Little Miss has demonstrated that she grasps the fundamentals of the whole potty thing. She can complete the motor tasks of climbing up onto the pot. And, when she’s in the right frame of mind, she can even go.

The only thing between us and success is a Pull-up.

You see, the problem with Pull-ups is that they lock away wetness — and as a sensational kiddo, Little Miss has a hard time feeling that sensation to begin with. So, I’m hoping that by switching over to cotton “big girl” underwear, we might see some long-awaited progress.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not throwing away those last two cases of Pull-ups we got on sale at Target. But starting tomorrow, Little Miss is going to be wearing these — as much as possible.

There were actually 6 pairs, but pair #6 had a mishap while we were trying them on.

Ok… they don’t LOOK like your ordinary training pants… and that’s because they’re not. See, thanks to Pinterest… I found this. It’s a tutorial to convert an ordinary pair of Gerber training pants into something semi-water-resistant.

Basically, you add some extra layers of flannel on the inside and a patch of this miraculous fabric called PUL to the outside. I’m not going to go into the details of the process because Heather, over at “It’s A Long Story” does such a fantastic job of telling you how to make them in her free DIY.

What I will help you with is finding the materials…

First, the Gerber training pants… I’ve searched high and low for these suckers and finally found that WalMart.com is the source to go to. You can get a 3-pack in sizes 2T or 3T for $7.00 (click here for basic white).

As far as sizing goes, Gerber describes their 3T as 32-35 lbs and 34-38 inches. Little Miss is 36.5 lbs and about 41 inches — but the 3Ts fit her with a little room to grow (if she ever eats!)

For the flannel lining, I found the best price at my local Wal*Mart store. Jo-Ann Fabrics wanted $9+ for a yard of solid colored flannel… Wal*Mart? $3.75… Um…. SOLD!

And for the record… if you go with the 4 layers of flannel (like Heather suggests), one yard of 44-inch flannel should be enough to make 10 pairs of undies.

Last but not least, the PUL fabric. The best price I found was at Diaper Sewing Supplies online. Shipping was timely and customer communication was perfect — I definitely recommend this seller.

At Diaper Sewing Supplies, you can get a 20×20 “diaper cut” for $3.95 in so many different patterns it’ll make your head spin. Or, go solid for $5.45 for a 20″ cut of full-width fabric. Either way, one piece will get you enough of the PUL fabric to do 8 pairs of underwear. And if you spend more than $10, don’t forget to select a free gift!

Last but not least, I want to add a little learning experience from using Heather’s tutorial. In the tutorial, Heather has you cutting the flannel and the PUL using the same template. I did this too but when I sewed the flannel to the inside and the PUL to the outside, I found I was getting about a half-inch gap in the length of the PUL fabric. (Because of the curve of the underwear, the flannel has less distance to travel — therefore, it will always come out just a bit longer.)

So, I recommend modifying your template just slightly for the PUL cuts — add about 3/8 inch to each end and you’ll be able to completely hide the seams from the flannel!

Now… I’m off to sew more undies (you don’t think I’m crazy enough to try this with only 6 pairs, do you?)

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