Need: flannel, scissors(roter cutter and board), thread and sewing machine
I love cloth wipes, I use them even if I need to use disposible diapers. I have made many of these and give them as gifts for new parents to use as wipes or wash cloths.
I made my wipes using a 6” square. I cut many squares out at once.
Once I have the squares cut out I pair two squares up with wrong sides together (those would be sides you do not want to see).
Once those are put together you will want to zigzag stitch close to the sides on all four sides of the square.
Sewing:
Straight stitch:
I love cloth wipes, I use them even if I need to use disposible diapers. I have made many of these and give them as gifts for new parents to use as wipes or wash cloths.
I made my wipes using a 6” square. I cut many squares out at once.
Once I have the squares cut out I pair two squares up with wrong sides together (those would be sides you do not want to see).
Once those are put together you will want to zigzag stitch close to the sides on all four sides of the square.
Sewing:
Straight stitch:
Zigzagged:
Once washed the sides will unravel alittle, but once those stings are cut off, it will not unravel any more.
Finish Product:
It can also be used different two different fabrics:
With this wipes I do one of two things with them. I either get them wet and store them in a sealed bag. This works well to keep in the diaper bag. The other way I use them is in a wipes warmer (the warmers with the pillow on the bottom work the best with cloth). I put about 3-4 cups of water in the warmer with one baby bits (a mild handmade glycerin soap). I let the water warm up and the baby bit melt before I put the cloth wipes in there. It usually just takes about an hour. My daughter loves having warm wipes. We live in South Dakota and everything is cold this time of year, it is always nice to have something warm.
- By Angela S.
Pictures provided by Serena (Thanks Serena!).
Pictures provided by Serena (Thanks Serena!).
24 comments:
I think these are going to be my baby shower gift for my dear friend and cloth diaper convert! She's expecting baby #3- 1st son, so it will be fun to sew something other than pink for a change!
Thank you for sharing! I though I could not make wipes w/out a surging machine but, since you mention using the zig zag stitch now I know I can do it! :)
I made my own wipes too. So easy. And I too prefer them to disposable wipes, even in the event that I use a disposable diaper. They are so easy to make and give me a sense of accomplishment. I actually sewed something functional! I used fleece on one side and flannel on the other.
Perfect timing! I just bought some clearance flannel and terry yesterday to make some of these! I got 3 cute flannel print remnants for one side and some yellow terry for the other. I'll get at least a couple dozen wipes for under $10. I love cloth wipes...you can't have too many! And they still come in handy after baby's potty trained for washing little hands and faces.
I would love to see a picture of these wipes! I have tried a few different ways to make my own wipes, but they never turned out quite right. I have just been using plain baby washcloths, but I am going to try to make some of these for baby #2 coming in June!
Great post! We ended up using just some of the extra-wide double-layer flannel from fabric.com. I only used one layer of that and serged around the edges, and I actually like them because they're not as thick as some of the other homemade wipes I have.
I'm hopeless when it comes to sewing or making anything, for that matter. Is there a way to make wipes w/o sewing? Could I use pinking shears to cut squares of flannel? or will it just fray?
Thanks!
This sounds so easy. Maybe if my husband will buy me a sewing machine for my birthday in March this could be one of my first projects. I haven't touched a sewing machine in probably 20 years, so it's going to be like starting all over...
I love the simplicity of making your own wipes. Now if I could get motivated to pull out my sewing machine that would be great.
Anelys just updated the post with pictures. I realized afterwards that the original post by Angela only mentioned using the zig-zag stitch whereas I first did a straight stitch and then went back and zig-zagged the edges.
You can also make the wipes without the edges exposed by sewing the right sides together, leaving a small opening and pulling the fabric back out through the opening then stitching the opening closed (essentially like sewing a pillow/pillowcase).
If you have a serger, for a super quick project just serge the pieces of fabric together and voila - instant wipe with no fraying. I didn't take any specific photos of serging the wipes because I figured anyone with a serger would know exactly how to do it. =)
Another great recommendation I'd like to make - you can also recycle fabric you might already have on hand. If you have a lot of left over flannel blankets (or you just received too many as gifts) - you can use those to cut up into squares (that's what I just did since I didn't have any extra material on hand).
You can also use old towels, you know, the ones that are just sitting around in your linen closet waiting to be used for when the toilet overflows because you don't want to use your "nice" towels *LOL*
Wow... thanks for adding those pictures, I am making some tonight for my nephew that was born this week. I really do love these!
The pictures are fantastic! Thank you. That helps allot. Please leave this blog in the archives for a really long time. :)
Serena: No wonder I had a hard time placing the picture with the straight stitch... Im totally DUMB at sewing...
AND
Amanda: Dont worry... the post is not going anywhere!!!!
Thank you for adding the pictures! It does help a lot to be able to see what you have done! I picked up some flannel at Wally's today, but will wait to make my wipes until after I get some terry cloth or thermal cloth from my local JoAnn's- I want to have a smooth side and a "scrubby" side on my wipes!
Are baby bits okay for hyper sensitive/eczema prone skin?
Hi Dani -
Whether or not to use BabyBits depends on exactly how sensitive your little one's skin is.
I have horrible eczema on my hands - and there's a LOT of things that cause a terrible reaction/flare-up; even plain water causes me problems! However, fruit oils (such as olive and apricot) are typically hypoallergenic (less likely to cause an allergic reaction). Here's the information from Kelly's Closet on the BabyBits:
This mild glycerin soap features olive oil infused with plantain and chickweed herbs to help clear skin irritations and keep baby's bottom clean. Tea tree oil is added for its antifungal and antibacterial properties, keeping wipes water clean. Relaxing lavender oil calms your baby and gives your nursery a floral scent.
Hope this helps!
-Serena
I would have taken a short little video with my camera - but as I attempted to record myself sewing - I wasn't quite capable of holding the camera still while also operating my sewing machine. I'm great at multi-tasking - but some things are a bit impossible.
Anelys- Your super duper bad mamma jamma HTML skills more than make up for your lack of sewing abilities. I wish I could program like you - your designs are amazing! However, with sewing you can learn the basics in less than 15 minutes - I don't believe the same can be said for HTML and web-designing!
Rock on chica!
Dani: Im sure Kelly will tell you what she thinks today....
Serena: You are too sweet.... And you are right... It didnt took me 15 mins to be able to work designing with HTML... Anyway, Im sure my designs came out like that, cause I do them with love... LOVE puts sooo much into anything a person do.
Anyway, with 3 girls I should buy a sewing machine!!!!!
I'm finally going to get around to making this project. I love cloth wipes and can't wait to make my own!
I love these! I always make mine a little bit bigger since they seem to shrink a lot on me, and it's just nice to have a little more sometimes. I've never done them with terry before, and I worry that they would make it kind of hard to get into the little crevices.
how many wipes do you recommend making if you will be doing a load of wash every other day?
I'm making some today! I increased the size--6x6 seemed a bit small to me! Thank you so much for this post and pictures!
I love this and how it can be such a great gift! Receiving something somebody handmade is always so nice =)
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