old elastic off only after the new elastic is sewn down at both ends. You should now have new elastic with small openings in the seams at each end.

But wait, you're not quite done yet.

10) Turn the diaper back right side out and sew the seams back up using 100% polyester thread (so it doesn't wick!).

11) Now trim the threads...

12) and admire your handiwork. Thinking about all the you saved! (here's mine with both sides done)

ETA: You should be able to replace the back elastic using the same method since they're both sewn at the ends as well. The back elastic on my newer one actually looks like the same length as the legs. I haven't actually worked on the back elastic yet (more concerned with poo flying out loose legs! LOL).

More tips!...

**Don't forget to dry your diapers after you fix the elastic to seal up any holes you made while sewing the PUL.

**Elastic may shrink a bit if it's not prewashed. I used it straight out of the package (actually didn't know about prewashing!) and haven't had any issues with it.

[Merlady1]

That's amazing! Thanks for the info Mama!

[Brody'sMommy]

You are awesome! I have been wondering how to do that! Can I assume you do the same with the back? Any ideas on how long that elastic should be?

[candid]

I just noticed today that some of my elastic was going and here you are with this!!

Originally Posted by Cranberrycove After having tons of my BG OS pockets with bad elastic in the legs I decided to go ahead and try fixing them myself. I could not find a good tutorial that was easy to use, and I did not want to cut the fleece. I wanted it to look as "professional" as possible, but be easy. So, here is my attempt at sharing what I found. It took me less than 10 minutes to replace one elastic using this method. I hope others find it useful as well. 1) Get the BG Pocket diaper with the bad elastic and decide which elastic you are going to replace first. Here is mine, which you can see has really bad elastic on the left side. I'll work on that first. 2) Turn the pocket diaper inside out. 3) Next measure and cut the elastic you'll need. My super accurate way to do this is to measure using a Bic ballpoint pen. With the top on the pen measure from the end to the beginning of the black cap. (or about 4 1/4") But everyone has one of these pens around, and rulers are sometimes hard to come by especially when you need them. 4) Back to the pocket diaper. Look for where you see some of the elastic poking out of the seam. 5) Use a seam ripper to open up just about 1" of that seam to expose where the bad elastic is sewn down. (if you can't see any elastic, then open up the seam where you see the sewing line start veering toward the edge of the pocket diaper) Do this at both ends so you can see both ends of the sewn elastic. Black lines in the first picture indicate approximately where you will be opening up the seams. *I find it easier to see the thread from the outside and tend to start using the seam ripper from the outside once I know where to 'rip'.* 6) Now, once you have the seams opened up, cut one end of the elastic off but don't let it pull through to the other end. Pull the worn elastic through the opening a little to give you more to work with. Cut the worn elastic off on that end (disconnecting the end you just pulled to give you more slack to work with). With a needle and thread (what I used but I suppose you could also use the sewing machine) attach the new elastic to the old with one secure stitch. 7) Line up the new elastic (that is now stitched to the old elastic) where the old elastic was and sew a line to hold it in place (where the old elastic was previously sewn down). Is that too confusing?? 8) Now here's the best part. When the end of the new elastic is sewn down pull the worn elastic (that is now stitched to the new elastic) through to the other end. This will pull the new elastic through the casing where the old elastic was. At this point you will have old elastic sewn at one end and new elastic at the other end, with the two elastic pieces stitched together in the middle. You're almost done! 9) Now repeat the sewing on the other end with the new elastic. To do this: When the elastic is pulled all the way through disconnect the old elastic from the diaper (but leave it stitched to the new elastic in one long new/old elastic piece). Sew the new elastic down where the old elastic was sewn. Then, cut the old elastic off only after the new elastic is sewn down at both ends. You should now have new elastic with small openings in the seams at each end. But wait, you're not quite done yet. 10) Turn the diaper back right side out and sew the seams back up using 100% polyester thread (so it doesn't wick!). 11) Now trim the threads... 12) and admire your handiwork. Thinking about all the you saved! (here's mine with both sides done)

[Cranberrycove]

Originally Posted by Brody'sMommy Can I assume you do the same with the back? Any ideas on how long that elastic should be?

I just looked at mine and it looks like you should be able to replace the back elastic using the same method since they're both sewn at the ends as well. I haven't actually worked on the back elastic yet (more concerned with poo flying out loose legs! LOL).

Looking at the back elastic on my newer one it actually looks like the back elastic is the same length as the legs.

HTH

[Melmonkey]

This needs to be stickied!!!!
What an awesome tutorial mama!

[mnmama]

Great job!!

[earthbabydiapers]

omg...that is way easier than the way I did it. I'm have 2 more to do, so I'm definitely going to try this. Thanks!

[LCM's Mom]

Amazing tute! Sticky quick!

[Ian and Anya's mommy]

Awesome! I just noticed I have one that the legs went out on yesterday!

If I missed it, sorry, but how wide of elastic did you use?