I want to thank everyone who has left such sweet comments and for all the congratulations and well wishes on our newest little bundle of fun. You guys are the best! We made it a whole seven days with a newborn before Little Monkey came down with a fever of 104! Luckily, so far, we seem to have kept the boys separated enough that Little Monkey didn’t share. Which was awfully hard, because he LOVES being a big brother. He is such an awesome help. Anyway.
My name is Krista and I’m addicted to fabric. Every time Jo-Ann puts their flannel on sale, I can’t help myself. It’s a compulsion! So, I have A LOT of flannel laying around my house. Like, several boxes of it. So, what’s a girl to do? Although I could make a really cool fort or something, I opted for some burp rags instead. Much less work. With Little Monkey we got some hand-me-down burp cloths that were flannel and shaped kinda like a peanut. They were awesome. It fit over your shoulder without bunching up around your neck. I used the same shape for these.
Here’s the How:
Supplies-
– 1/3 yard Flannel (You can adjust the size of these to suit your needs. A 1/3 yard will give you a 12″ long burp cloth. I actually made mine about 11″ long, the size of a single sheet of printer paper.)
– Coordinating thread
– Sewing Machine
– Good snipping scissors (You can buy spring-loaded scissors that pop back open, but a regular ole normal pair of fabric scissors is what I use)
Directions-
1. Draw out a pattern on paper. Unless you are really good at drawing symmetrically (I am not), fold you paper in fourths and draw only a fourth of the pattern. Or just print off the pattern below. Click the image and save it to your computer. Print it off. I believe it’s formatted to a single 8.5″x11″ sheet of printer paper. And, you’re welcome. You will need to cut 2.
2. Wash your fabric. Iron it if it sits damp in the dryer for a day or two… just sayin’. You will want your fabric to be two layers thick, so fold it in half with the selvage edges together and the wrong sides touching. You should be able to see the pattern on your fabric. You can cut two separate pieces, but I figure why do it twice when you can fold it and do it once. (And know you know why some of my projects don’t turn out, hmm.)
3. Pin your pattern and cut out your pieces. Remove the pattern piece.
4. Stitch around the outside of your burp rag. Remember, the fabric should have wrong sides together (you should be able to see the print on both sides). You can use whatever seam allowance you want. I opted for about an inch. You will want it to be big enough that you can snip the edges.
5. Take your scissors and snip all the way around the perimeter of the burp cloth. Don’t cut your seam! You can get as close as you dare, but if you cut the seam your whole burp cloth will start to fall apart. So, be careful.
6. Wash to start the fraying process. I only washed mine once. I figure it’ll see the washer time and time again. And, the best part, it will only look better every time it does. This can be completed in about half an hour. Maybe an hour if you’re a slower seamstress or just learning. So, give it a try.
