When Rae posted this tutorial it made me think about what I wanted to make for Katie. Once she chose the nursery theme, how I’d make burp cloths became obvious. They had to be shaped like dog bones. Simple enough. And a good project to help me put off working on the quilt and the bumper. Because I have to do a good bit of hemming and hawing before I dive into those. Yes, this is a great, simple place to start.
I began by drawing a quick pattern and testing it. Yep, easy enough. And K got to draw all over the muslin. She’s quite proud of her contribution. This was just scrap fabric, but I chose flannel for the real thing. I loved flannel burp cloths with my kids. Soft, warm, absorbent and great for an the autumn and winter months.
I digitized it to share. I know it’s not a complicated shape, but I know that there are plenty of people out there who’d rather sleep on burlap sheets than try to draw something freehand, so here’s my template. If you double-click it you should be able to enlarge it to print. If you can’t get the 1″ square to print at exactly 1″, no worries. I printed it a bit smaller and that works, too.
I decided to make a set of three, with a stripe on one side and a solid on the other. So I cut three pieces of each fabric on the fold. I started with one yard of the striped flannel fabric, and after making three of these I think I could still make two more.
So that’s 6 pieces total.
Pin each set, right sides together.
Stitch almost all the way around with a 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving yourself enough room to get a few fingers in there to help smooth the curves from the inside after you turn it right-side out. Snip the corners and curves a bit so that it’ll flip nicely.
Flip it, noodle with the curves and press it, and that’ll give you this:
It’s looking done (and that was fast, right?) but you’ve still got this to deal with.
I used contrasting thread on the solid side. Stitch all the way around your cloths with a 1/4″ allowance, backstitching a few stitches where the beginning meets the end.
And that’s it! Press it if you’re going to give it as a gift. Be prepared to press it again if your 2yo gets her hands on it and wants to march around with her baby dolls. And maybe wash it again, come to think of it.
So fast and fun to make, you might as well make 3, while you’re at it.
As always, if you make some, we’d love to see them. Add ’em here or add a link below.
Unrelatedly:
– Did you know that Crafterhours accepts sponsors now? We do, we do! You can check them out on our sidebar. If you’d like to become one yourself there’s a link at the top of the sidebar that makes it easy peasy. We just approve your ad to make sure it’s appropriate for our blog. Our idea of “appropriate” includes chocolate, BTW.
– Have you checked out Birdiful Stitches? I was just thinking the other day that I need to make something to put my extra camera lenses in when I’m not using them. She has a pattern for that. Easy peasy. On my list.
Awww! I don’t need these, but they are so cute I want to make some anyway! :)
I love this! Plus it a great way to make it either boy or girl just by choosing the fabric! (My pups love it too!)
These are so cute! I’m still a little grumpy that my daughter insisted on a new store bought pencil holder to start first grade (It was like $10!!) but she agreed that we could make her place mat(s). She’s supposed to take a place mat to eat lunch on every day. It’s our first real sewing project with the machine. I made my first pair of shorts when I was her age, but she’s not quite there.
Hee hee! Adorable!!
this is so cool! i would never have thought of this.
I just came across your blog. It’s really awesome.
:)
Carrie
http://readmylifeascarrie.blogspot.com/
Really cute! I have a question: what program do you use for making the pattern ‘graffic’ and not drawed by hand? Thank you for sharring!
roosje
Cute project. I kept on looking for the measurements & supplies needed. Did you use flannel on both sides ?.
Yes, flannel on both sides. I made three with one yard of flannel stripe for one side and had room for two more. So two yards of flannel would make at least 5 complete burp cloths. I’d say that’s a low-end estimate. (Racking my brain, feels like forever ago!) Susan