Baby Burp Cloth Tutorial

I've obviously got too much time on my hands, right? When was the last time you've seen a tutorial on this blog! I was cutting more fat quarters this afternoon when I remembered a project I've been wanting to start for Ruby. I went through these on an hourly basis with Sebastian during our nursing days so I've decided to make plenty before she gets here.

For this undertaking I used a long, skinny piece left over from a vintage sheet cutting and paired it with a super absorbent, vintage table cloth. It's got a thick weave and is 100% cotton so it'll catch all of the messes and will wash easily. Since they are both vintage and have been used plenty of times before they are super soft and won't shrink up much. The two pieces measure about 9" x 21" and will easily fit over your chest and back to catch the spills.

After you've cut your pieces, place them right sides together and pin around the borders. If they're wrinkled you'll want to iron them out to make sure they don't bunch when you sew them together.

Start about halfway down one of the long ends and sew around the perimeter of your vintage sheet leaving about 1/4" from the edge so it won't unravel. I added a 5" piece of larger binding that I folded in half to create a tag. I just stuck it between the two layers so that the frayed ends were sticking out towards me. You could also use ribbon. Make sure to leave a hand's width of space unstitched so that you can turn it right side out again.

Once you're done sewing your perimeter, trim your excess and corners. I rounded my corners for a cleaner edge.

Fold your burp cloth right side out and iron flat. Be sure to tuck in the unstitched part so that it is even with the rest and iron flat. Then top stitch along your borders starting with the unstitched part, making sure to leave about 1/8 or 1/4 of space from the edge (seam allowance). This will keep your burp cloth from shifting in the wash.

Three coordinating burp cloths would make a great shower gift, especially if you're short on time or supplies (this took me about ten minutes to finish). You could substitute the vintage table cloth with fleece, terry cloth (think beach towel), chenille, or thick cotton with batting in between the two layers. An even sweeter addition would be to embroider something in the corner on the table cloth side!

xoxo,
Rachel