Ok, so for my first blog post tutorial, I figured I would put up something I received as a gift and LOVED when I was pregnant with my first son, Dillon. SO here it is: The flannel burp cloth. Not only does it stay in place because of flannel's natural ability to stick to you...but it is contoured to your neck so you don't have any awkward bunching!
So, I've never done this before in writing...so here it is:
Step one: Choose fabric. I recommend staying away from plaids/stripes for this project in order to keep it simple...unless you are good with matching the pattern, or if you don't care. I chose a white flannel with inspirational baby words. If you get it on sale it is only around $2.50 per yard. I bought 1/2 yard. This will make 2 burp cloths.
Step two: Using your rotary cutter/mat, straighten out the fabric. ( If you don't have this novelty, Make a pattern that measures about 9 1/2 x 22". Fold the fabric so the selvages are lined up, wrong side out. Keep the fabric doubled, and DON'T cut the fold, that saves you some sewing. If you have done this, skip step 3)
Step three: Fold the material wrong sides together and cut the piece in half, so you should end up with two pieces that are about 91/2 x 22" (folded). Then set one piece aside, that will be for burp cloth 2.
Step four: Make sure you still have it right sides together, and pin it. Then, with a maximum of 1/4" seam allowance, straight stitch the two long sides. The other two sides should consist of one fold and one open short end.
Step five: Fold in half so it looks like this:
Step Six: While folded, draw a semicircle about two inches on each side...look at the graph behind the photo for an idea of how I drew it.
Step Seven: Cut on the line:
When you open it up, it will be a little awkward, using freehand cutting, neaten and smooth out the cut.
Step Eight: Now stitch on the half-circle using a straight stitch and the same seam allowance as the rest of the cloth.
Turn the fabric right side out, and use a crochet hook to sharpen the corners. Now IRON your seams so
they are nice and crisp.
Step Nine: Now, using an overcasting stitch, serger, or even a zigzag, go back over the edges on the right side of the fabric. If you look VERY closely, you can see I did an overcast stitch on all edges, but the thread is ivory colored. For contrast you can play with different color combos.
Step Ten: Fold in the last open edge and pin it closed. Go over that seam with the same overcast/zigzag or whatever choice you made.
VOILA! Try on your new burp cloth. It is soft, absorbent, and it stays in place!
