Fancy Pants

Nellie Bird never crawled, didn't sit up herself until 11 months, wasn't pulling up until 13 months and didn't walk until 15 months. At 17 months she had about a dozen words (mostly names like mama, dada, papa), but would rather sign than talk. At 18 months, though, she decided to let the Helena Show begin. She spat out a whole sentence and decided that words like "squirrel" and "strawberry" were more appropriate than "cat" or "moo". She also said she wanted to be potty trained. Not with words, 'cause that ain't how she rolls, but by signing. Her mom asked her if she wanted to use the potty and she nodded yes. Since a few days after that, she has been in panties. She was THRILLED! Wept when she had an accident in them. (I know the feeling, but mine is more from embarrassment.) 

The problem has been finding panties to fit her tiny hiney. An even bigger problem...they don't make cute nylon panties with ruffles on the back anymore! If you're older than about 40 you probably know what I mean. Those slick ones with all the ruffles on the be-hind. Easter Sunday panties. Everything now is all cotton, Hello-kittyish. I was able to track some down at a Catholic Christening apparel site and at Ella Bella, but they were really expensive, maybe $20/pair. I did the only thing I know how to do...find a pattern. I found a great one on Etsy that was small enough, from Europe. Getting fabric was an issue I didn't expect. I guess there is not a lot of demand for pink nylon, huh? I did see some online, but it was $6.50/yd and had to be a whole yard. I didn't need that much to start with so I went to the Salvation Army store and found myself a big ol' pink nighty. Perfect. It's much more than a yard and was only $1.50. I already had some lace, so I went to town.

After cutting out the itty bitty pattern, I sewed in the cotton lining (Girlfriend needs some breathable fabric "down there", don't ya know). You can buy underwear elastic (who knew?) and you just stitch that on the legs, sew the front and back together (add the lace before you do this), and put the elastic around the waist and you are done!

And here you have it, the first pair of Helena's Secret panties.

So far, we are two weeks in and Project "Potty Train Mommy" has gone well for Helena. She has new panties to show off and signs "let's go potty" with a flourish that has a contemporary dance-like vibe. We've have a day or two of set backs, but usually go all day without having to change panties. (And can we be honest and say that's a goal for all of us in the over 50 crowd). At the rate she's going, we may let her potty train Bonus and I may have found my calling as a panty designer.