ID Mommy Projects: DIY Baby Burp Cloth

I've always enjoyed making these crochet bunny blankies and nursing covers as gifts to my new mom friends, as well as afghans and other amigurumi toys..  The babies just keep on comin' so I'm always looking for more fun baby items to make as gifts.

It seems my friends have all had a fresh batch of babies lately so I've been doing some new gift projects.  The latest is this set of three coordinating monkey-themed items for a friend who has a monkey themed nursery.  The stuffed toy is a monkey rattle that I designed and crocheted.  (The pattern is available here for $2)  I made a pacifier clip using the same ribbon as the monkey's bow.  (You can see my tutorial to make your own, here!)  The third item is a burp cloth, which I'm going to show you how to make right now!

Step 1: Get some coordinating fleece and flannel, and cut a piece of each that measures 18" x 9".  I got a flannel with a monkey print on it, and some coordinating cream colored fleece for the back.  Terry would also work well to soak up spit-up!

Step 2: Trim the two short ends of the flannel piece so that they are slightly curved.  To make it symmetrical, fold it in half (a) and then half again (b).  Cut a curve on the short end from the folded side to the open side (c). Unfold and see your curved ends (d)!

Step 3: Fold in all of the flannel edges about 1/4" and iron.  (folding the wrong sides together)

Step 4: Lay the flannel piece on top of the fleece piece (a) with the right sides out. Sew the two pieces together, following along the edge of the folded flannel, about 1/8" in from the edge (b).  Iron the flannel side (c) and it should look like this! (d)

Step 5: Trim the fleece around the edges.  Be careful not to cut the folded flannel.  You may want to do another optional zig-zag stitch around the whole thing at this point for added durability.

Step 6: Sew a couple stripes across the burp cloth.  (This helps keep the two pieces of fabric together and flat, especially when it is put in the washer and dryer.) I sewed two stripes parallel to the long sides, each about a third of the way in from the edge.  For this one I used a stitch that looks like a vine with leaves:

You can do this however you want...go in the other direction, do more stitches, or even do criss-crossing lines for a quilted look!

Done! I also sew a little custom label on mine, which I purchased from Name Maker. 

You can make one of these to coordinate with other handmade gifts like I did above, or even make a set of several.  They'd look nice folded in thirds and stacked on each other with a little ribbon to hold them together!