Repairing elastic on an Itti Bitti AIO Nappy

Well can't let them go to waste now can I? These nappies are still in fantastic condition and aren't cheap to buy new :) This is how I repaired the elastic on the above medium Itti bitti AIO (sewn in). I thought I'd take pics etc as I was too worried about attacking it blindly and really wanted some helpful tutorials and there's just nothing about ;) This is all how I will approach itti's in future- I'll spare you the details of how else I tried to do it first by unpicking at the sides (not worth the effort and I had to tidy that up before I sewed in the elastic! )

This itti bitti has had a couple of 10min bursts in the dryer to finish drying in wet weather- as its a sewn in it takes too long sometimes lol. And somehow it often gets caught on the drum, no other nappy, just this one! I guess thats why the elastic failed as none of the others have elastic issues.

Ok so lets begin...

The place to start is the front, unpick the front seam above the snaps, this must be where they turn it right way out and stitch it closed as its the only part that isn't overlocked, right in the centre.


Unpick about 8cm dead in the middle, staying away from the overlocking just unpick until you reach it, its the easiest part of the nappy to unpick and sew back together.

Turn the nappy inside out. You can now see how the elastic is stitched onto the overlocking each side (I have already removed the dead elastic in this pic)

Carefully remove dead elastic, marking where the points to start and finish, or be lazy and just leave a little bit behind ;)

This is a pic of how the elastic should look when in good condition, this is the back waist elastic and shows close up how it sits and is stitched in, we're going to leave this alone however as its good.


Using some 3mm swimwear elastic, give it a good stretch or two before cutting to desired size of around 10cm (you could use thicker 5mm I just used what itti themselves suggested). Make sure you give the elastic a few good stretches BEFORE you cut and measure so it doesn't grow on you!

Note- I was wary of sewing with the PUL being sticky etc, so used greaseproof baking paper underneath the PUL as I sewed the elastic on. You certainly don't need to do this but if you're having trouble, try it, then rip it off later when you are finished.

At the first starting point, anchor the elastic by sewing back and forth across the width of the elastic, being careful to stay in the overlocked seam allowance. Stretching the elastic fairly firmly as you go, use a small zigzag and zigzag the elastic into place, making sure that you have enough stretch to last the distance. I prefer to go slow and even stop and adjust if I'm going off the track. Anchor at the finish point also.


Sew the elastic the same way to the other side, keeping in the seam allowance at all times. Trim all the excess threads from both sides.

Nearly done!

Next turn your nappy back the right way, and go back to the front and stitch neatly to close following along the stitch line.

Thats it! snap it back together on your baby/toddler and away you go.

I'm not the worlds best tutorial writer (especially as this is my first LOL) but would love to put together a series of the nappies I repair, to make it easier for those that want to repair them also. There are so many questions pop up about them in the Nappy forums around the place, and I just want to make it easier and less scary to attempt. I had a lot of fun and it was very rewarding. I will definitely repair more of them :)

Heres an action pic of the rascal girl wearing it later, its so nice to have nappies back in the stash instead of the mending tub!