Crawling Knee Pad Tutorial - Sewing

Materials Needed:
Fabric (i used a woven cotton),
nursing pads (or cotton knit , fleece, bamboo/cotton velour, or any fabric for padding), elastic

Aaliya started crawling 2 weeks ago(8 months old) and I was worried that the tiles on the floor would be a bit hard for her to crawl on. It is still really hot here so she isn't wearing pants all that often. I looked online for a tutorial to make some crawling knee pads but I couldn't find any.... so I attempted it myself.

Please remember that i'm still new at sewing so this may not be the 'right' way to do it... but it is the way that i did it.


First , I decided to use some old nursing pads to use as the padding part (you can easily substitute this for 2-3 layers of another fabric like knit, bamboo/cotton velour, anything that will give padding. Just cut them in desired circle size and sew the layers together)

I measured my nursing pads and then created a circle picture in photoshop elements..(i made the circle 4 by 4".) I cut that out then cut 4 layers of my printed fabric.

I measured around Aaliya's thigh area and knees and subtracted an inch for the elastic.

I cut my elastic at 6.5 inches and 5 inches.
I used Fold Over Elastic because it was pretty and soft but if I had to make these again I would use normal elastic since it wouldn't be as slippery on pants.

The fold over elastic doesn't stitck to the pants since it is so soft so the knee pads move around a little. This would definitely be remedied by using normal elastic which has a tighter hold.
Place two fabric circles right sides together and insert the elastic leaving a little on the edge as shown in the pictures.

Sew around using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and leave enough place for turning AND for stuffing the padding in. (Don't forget to remove pins while sewing). I stitch a few times(backstitching) over all elastic area to reinforce the elastic.


Trim the excess... (make sure not to cut through any stitching)

Turn over and stuff padding inside, you should be left with something that looks similar to this...(but obviously prettier since u probably have more sewing experience than me hehe)

Tuck in the edges of the area u left open and topstitch around the whole thing. (Make sure to use the same color thread for this part so that it looks neat)


I then did a heart applique on a blank shirt... It was my first time using the satin stitch and second time doing applique.. its fun! I made a matching fabric flower too.


And she's off!

(yep... I can see that...
NOTE: Do Not Use Fold Over Elastic... use REGULAR elastic.
Reason:the knee pads will roll up as in the pic above.. next time I will make sure to use normal elastic)

I know that kids don't have knee caps yet but it is a light layer of padding and I do think its a little more comfortable for them. Sort of like crawling on carpet.


I hope you found this useful :) If you know of any other way I'd love to hear it since I think these are pretty cute and unique. I would love to try it again.

Sewing and my first painting!

I tried some first time sewing projects this week. I did some applique work, added a ruffle butt and made some bibs. Sewing is so much of fun!!

I've been having such a hard time with Aaliya's bibs getting way too wet and going through her shirt since she is at the teething age. The solution: add waterproof pul to the back of the bib...
Now her bib is waterproof.
And here she is modeling her new outfit:

The bib pattern I used seems to make a bit of a wide bib... which I think will keep falling on top of her face (since she isn't sitting yet) so I plan to make another bib using a pattern that isn't so wide.

And.... I finished my first painting a few weeks ago!!
I didn't take art in school because I knew I couldn't draw. I didn't want to bring down my gpa because of that. (Since I had like a 3.8 gpa which is good!)
I do regret that now though because I really would have learned a lot and I would discovered my own love for painting! (maybe thats why I do so much painting with my son...)

So anyway... here is my first painting:

I've hung it in my dining room :)

For the ruffle butt onesie I used this tutorial.

Tackle It Tuesday - My Sewing Space

I had seen tackle it tuesday done on some blogs and I immediately knew I needed to participate this week. My sewing space was in major need of a clean up and revamp.


Here's my sewing machine(Singer Futura) and serger(babylock imagine) on a clean table (I didnt take a before pic of this table for a reason... it was embarassingly overfull)


Here is how I am storing my metal and polyresin snaps.


I organised my ribbons and put them in a drawer so I can easily get to them.


And here is the big job! I had to prewash all this fabric, iron and then fold it so that it looks neat and is accessible. It is AMAZING.... these fabrics took up 2 cabinets of this size... after it was ruler folded using this tutorial I fit it all into one cabinet.

As a beginner sewer I did not color code my fabrics(since I do not have nearly enough) so I organised them based on fabric type.

Upper shelf from left to right: Minky, ribbing, knits, woven
Bottom: fleece, bamboo velour, microfleece, suedecloth, pul(diaper making fabrics), and flannels.

I wonder if I should fold my baby blankets this way... :)