Tutorial: Make a quick infant bodysuit/Onesie extender

By the time Finnley was 2 months old, he had pretty much outgrown all of his 0-3 month size bodysuits ("Onesies"). He measured a whopping 25" long at his 2 month check up, which put him in the 95th percentile for boys his age. This is all thanks to the long waist he inherited from yours truly.

Having a long torso has always been challenging for me, especially when looking for long-enough shirts and one piece bathing suits. Now it's a challenge with Finn because the uniform of the first year and a half of his life will be the Onesie. So to help those cute little things last a little longer, I decided to make an extender. I was a little lazy in making this, though, so I ended up with a somewhat rough finished product. None the less, I'll show you how I did it.
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I started with a bodysuit of his brother's that was headed for the garbage due to some gross discoloration around the neck which for some reason has magically disappeared in this photo (Hakan was a major barfer). The crotch, however, was in lovely condition.

Using your straight edge and rotary cutter (or scissors if that's what you've got handy), cut off the bottom portion of the bodysuit just above the leg band.

Then snip the front and back pieces apart at the side seams.

Next, trim off the "wings" on either side of the 2 pieces, about an inch away from the snaps.

Not shown: You'll probably want to take off a couple of inches from the back piece now, otherwise your extender will be way too long. I think I cut enough off of mine so that the two pieces ended up being about the same length.

Sew the two pieces together using about a 1/4" seam allowance. *Make sure you place them together so that the snaps are facing up on both peices.

Next, stitch down the seam allowance towards the back piece (this has the stud/prong part of the snaps).

Last of all just finish off your edges. This is where I took a few shortcuts that led to the somewhat rough look of my finished product. If I wasn't so lazy I would have serged the edges, but I didn't feel like re-threading my serger with white thread instead of the pink that was on there. I also should have re-threaded my sewing machine with white instead of cream but, again, I'm L-A-Z-Y. Anyway, I just used a (kind of messy) zig-zag stitch.

If you try this project you'll find that your extender may not work on all bodysuits, as not all snaps are created equal. But so far I've found it to work with at least two...

This tie Onesie I made Finnley got all of one use before he was too big. Next I think I'll have to shorten the sleeves and he'll be able to wear it for quite a bit longer.
I really love this little mouse & acorn one. It's probably my favorite.

Doesn't he look happy with his new extender? :)