Things You'll Need:
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Fabric
- Ribbon (optional)
- Scissors
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Step 1
Choose your fabric. You can go to a fabric store and buy flannel, cotton or any material you'd like. It is more useful if it is absorbent. A great fabric is Birdseye weave because of its absorbency and softness. You can even buy a cheap pack of prefolded cloth diapers made from Birdseye weave from a store and fancy them up.
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Step 2
Choose your shape. You can choose whatever shape you want that you think is functional. The most common shapes chosen are square and rectangles.
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Step 3
Choose your ribbon or thread. You can coordinate colors or use a ribbon to accent your print or fabric.
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Step 4
Cut your shape if you're using fabric that needs to be cut. Cotton can unravel quickly around the edges, so you may want to cut your cotton fabric with pinking shears. If using a package of prefolded cloth diaper material, lay it out on a flat surface. Iron it flat if you need to. For this example, we will be making a fabric overlay on top of a prefolded cloth diaper.
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Step 5
Sew your hem. Measure in 1/2 inch on all sides of your cloth and fold it over twice to form your neat edge; this is your hem. Iron down your folds so that they lay neatly. Pin the edges and sew your hem using whatever stitch or color thread you'd like. For this example, we will sew the edges of the fabric overlay. The prefolded diaper cloth already has a hem.
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Step 6
Decide where you want your ribbon to be. You can trim the edges of the diapers with ribbon or sew it down the middle. Measure two lengths of ribbon for each side of the fabric overlay, leaving a little extra length to fold the edges of the ribbon under. For these instructions, there will be a fabric overlay on top of a prefolded cloth diaper and the ribbon will be sewn in two strips down the center of the diaper.
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Step 7
Take the fabric strip and overlay it on the prefolded cloth diaper down the center. Run the ribbon on both edges of the fabric overlay and pin it in place. Remember to tuck the edges of your ribbon under. Sew your seams. You can make another hem around the edges where the fabric overlay edges are, but it's up to you.
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Step 8
Sew through all three layers--the prefolded cloth diaper, fabric overlay and ribbon. Sew a seam on the inside edge of the ribbons (next to the fabric overlay). Repeat on the outer edge seams of the ribbon. You want the ribbons to be secured down firmly. Otherwise, they'll come up easily during use or bother the baby.
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Step 9
Your finished burp cloth should look like this.
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Step 10
The back of the finished burp cloth should look like this.
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Step 11
You can fold the other two sides of the diaper over the center for ease of storage.
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Step 12
Repeat steps again to make more burp cloths. Or, use your creativity and modify instructions to create whatever beautiful burp cloths you'd like.
