Tuesday, July 5, 2011

How To Sew Your Own Cloth Wipes

The decision to use cloth wipes was a no brainer for me.  Seems only logical that if you're going to use cloth diapers that you use cloth wipes as well.  All I need to do is throw the wipe in the laundry with my diapers vs having a separate trash can just for my wipes.  Easy as that!  Using cloth wipes will also save us a lot of money and work a lot better than disposables.  How many times have you used 5 disposable wipes to clean off a messy poo explosion?  With a nicely textured cloth wipe you can easily get the job done with 1-2 wipes.  Like I said, using cloth wipes was a no brainer decision for me.

What I did need to decide on was whether to buy cloth wipes or make my own.  I do have a sewing machine but I'm by no means an expert sewer.  I've never used anything but a straight stitch.  Being the do it yourself girl that I am though I decided quite quickly that I was going to make my own wipes.  How fun to be able to pick whatever colors or patterns that I want.  Yay!  I love new projects.

First thing's first ... I needed to research sewing my own cloth wipes.  What fabrics should I use?  What size should I make my wipes?  How do I sew my wipes?  Here are some answers I found to those questions.

What Fabrics Should I Use???
You can use just about any fabric combination to make your wipes.  Some fabrics you might find right around your house.  For example, if you have some old towels or flannel sheets try cutting those up for your wipes.  Some great fabrics to try are flannel, terrycloth, velour, sherpa, or hemp fleece.  Thinner fabrics are great for double layer wipes, while thick fabrics are great for single layer wipes.  Just don't use regular fleece.  It will just smear the poop around.  I've decided to use a combination of flannel and terrycloth on my wipes.  Both are easily obtained at any fabric store.  Flannel will give the wipe a cute pattern and some lively color, while the terrycloth will be the workhorse side and help to clean up those messy poos.  For more information on fabric options check out Zany Zebra Designs list of Diaper Fabrics.

What Size Should I Make My Wipes???
There really is no rule as to the size of the wipes you want to make but there are two common sizes that might work for you.  There is the 8" x 8" wipe which fits nicely into a wipes container when folded in half or there is the 8" x 4" wipe which fits nicely into a wipes container without folding it in half.  I've decided to make mine 8" x 8" because they will give more surface area to clean with while still fitting nicely into my wipes warmer.

How Do I Sew My Own Wipes???
I've found three different ways you can sew your own wipes.  I knew from the beginning that I wanted a combination of flannel and terrycloth so I've tried out both the double layer wipes options.  Of the two I like the turned and topstitched method the best.  If I had a serger then I might like the serged option better, but since I only own a regular sewing machine I had to use the zig zag stitch and it did not seem to contain the edges of the terrycloth very well.  Maybe with a double sided flannel wipe it would work better.  Here are the directions to the three different methods.

Single Layer Wipe w/ Zig Zag or Serged Edges
     - Cut your fabric into squares or rectangles in the size you've decided on.  You can round the corners if you like.
     - Zig Zag or Serge all the way around the edge.  If you are using the Zig Zag stitch make sure that the Zag of the stitch goes a little over the edge of the fabric so that it seals in the edges minimizing fraying.  (*You can have fun with this stitching by using a contrasting thread color)
     - *Helpful Tip* ... When you come to a corner stop the machine with the needle in the down position so it's still in the fabric.  Lift the sewing foot and rotate your fabric (the fabric will freely rotate without losing your sewing place).  Lower the foot and then continue sewing down the other side.
     - Be sure to back-stitch at the beginning and end of stitching or finish the serge stitch so that the stitching won't pull out.
     - Trim the threads close the the fabric and you're done!

Double Layer Wipe w/ Zig Zag or Serged Edges
     - Cut both fabrics into squares or rectangles in the size you've decided on.  You can round the corners if you like.
     - Lay one fabric with the "right side" (the side you want to see) face down on the table.  Lay the other fabric on top with the "right side" (the side you want to see) facing up so you can see it.
     - Line up the edges of the two fabrics and pin all the way around (be sure that you can see the "right" side of the fabric on both sides).
     - Zig Zag or Serge all the way around the fabric removing the pins as you go.  If you are using the Zig Zag stitch make sure that the Zag of the stitch goes a little over the edge of the fabric so that it seals in the edges minimizing fraying.  (*You can have fun with this stitching by using a contrasting thread color)
     - *Helpful Tip* ... When you come to a corner stop the machine with the needle in the down position so it's still in the fabric.  Lift the sewing foot and rotate your fabric (the fabric will freely rotate without losing your sewing place).  Lower the foot and then continue sewing down the other side.
     - Be sure to back-stitch at the beginning and end of stitching or finish the serge stitch so that the stitching won't pull out.
     - Trim the threads close the the fabric and you're done!

Double Layer Wipe - Turned and Topstitched




     - Cut both fabrics into squares or rectangles a half inch bigger each way than the size you've decided you want your wipes to be (Ex: If you want 8" x 8" wipes, then cut your fabric into 8-1/2" x 8-1/2" squares).  You can round the corners if you like.
     - Lay one fabric with the "right side" (the side you want to see) face up on the table.  Lay the other fabric on top with the "right side" (the side you want to see) facing down so you can't see it.
     - Line up the edges of the two fabrics and pin all the way around (be sure that you can see the "wrong" side of the fabric on both sides).
     - With a straight stitch, stitch almost all the way around the wipe, about a 1/4 of an inch away from the edge removing the pins as you go.  Stop sewing about 2-3 inches from where you started to leave an opening.
     - *Helpful Tip* ... When you come to a corner stop the machine with the needle in the down position so it's still in the fabric.  Lift the sewing foot and rotate your fabric (the fabric will freely rotate without losing your sewing place).  Lower the foot and then continue sewing down the other side.
     - Be sure to back-stitch at the beginning and end of stitching so that the stitching won't pull out.
     - Carefully trim each corner near the stitching (being sure not to cut the stitching) so that it's not bulky when you turn it right side out.
     - Turn your wipe right side out by carefully pushing each corner through the opening and then turning it fully right side out.
     -  Smooth the wipe out making sure that all edges and corners have been completely pushed out and turn the edges of the opening in so that it looks the same as the rest of the wipe.
     - Iron the wipe flat.
     - Straight stitch all the way around the wipe LESS THAN a 1/4 inch away from the edge making sure to seal the opening of the wipe.  (*You can have fun with this stitching by using a contrasting thread color or using a decorative stitch instead of the straight stitch)
     - Be sure to back-stitch at the beginning and end of stitching so that the stitching won't pull out.
     - Trim the threads close the the fabric and you're done!

**Update -You can also use this tutorial to create washcloths (I'd do them the same size as the cloth wipes) or burp cloths.  I like to cut my burp cloths out at 9" x 16". **

I hope this tutorial was helpful for you and you have lots of fun sewing your own wipes.  I'd love to see some of the color and fabric combinations that you come up with so feel free to post some of your photos on my Facebook page.  I'll be posting pictures of mine on there as well to document just another one of my Adventures In Fluff.

18 comments:

  1. Those are sooo cute! Great job, and the video tutorial is awesome!

    I wish I was half as ambitious as you are, lol. But I think I'll have to stick to just buying my wipes.:)

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  2. Great job with the tutorial! Can I also make burp rags like that?

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  3. Jolene - That's what I was thinking too! I'm totally going to make a few burp cloths while I'm at it.

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  4. I love having the pattern on the outside - these look great and simple to make (*crosses fingers*).

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  5. Marisa - They were very easy to make and I love how they all came out. I just finished the last of them yesterday so I have a total of 40 wipes with eight different patterns. So fun to look at. hope you have fun too.

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  6. Hey Chana! Cute wipes! How many yards of fabric did it take to make 40 wipes?

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  7. It takes a 1/4 yard of flannel and 1/4 yeard of terrycloth to make 5 wipes so 2 yards of each fabric to make 40 of them. I stopped at 30 wipes. I might try a different fabric combination for the rest of them just to see how it works out. I hear that sherpa is really good. Grips like terry only it's softer.

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  8. Awesome! I'll go check out the remnants at my local fabric store and see what I can find. I hate spending a lot on fabric since I pretty much SUCK at sewing (but can do it if I put my mind to it), and really, these are going to be doing the ultimate dirty work! LOL! :)

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  9. Haha! That's what I kept telling myself if I made a mistake. They're just going to be wiping up poop, so no big deal. : )

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  10. I love my homemade wipes. It's easy to find terry at the dollar store (a few bucks for a package of handtowels). And you can use anything for the second layer. Cute prints, old tshirts, old flannel pants... it's entirely up to you on cost!

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  11. Thanks for the tutorial. I am going to try this.

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  12. Why do I need other people to tell me such no-brainer things? Duh, of course I should make my own wipes! {Writing in on my must-make list now!} And seriously, I have definitely used more than five disposables.

    Thanks for the tute to spark the idea. :) I'm a turn-and topstitch kinda gal myself!

    Adrianne
    www.happyhourprojects.com

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  13. Im glad I found this since most wipe tutorials are for people who have sergers (which I dont have). For now we just have some fabric remnants that are cut into sad squares in my attempt to see which fabrics worked best for us.
    Thanks again!

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  14. I think these are totally adorable, but I'm wondering---why couldn't you just use regular washcloths as wipes? (Since you said you can make them out of old towels...)

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  15. These are adorable, but since you said you could use old towels to do this, I'm wondering---could you just buy washcloths instead of making them (won't be nearly as adorable I know, but still)...

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    1. You could certainly use just washcloths. I know lots of moms that do that. The best ones to get are the thin ones made for babies. They bend around the creases really well, but have just enough texture to grab the poop. Plus you can get them in fun colors so the will still look cute. : )

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  16. Is it necessary to iron these in between sewing? I am using flannel. Also, should I worry about any shrinking? I want them to lie flat :) THANKS!

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  17. I think it makes it a lot easier to sew if they are ironed flat beforehand. If you're worried about shrinking then make sure to pre-wash all your fabrics before sewing.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to show your support with a comment! I LOVE reading all of them and will try and answer any questions that you might have. :)