How to: Cheap and Easy 12 Minute Burp Cloth Tutorial

One day while nesting before Max arrived, I had the idea to make some burp cloths. Little did I know that these would be the MOST used item during Max’s infancy. Not only have they been used as burp cloths, they have been used as pee shields, naptime face-covers, and when we tuck them into his shirt…bibs.

At less than 50 cents a piece and taking less than twelve minutes to make each…these burp cloths are an easy and cheap project to do after baby goes to bed. I’ve made these as gifts for several people, and let me tell you…these are not the baby gifts that end up sitting in the corner, unused…that’s for sure! Max’s sweet cousin Hazel even decided to include hers in her newborn photos! 😍 😍 😍

In order to keep the price down, I went to Old Time Pottery (similar to Big Lots) and bought some giant bath sheets for $2.99 a piece, since terry cloth can be expensive at JoAnn. I cut each one into nine pieces and used these for the absorbent side. I bought some cheap, snuggly, flannel fabric for the decorative side. Having tons of different burp cloths in varying patterns and fabrics makes it easy for me to keep track of which ones need to go in the wash, and which ones are clean. I ended up making myself about 15 burp cloths in total. When making them as gifts, I group together anywhere from three to five cloths in coordinating colors.

**FAIR WARNING** If you are a Type A person…this tutorial may not be for you. I tend to “guesstimate” a lot and don’t do a whole lot of exact measuring….considering these are going to puked on.

Materials:

• Paper and tape to make pattern
• Large bath towel in any color you desire. (I chose white to go with more patterns and colors)
• Your favorite cotton or flannel fabric…fabric quarters or scraps from other projects work great for this! (At least 10″ wide and 17″ long)
• Scissors
• Thread
• Pins
• Sewing Machine
• Iron

Steps:

1. Wash your fabric first so that it doesn’t shrink once you’ve made the cloths.

2.  Make your pattern by taping together two piece of 8 1/2″ x 11″ cardstock, and trimming it to be 9 1/2″ x 11″

3. Lay your pattern on to the towel and cut around the edges. You can pin it down for more precision… or you can be like me and just wing it. I went ahead and cut out as many as would come out of one towel. From one towel, I was able to cut 9 burp cloths!

4. Lay your cut towel piece on to one of your decorative pieces of fabric so they are face to face.

5. Pin the fabric to the towel, right sides together. Trim the excess off.

6. If making multiples, get them all stacked together. You’re ready to sew!

7. Sew around the perimeter of the pinned fabric and towel, with about a 1/4″ inseam.

8. Leave about a 2″ opening when sewing around the perimeter, so that you can flip it inside out.

9. Trim the corners, and flip cloth so that it’s right side out. (Trimming the corners helps create cleaner corners after they are flipped).

10. Tuck the fabric in from the 2″ that you left open. Give yourself about an 1/8″ seam allowance, and top sew ALL THEY WAY around the perimeter of the cloth. After this step, you can stop and iron it if you want.

11. For this next part…I totally eyeballed it. You are going to sew two lines that separates your burpcloth into thirds. This helps it to be easier to fold, and it helps the towel and fabric to not separate. Fold your cloth into thirds. Then just sew a vertical line where you marked it. Then do the other side.

Voila!  You have a finished burpcloth…ready for any bodily fluids that come it’s way!

Make sure to keep some of these all over the house in every room! We keep a few in the car, we keep some in the living room, plenty in the bedroom, and always a stash in the diaper bag. We are NEVER without these burpcloths! Hope you find this tutorial to be simple and useful!

Have you had great luck making any baby-related products that get used a ton in your home? Share them in the comments below!