Embroidered Terry/Cuddle Burp Cloth Tutorial

Today, I'm reposting my tutorial on how to make your own Terry and Cuddle burp cloth with an embroidered monogram or decorative design.  This first appeared as a guest post at the Shannon Fabric's blog, My Cuddle Corner.  Plus, I'm giving away some Cuddle and Terry Cloth fabrics, courtesy of Shannon Fabrics.  Read below to see how to enter!

When a dear friend asked me to make a few baby items for her to give as gifts, I jumped at the chance to make something with the Terry cloth and Cuddle fabrics from Shannon Fabrics.  Both are so soft and were a dream to sew!  These are so easy and simple to make.  Just follow the steps in my tutorial below!

First, cut out your fabrics.  Here's what you need...

After you cut out your terry cloth, embroider your favorite design or monogram onto the terry cloth.  I used tear away stabilizer on the back and a piece of solvy on the front when I stitched my design. 

Here's a close up for reference.  I find that serging raw edges of the cuddle not only makes for a neater finished edge, but the fabric is less likely to creep than when you use a regular sewing machine foot.  For the straight stitches, I used my regular sewing machine with my walking foot attached and a stitch length of 3 - 3.5.  I also used a stretch needle.

Fold back the seam you just sewed and finger press.  Your pieces should now look something like this when laid out right side up.

 * Note:  It might be helpful to pin the edges before topstitching all the way around.

That's all there is to it!  Pretty easy, right?  And I sewed together a matching bib and baby wash cloth to go with the gift set for my friend.  

You can make some matching baby wash cloths, too, using my sewVery simple tutorial! Click HERE to see it.  Plus, enter my giveaway HERE for a chance to win one of two Quarter Cozy Kits (to make a blanket or lots of wash cloths and burp cloths) plus a quarter yard of Terry Cloth fabric. 

I had a great time creating these projects with my Shannon Fabrics!  Please let me know if you like them, too!

Embroidered Terry/Cuddle Burp Cloth Tutorial

Hi, everyone!  Today I'm guest posting at My Cuddle Corner, the new blog for Shannon Fabrics, and sharing my tutorial on how to make these soft embroidered terry cloth/Cuddle burp cloths.

You may remember my tutorial post from a few days ago for the matching Simple Baby Wash Cloth.  If you missed it, look it up HERE or just click the picture below.

The embroidered font I used on the burp cloth is the Arizona Monogram Set from Embroitque. I've used it a few times on other projects, and I'm so pleased with how well it stitches out.

Make both projects along with a matching bib for a quick, personalized baby shower gift that the recipient will love!  I'll have a blog post on how I put together the bib in the coming days, but in the mean time, please head over to My Cuddle Corner for my Burp Cloth Tutorial and for other great Cuddle projects!

Disclaimer:  Shannon Fabrics provided me with the terry cloth and Cuddle fabrics, but all opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Hope you enjoy these tutorials!  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Have fun sewing!

Baby Wash Cloth Tutorial

Several weeks ago, a friend commissioned me to make three baby gift sets that included an embroidered burp cloth, embroidered bib, and a baby wash cloth.  While I have made several burp cloths and bibs before, I had never made any wash cloths.  But really, how difficult could it be to make a wash cloth?!  I mean, it's just a square piece of fabric!

The baby gift sets were being made with white terry cloth and chevron Cuddle fabrics provided to me courtesy of Shannon Fabrics, so I wanted to figure out a unique way to make the wash cloths a mix of both of these wonderful fabrics.  In doing so, I put together A sewVery Simple Baby Wash Cloth Tutorial!

I designed the baby wash cloth to basically be a mini hooded towel for your hand.  By simply adding this triangle of terry cloth to the design, you can be sure the wash cloth stays on the palm of your hand while washing a baby or a toddler.  It works by sliding your fingertips into the wash cloth pocket instead of having to fold over the end of the washcloth.  And the way the pocket is sewn onto the wash cloth, you can flip it to either the terry cloth or the Cuddle fabric side.

The terry cloth is soft and not too thick, making it ideal to couple with the thicker Cuddle fabric, and both are super absorbent.  Another great thing about Shannon Fabrics is that they offer a wide variety of Cuddle prints and textures instead of just the basic embossed dot design you find at chain fabric stores. These Cuddle fabrics are super soft and are much easier to work with than the minky you find in other stores.  I found that the Shannon Fabrics' Cuddle didn't stretch or slip and slide as much when I sewed with it, making it a cinch to sew together these baby wash cloths!

Ready to make several for baby gifts or to use at home with your own kids?  Then let's get started!

It's that simple!  My kids love using these in the tub, especially if they have a boo-boo that they are particularly sensitive about washing.  Which reminds me, I need to make them some more and a few extras for baby gifts!

If you like my tutorial for A sewVery Simple Baby Wash Cloth Tutorial, then I hope you'll decide to follow my blog to see what other fun projects I'm making and new tutorials I'm developing.

Thanks again to Shannon Fabrics for providing me with these terrific fabrics!  To see more Cuddle projects and inspiration, check out their blog at My Cuddle Corner.  You might just see my coordinating burp cloth tutorial there soon!   

Baby Gift Set

A few months back, I made this quick little baby gift set for a family friend.  I've been meaning to share it with you all forever!

These bibs and the burp cloth were actually my first attempts at making baby gear.  They are relatively simple to construct and just take a little time with cutting out and piecing together the different fabrics. I highly recommend making several of these at a time so you'll have a baby gift on hand when you need a shower gift for a friend, family member, or co-worker!

For the baby bibs, I used the free bib pattern from Gingercake.  I highly recommend it and have used it a number of times since I made these.

The burp cloth is approximately 10" x 18".  I was inspired by one I saw on Clover & Violet where you can also find another free bib pattern that I have used.

On all three pieces, I used quilting cotton for the front and minky fabric for the back with a layer of cotton batting in between.  When working with this combination of fabrics and batting, you will definitely want to use a walking foot on your sewing machine.

When I made this set, I used the pattern piece and cut out the shape of the bib in the cotton, batting, and minky.  Big mistake!  You see, the minky I used here was the kind you buy at Joann's, and while the quality is good, the fabric has a lot of stretch to it.  Since making this original set, I've learned a couple of easier ways to assemble these.

First off, use higher quality cuddle like the kind made by Shannon Fabrics.  Secondly, cut your cotton, batting (which is optional), and minky into rectangles and then trace the bib pattern outline onto the wrong side of your cotton fabric with a water soluble pen.  Layer the fabrics with the batting on bottom, then the minky right side up, and finally the cotton wrong side up.  Pin together like crazy all the layers and then sew them together following the bib pattern outline making sure to leave a 3 - 4" opening for turning.  Cut away the excess fabric, clip corners, turn right side out, tuck in the edges of the opening, and topstitch around the entire bib.

To finish the bib, sew on 1" square pieces of velcro for the closure.

When sewing the burp cloths, I recommend putting together the layers similarly to the method I described above for the bibs.  Don't cut out the curved edges before sewing it all together.  Instead, trace the curved corners onto the wrong side of the cotton fabric and use that as a guide when sewing. Trim away the excess when finished.

You can see other baby gifts I've made, which include more bibs, burp clothes, baby shoes, ruffle bum rompers, and a sun hat, here and here.

And coming soon, I will have a free tutorial for a monogrammed terry cloth and cuddle fabric combination burp cloth!  You won't want to miss it!