I'm Not Nesting, I'm Crafting!

I am NOT a crafty person! However, I've get into moods where I think I am :) The past couple of days I've felt that urge. So I decided to make something for Baby Sister and a few pregnant friends. I was scouring the internet looking for something cute and EASY! I decided to make with the help of my Mom (she has the sewing machine!).....burp cloths! So here is my tutorial of a noncrafty person making burp cloths :)

Step One...Buy cloth diapers. I bought Gerber 3 ply with extra absorbency. They were buy one, get one 50 off at BRU. Then I went to JoAnns and bought fabric squares which were 50% off for Labor Day (.99 each) and for softer cloths Snuggle Fleece for $3.99 a yard also on sale.

Step Two...Iron everything! We decided to *practice* on each type of fabric. I ironed the fabric squares and burp cloth.Then I laid the yard of fleece out and found you could fit 4 burp clothes. I cut them out and ironed.

Step Three...Pinning. You are going to do an EASY straight stitch around all four sides leaving an opening. That way you can flip it out. Therefore, pinning is done like you are sewing it inside out. Notice the fabric print facing upwards.

Step Four...Sew the four sides leaving an opening in order to turn it inside out. After a few cloths we realized that the best spot to leave the opening is to leave 3-4 inches on the nonextra padded side. Trim the excess fabric off except where the opening is in order to find it later. And just to show you how hi tech we are, here's my Mom's 1951 Singer sewing machine ;)

Step Five...Flip so the burp cloth is the correct way and use a chopstick to push out the corners. It kinda looks like a pillow case ;)

Step Six...Iron again! It helps to flatten the cloth so when you sew again, there is no puckering. Sorry I didn't take a picture :)

Step Seven...Sew the middle seams. Now that the burp cloth is the correct way, turn the white burp cloth side up and follow their seam where the extra absorbency is located. I tried to show the seams on the white side for the first picture and the finished project.


Step Eight...Close the opening by sewing. You can do this one of two ways. You can hand stitch it closed or if you want a more finished look you can topstitch the four sides including the opening. Just careful to try to keep it straight. Or if you have a fancier machine then ours you can do a cute zigzag stitch which will cover the non straightness. (Remember we aren't crafty :) We did one of each way. I prefer the end stitching since it makes it look a little more finished and flatter. You can see the edging here.

Step Nine...Be proud ;) My cute Mom holding our first burp cloth!

It took us 2 hours to make 3 finished burp cloths and I ironed/pinned 7 more. I'm sure it'll be less time consuming as we continue since we were analyzing, critiquing, picture taking, and laughing as we figured it all out.

Here is the picture of the fleece burp cloth. Sooo cute!

I don't think we are going to open an Etsy.com store, but for Baby Sister and friends they are cute and inexpensive for fashionable burp cloths. And when she pukes all over them, I can say I made this with LOVE as I clean it up ;)