Tuesday, August 20

Flannel Wipes {tutorial}

Well guys, the good news is I was in a nesting frenzy before Baby A was born and pulled off quite a few projects in my last few weeks as a pregnancy tornado. Including some things I've been planning to do for the past two years... like make some flannel wipes! I used baby washcloths for B (a great option if you don't sew), but I never had enough and always ended up using disposable wipes half the time. Which doesn't make a lot of sense when you're cloth diapering and cloth wipes can be thrown right in with the diapers. So I finally put some of my flannel stash to work and whipped up these bad boys:


Supplies:
  • flannel (you need two 8 1/2" squares for each wipe. I've also seen wipes that are flannel on one side and cotton terry on the other!)
  • matching thread

Start by cutting out two 8 1/2" squares of flannel (or whatever size you want, really!). I used a printed flannel for one side and a plain colored flannel for the other, just for fun. If you're making a lot of wipes you may want to make a pattern with paper or scrap fabric so you don't have to measure each wipe. And a cutting mat and rotary blade are very handy for cutting lots of squares!

Stack your two squares with the right sides together and stitch around the perimeter with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving an opening in one side for turning.


Clip the corners.


Turn the wipe right side out. Be sure to push the corners out nice and square.


Tuck in the edges around the opening and topstitch all the way around the wipe with a 1/8" seam allowance, making sure you catch the raw edges you tucked in. And don't forget to backstitch at the beginning and end!


All done! I mean, if you only need one wipe you're all done. Otherwise you'll need to repeat that process a few times. :) I found it went faster when I worked assembly-line-style. I started by cutting out all my squares, then stitched all the pairs together, then clipped all the corners, then turned them all, then topstitched them all. It took me most of an evening after B was in bed, but by the time I was done I had a nice big pile of wipes for Baby A. Why didn't I do this sooner?!


I made 16 but I think I will end up making some more because we use them so much. I usually only need one per diaper change at this point, but they're also great for wiping little boogies and for bath time since they are so soft!


If you have a serger, this could go way faster because you could just stack you pieces wrong-sides-together and serge all around the edges. But if you're like me and still haven't got a clue how your serger operates, this is the way to go! :) Anyone else made your own cloth wipes? What's your favorite size and fabrics? Have you made any other diapering supplies? 

4 comments:

  1. Do you use a solution with these or just dry?

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    1. I just get them wet at the sink. I've heard it's not great to store them wet because they get mildewy, but I do know some people make a solution with a tiny bit of baby wash and keep it in a spray bottle. Just spritz the wipe when you're ready to use it! But I'm too impatient for all that spritzing. Just dunk it under the faucet and go. ;)

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    2. I laughed at the serger comment. I bought mine a year ago, even bought a class on craftsy but there she sits, unloved. Some day I will find motivation....I mostly used leftover bits of whatever cotton and flannel around to make wipes. I still find uses for them, my boys are older but still like the soft cloths for face wiping and cleaning up messes. I also just ran them under whatever sink was nearby, though I never heard of the spritz bottle before, thats a good idea.

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    3. Ha ha, well I'm glad I'm not alone! Here I am almost a year later and STILL haven't touched it. And now that we're on baby #2 I'm doing the closest-sink thing too! Spritz bottles slow me down. ;)

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