I love these. I wish I'd had them for my first two babies. I just used folded-over flannelette nappies with them and they just didn't cut it with my spewy babies! I'm in the process of making a pile for our new bubba.
The main idea came from my husband's cousin's wife (got all that?), one of several wonderfully crafty girls in his family, who posted some pictures of some she'd made on facebook. She used two hand towels sewn together with a section of pretty fabric at the top. I wanted something less bulky but still absorbent so I adapted them a little.
You will need (for a set of 2):
* 2 hand towels. I picked mine up from Kmart for $1 each. You can also use terry towelling or chenille cut to size, but I like the range of colours hand towels come in and I'm up for anything that makes life easier - no measuring and cutting to size!
*Fabric. I bought 60cm of 112cm wide fabric, which was exactly enough for 2 burp cloths and the decorative strips.
1. Lay your hand towels side by side on the fabric, put a few pins in them to hold them in place then cut around them.
2. Cut the strip of leftover fabric into four equal strips lengthways.
3. Take one strip, turn the long edges under about 1/4 inch and press. Do the same with the other three strips.
4. Take a hand towel and position two of the strips where you want them. Pin into place, and then do the same with the other hand towel.
5. Top stitch down each side of each strip, and do the same to the other towel.
6. Now lay your hand towel back on your fabric, right sides together and pin around the edges
7. Stitch all the way around the edge, leaving an opening at one end so you can turn your burp cloth right side out later. In the picture above, I've marked where my opening is going to be with pins (at the bottom end) so I wouldn't forget to leave it open!
The seams will lay flatter and be easier to top stitch later if you stitch alongside the binding, like this...
Instead of ON the binding like this...
7. Trim away the excess fabric and clip the corners (want to know what clipping corners means and why to do it? See Make it and Love It and click here)
,8. Turn your burp cloth right side out and top stitch all the way around the edges.
* 2 hand towels. I picked mine up from Kmart for $1 each. You can also use terry towelling or chenille cut to size, but I like the range of colours hand towels come in and I'm up for anything that makes life easier - no measuring and cutting to size!
*Fabric. I bought 60cm of 112cm wide fabric, which was exactly enough for 2 burp cloths and the decorative strips.
1. Lay your hand towels side by side on the fabric, put a few pins in them to hold them in place then cut around them.
2. Cut the strip of leftover fabric into four equal strips lengthways.
3. Take one strip, turn the long edges under about 1/4 inch and press. Do the same with the other three strips.
4. Take a hand towel and position two of the strips where you want them. Pin into place, and then do the same with the other hand towel.
5. Top stitch down each side of each strip, and do the same to the other towel.
6. Now lay your hand towel back on your fabric, right sides together and pin around the edges
7. Stitch all the way around the edge, leaving an opening at one end so you can turn your burp cloth right side out later. In the picture above, I've marked where my opening is going to be with pins (at the bottom end) so I wouldn't forget to leave it open!
The seams will lay flatter and be easier to top stitch later if you stitch alongside the binding, like this...
Instead of ON the binding like this...
7. Trim away the excess fabric and clip the corners (want to know what clipping corners means and why to do it? See Make it and Love It and click here)
,8. Turn your burp cloth right side out and top stitch all the way around the edges.
And voila, a very handy set of burp cloths that can be used as change mats, to put under baby on the floor or whatever else you need them for.
You can also use a waterproof material like PUL, polyurethane or even a recycled shower curtain instead of the fabric, or sandwich it between the fabric and the towel. Just cut the waterproof fabric to size, then at Step 6 lay it down first, then lay the fabric and towel with their right sides together on top and continue. You could also try appliqueing cute shapes or letters to the towel instead of the plain strips.
0 comments:
Post a Comment