Favorite Wipes

Ahh, a long weekend. It was nice to have some extra free time to myself to close myself up in the sewing room and have some time to create.

One of the things I finally knocked out on my todo list for all my expecting friends was one of my favorite baby gifts, handmade cloth wipes. Whether you choose to cloth diaper or not, wipes are handy - the perfect ones are nice and big to protect your hands from the inevitable mess that comes...blowouts, spitting up, food messes, etc. After some trial and error (hello too small!) I finally came up with my favorite wipe. It's large and soft and Abby-baby approved.

I wanted to share them with you - you can make favorite wipes too - they're so easy and a perfect beginning sewing project.

Grab some liquid energy (aka coffee!) - Cut squares 9 inches x 9 inches. You'll need one soft wiping side and one decorative side. I love organic bamboo velour for the wiping side and a soft and stretchy knit or interlock for the other side. Some other alternatives I've used that work well are a cotton velour and CDMF fabric. Or, cotton sherpa with cotton velour for an extra thick and absorbent version. FYI - No matter how tempting, don't try to use bamboo fleece for the soft side of the wipe - yes it's ultra soft however after a few washings it gets very pilly looking and it absorbs a ton of water and gets heavy and thick. It shrinks a ton too. It's wonderful for the insides of the diapers but not for anything that will be seen all the time. BTDT bought the T-shirt. :)

You'll need a serger or a sewing machine. I prefer to serge mine because it's faster - you place the fabric wrong sides together and pin. Put the interlock side face down. Serge all the way around rounding the corners. You'll end up with a wipe about 8.75 inches square.

If you don't have a serger you can still make them, place right sides together and pin. Sew all the way around leaving a 2 inch space open on one side for turning. Trim the corners and turn right side out. Fold the opened end in and pin. Sew all the way around the edge to topstitch. All set!

Perfect for folding - I have mentioned before that we cloth diaper. My favorite cloth wiping solution has been making a stack of these and getting them damp but not soaking wet with just water. (Yes, just water - easy and cheap and very easy on sensitive skin.) Fold them in half and stack them in your wipes warmer. (This is the one we have). You'll have perfect warm wipes for every diaper change for 24-48 hours or so and then you'll refill - easy and peasy. Check!

Comments

[craftycrab]

Thanks for the tutorial! Boy do I wish I had a serger. Oh, and time to sew! I have the same wipe warmer, but we had to stop using it because it got all smelly and rank - have you ever had that problem? Maybe I used too much water? Have you ever replaced the foam pad thing that came with it? I'd love to start using it again...

[Beth]

Great idea and super cute wipes!

[amanda {the habit of being}]

thanks for the tutorial! those would be perfect for my expecting friends :)

[kmckiernan]

Hi Amanda! You'll have time one of these days, Abby is 7 months old and it still feels like a stretch to get 5 minutes to myself. Weekends help when Daddy is here to take her for a little while. ;)

That's weird that you had a bad smell problem. I haven't really had that problem, I do notice that sometimes the wipes seem stale. I do strip the diapers and wipes rather frequently because we have very hard water here. What kind of water do you have? You can do a strip with hot wash x 2 with squirts of dawn and 2 cool rinses.

I would also recommend using much less water, just get them damp, not dripping. I usually squeeze the extra water out. I haven't yet replaced the foam pad thing. I've heard on reviews on amazon that you can remove the foam pad too which might be worth a try. If it starts to get a little mildewy I soak the foam in a weak solution of water and bleach to sterilize it and then rinse it again in plain water. It seems to work pretty well. Let me know how it goes - I hope we can get the wipe machine working for you - it's super handy! :)

[kmckiernan]

Thanks Beth! :)

[Hilary]

Well, of course I am biased now, but I absolutely love these. :) When I first saw this post earlier in the week, I was going to leave a comment of thanks for the tutorial because these look like a lot of fun to make. I will probably still use your tutorial....but I don't have to! Muahahaha! But seriously, these are SO ADORABLE and SO SOFT! Thank you! :)

[Diana]

You have such a big variety of fabrics!
I am in love with owl!!!