How to Sew Homemade Burp Cloths with Terry Cloth

We recently had a friend and her husband celebrate the birth of a new baby girl. These are some very dear friends to our family. Since they live states away from all of us, we decided to do something extra special to help celebrate.

We did our best to send them a baby shower in a box. Kari, Kristi, Mom and I bought a variety of gifts that fell into the categories of sleeping, playing, eating, and bathing. We sent clothes, books, crib sheets, a bath towel, eating utensils, and several other gifts as well as diapers with sticker messages on them. Kari made sure each category of gift was in a labeled gift bag before everything was boxed up and mailed away. I was in charge of purchasing some gifts in the eating category. Along with a few of my favorite baby snacks and utensils, I decided to sew some homemade burp cloths.

I have talked about before that I attempt to give gifts that are consumable and used over time (because gifts can easily clutter). I have come to realize that not everyone appreciates hand made items, but when it comes to baby gifts, I can’t help myself. 🙂

Supplies:
Fabric
Sewing machine
Thread
Terry Cloth

1. Cut your fabric just a bit larger than a cloth diaper. Cut it big enough to allow for about a quarter of an inch seam allowance around the outside.

I used another burp cloth or cloth diaper as my template for these burp cloths. I wanted them this size since most new moms are given the cloth diapers to use for burp cloths. Folding laundry is easier when everything is the same size. 🙂

2. Lay out your terry cloth on the table and cut it the same size as your fabric.

A side note about this terry cloth: I tried out this terry cloth specifically because of the reviews. I was a little taken aback by the price of $16.98 a yard, but I was pleasantly surprised. It really is very plush and thick terry cloth. I will continue buying it specifically for gift giving, and I think it is the most absorbent terry cloth I have ever used.

That being said, I have bought the $5 to $6 per yard terry cloth many times from Jo Ann’s, and I think it works great for this project as well. I had used it many times before I ran across the micro-fiber terry cloth.

3. While your fabric and terry cloth are laying right sides together, pin around the perimeter of your burp cloth. When I pin, I use two pins to mark what will be a three or four inch opening to use when flipping it right side out.

4. While your fabric and terry cloth are still wrong sides out, sew around the perimeter of your burp cloth. I tend to sew a scant quarter of an inch around the perimeter. If you sew with a large seam allowance, I’d recommend trimming down the excess. Otherwise, you may end up with some bunchiness on the inside of your burp cloth.

Be sure you stop and leave a three or four inch gap. I back stitch a few times on either side of the gap so I don’t have to worry about my thread unraveling a bit. When you are pulling your burp cloth through the hole to turn it right side out, you’ll pull a bit on those stitches. It’s nice to have them secure.

5. Turn your burp cloth right side out. The fabric at your gap should naturally turn inward. Sew a border around the outside of your burp cloth. This will close up the gap!

You can see on the chevron burp cloth that I stitched a line following the pattern of the fabric. I did this BEFORE I sewed a border around the burp cloth. Since I sewed along the chevron print first, I was able to secure all those lines with the border I sewed around the outside.

In case you were curious, here are the fabrics I used:
1. Navy Chevron by Riley Blake
2. Amy Butler’s Lark Glamour Kasbah Persimmon Red Ikat (A bit hard to find anymore.)
3. Moda Simply Colorful Frames in Turquoise (I found it still available in a lovely mustard color.)