Burp Cloths

This week I decided to jump into the sewing room and make something desperately needed and easy to do.

This Week's Pin:  Burp Cloth

Original Source: http://looksisquare.com/gallery/1034/perfect-burp-cloth

Who's This For?:  Baby Nina

Cost: Nothing - fabric scraps, thread and a little love

A couple of months ago I made a small quilt for my niece who was expecting her first child. The baby girl has arrived and she's a delight.  Mummy is doing very well and managing her life with baby Nina like the fabulous mum that she is.  However, Nina has a habit of making a very big mess on Mummy's shoulder after every feed.  Baby Nina might be allergic to cow's milk so that doesn't look like it will improve any time soon.  That means that Mummy can not consume anything with cow's milk or else - blurp.

So if she brings up milk a couple of times after every feed and she's feeding perhaps 6 - 8 times a day, then that's a lot of spilled milk!  I thought that if I quickly made up some more burp cloths they would come in handy.  I know she has a few, but at this rate, a million would never be enough.

I liked the above Pin, perfect burp cloth because the shape is like a figure '8' with indentations to sit against your neck.  I had these when I had little ones and I thought they were a God-send.  They're a good size to lay over your knee when you've got the little one face down on your lap while you await the bubble of air that needs to come up (and with it that other little treat of sticky milk).

So I needed to convert the measurements to centimetres and here's what I calculated.  

The length is 50 cm, the widest part is 24 cm and the narrowest 17cm.  Mark these points on a large piece of paper and roughly draw in the curves.  Remember what this item is - it doesn't need to be perfectly shaped!

I found some scraps that were big enough and cut a pile all at once.  Towelling fabric on one side would be ideal, so using old cloth nappies would work and perhaps those baby wraps you no longer need.  Woven cotton is fine, but you need to have a more absorbent fabric on the reverse.  I used cotton poplin, cotton jersey, flanelette and mix and matched all the fabrics.  

It was a simple process of sewing two pieces of fabric together, right sides facing, with a hole left for turning.  I sewed a 1 cm hem and I didn't sew wadding into mine.  I wanted them absorbent, yes, so I used soft and thick fabric but also I understand that Mummy will be using and washing these continuously so they need to dry quickly for her.

I clipped all the corners, turned it right side out, pressed it quickly and topstitched around the edges.  I finished seven in an hour.  My son commented "One for each day".  Oh, if only that were true.  These will be going around and around the washing baskets all day.

I received a text from my niece saying how excited she was to receive a surprise parcel in the mail.  So glad I could help. 

Is there anything you can't live without for your baby?  Let me know.  

Soops

"You can learn many things from children.  How much patience you have, for instance."  

Franklin P. Jones