[baby edition] burp cloths

 

Guess what??  It's hard to believe, but I came into a little extra cash.  That never happens.  Ever.  But for some reason, the stars have aligned.  I figured I'd better spend it and fast...before it just goes up in smoke.  How about a new sewing machine?  Yes, I think so.

I've had my old sewing machine for almost eighteen years.  It has not been working well.  It was time for a new one.  After much deliberation, I bought a Husqvarna (which is a fancy way of saying Viking) machine.

I am not going to lie to you--my new machine is SO MUCH FUN!!
That might explain the late blog posts.  I've been playing.

In other news.  My second grand-nephew was born yesterday.  Finally!  He took his sweet time coming into the world.  But I think he will prove to be worth the wait.  In honor of this new little guy I decided to make some burp cloths.  I found this idea on the internet a while back and I wanted to give it a try.  When I was a mother of newborn babies, I preferred cloth diapers over every other burp cloth out there.  They are just so absorbant and handy.  So this was a perfect marriage of cute and practical.

You will need:

pre-folded cloth diapers (I bought mine at Target.  It came in a pack of 10)
cute flannel fabric (you can get two burp cloths out of a fat quarter)
matching thread
scissors
sewing machine
straight pins

I followed PetiteLemon's basic tutorial, but changed it up a bit to make it my own.

Be sure to pre-wash your diapers and your fabric.  I cut my flannel fabric strips five inches in width and nineteen inches long.  I serged the long sides of each strip.  You certainly wouldn't have to, because the next step is to press those raw edges into the center.  I folded the edges of the long sides over about half an inch and pressed them into place.  Then I used my new handy dandy sewing machine to stitch the fabric strips onto the cloth diaper.  I used straight pins to hold the fabric in place while I sewed.  This proved to be a great opportunity to play with all of the different stitches that my new machine offers. 

The original instructions say to fold and stitch the short ends under.  But, as I looked at those silly cloth diapers and realized that the edges are just serged anyway, I decided on a short cut.  I just serged the ends of those diapers over again and in the process I cut and serged the fabric strips as well.  It made for less bulk and it was fast.  And I don't think it diminishes the cuteness at all. 

So, there you have it---burp cloths for the new babies in your life.