Monkey Butt (Baby) Pants

I’ve been wanting to make some monkey butt pants for Will for a while.  I’ve seen them on cloth diapering message boards, found and downloaded a pattern (in Japanese), have researched them more. 

Last week I couldn’t take it anymore – I’d been researching cute boy clothes – and got the pattern cut out and assembled.  I snagged a few t-shirts at the thrift store and Friday night I was off and running.  I hadn’t sewn much during the week, and I just needed something easy, an instant gratification project.  I’d say it took me as long to cut out the pattern and fabric and find my elastic as it did to sew the pants.  So cute!

These are size 80-90mm (12-24 months).  With this particular pattern you have to add seam allowances.  I used this old t-shirt and have plenty left for a coordinating top or another pair of pants.  I made sure to use the hem of the shirt so I didn’t have to hem the little leg openings.  The waistband is 1” elastic.  Oh, and I made the legs straight instead of slightly flared – they look like skinnies if you want that look!

This is the back side finished.

All sewn together (but the model was long in bed by that time).  

My Saturday morning photo shoot didn’t work so well – he wouldn’t stop to pose!   
**Note – these pictures are in disposable diapers since we were fighting some nasty diaper rash brought on by antibiotics (yay ear infections! – not).   

The back fit great but the front had lots of extra fabric, so I’d alter the pattern if we were a disposables-only household.  For reference, the model is just about to turn a year old, wears 12M clothes (but has short legs), and is 19lbs and change.

My husband thinks they are dumb and doesn’t believe they are all the rage (obviously he doesn’t frequent cloth diaper boards, blogs, or Etsy).  My mom thinks they are adorable. 

I need to bribe the model to wear them again so I can see how they fit now that we’re back to our cloth diapers. 

This is the link to the pattern, but there are no instructions.  There are construction tutorials if you search for monkey butt pants.  But basically you sew the insert into the back side, sew the sides together, then make a casing for an elastic waistband, and hem.  Very doable, and if you reuse old t-shirts or fleeces, very inexpensive. 

Next up (when I get the urge), I’m trying this German pattern (with instructions here – the last several pages are pictures of completed pants).  Children’s size conversion chart here – you’ll need it.  There are lots of possibilities with monkey butt pants – I want to try some fleece ones for winter and maybe try to make some in wovens (with a little extra room since they won’t stretch).