Baby Burp Cloths

 If you couldn't tell, I've got babies on the brain! So many babies being born around me right now and tomorrow I head to the airport to go on a 10 day trip to meet my newest niece. (At least she better make her appearance so I can be of some help while I am visiting!) I found the cutest little outfit for my new niece and I wanted to make some "boutique" style burp cloths that are my specialty. Now, I am not a sewing pro...but I will try and share my steps! It may seem like a lot, but once you make one they come easy and are so cute and practical.

 I use cloth diapers because I just think they make the best burp cloths, seriously you gotta try them. Only problem is they aren't the cutest. Nothing that a little fabric, ribbon, and trim won't fix! (FYI...I wash all my stuff except the ribbon and trim before I sew because things shrink after washing)

Burp Cloth #1: This one will be covered completely by fabric on one side. Start out by laying out on cutting mat. Cover with burp cloth.

 Using a rotary cuttery cutter or scissors cut out fabric around burp cloth with 1"of fabric overhand to fold over for seams. Make sure to leave about 1" edge around burp cloth of excess fabric or you won't be able to hide your seams and prevent fraying.

I then took fabric and burp cloth and folded fabric around the cloth and ironed it down to create the shape I would need.

This is how I do my corners. Kind of a triangular fold?

After you have ironed all around several times, remove burp cloth and you should have a good ironed out guide of your fabric.

Place burp cloth on top of fabric and make sure it is straight so you can pin it together. If you can't get it straight, go back and iron it down to the correct shape. If you get it even before you sew then your burp cloth with look better and more even.

 

Sew fabric to burp cloth, (I used about 1/4" seam allowance) by going around the entire cloth. Make sure when you begin and end you go in reverse a little to secure your stitching better.

Burp Cloth #2:This burp cloth I used a similar technique to the other one, excep this time I decided to just cover the ends of the burp cloth (both inside and out). I layed out my fabric, set my burp cloth on top and then folded the fabric over to see how much edging I wanted. Then I carefully removed the burp cloth and cut out my edging strips.

  I decided to clean up the seams and prevent fraying so I sewed down the edge using just a tiny seam allowance. Just enough to gather it under.

I took the fabric strip and folded it evenly around the bottom (or top) edge of the cloth diaper. I made it as even as I could using the sides as my guides. I then folded over the edges and tucked them under and ironed them down so they would be a clean edge when I sewed.

I pinned the fabric to the cloth diaper. I cannot get straight edges unless I pin, otherwise the fabric or cloth moves too much and just a little can totally mess up your seam!

 Sew your fabric to your cloth diaper. (I used roughly a 1/4" seam allowance and ran along all edges). Time to make it a little bit cuter with ribbon. I forgot to take a pic of this, but I measured a piece of ribbon that would go along the edges where the fabric meets the cloth diaper on both ends, inside and out. I used iron on adhesive strips and attached them to the back of the ribbon.  You can find this in the sewing isle by the notions. Just lay it down, iron it on, peel off the back and then its ready to be ironed on your project!

I ironed it around both ends of the burp cloth and I stitched over it for extra measure to make sure it was secure.

 It turned out so cute!

Burp Cloth #3: This one is the easiest yet, I found this ruffle trim at hobby lobby. I just pinned it around the edges of the burp cloth and sewed it on! Sooo easy and sooo adorable!

Aren't they just so cute?

I'll also be sharing this cute printable tag this week before I head out on my trip. I made some pink for girls, and some blue for boys.

I'm linking to the parties listed on the left of my blog!

EDITED TO ADD: Here is a link to the free downloadable tags in blue and pink.

P.S. I'm out on vacation so I may not have access to email for questions or comments so please don't think I am ignoring you...just spending some time with family!