get your craft on #4: super dooper burpies

Once upon a time I started a little regular series here on my blog called Get Your Craft On. 'Regular' being the choice word there, turns out not so regular! But I promise I'll try and fix that - I am hoping to do a Get Your Craft On feature post once a month, so here goes...

With my sister and two friends all expecting little babies to either start or expand their broods I needed some gifts to throw around. As soon as I heard that the stork was paying a visit, and knowing my friends and sister don't want to find out if it's a boy or a girl, I stocked up on unisex fabrics from some Etsy suppliers I frequent: Sew Deerly Loved, Cottonholic and Fresh Squeezed Fabrics, as well as my local Kmart to pick up some affordable but super absorbent bath towels in neutral white for a little sewing project.

I like to try and at least give somewhat practical gifts to expectant or new parents, although not being a mother myself I wonder often if I miss the mark?! This time I had some burp cloths in mind, just in case one of these new babes was a 'chucker'. Not just any burp cloth would do though, one which could be easily thrown over mum or dad's shoulder, was ample length so that the dreaded projectile was somewhat caught (sorry to be graphic, but it is what it is) as well as contouring to the parents body to fit in their neck, chest, back and shoulders. 

So, to get started here are my supplies...

1 x white bath towel

Gender neutral fabrics in a fun elephant print, one in green and one in orange.

My trusty sewing machine armed with co-ordinating thread.

Equally as trusty sewing scissors.

A dinner plate to create a template and a pencil to trace outline.

Using the dinner plate as my circle template I traced an almost complete circle onto my fabric, leaving about a quarter of the circle 'open'. Then I measured on myself where I wanted the burp cloth to start and end, from my chest over my shoulder and down my back, about 40cm. I folded my fabric in half and measured a 20cm straight line down to the fold and cut out that shape (see below). I then used my orange fabric as my template for my towel, which I folded also to create a symmetrical shape.

After cutting out the white towel shape I now have my two burp cloth shapes, one in the orange fabric and one in the white towel, I pinned them together with good sides facing and sewed around the edges with about a 2cm seam allowance and a 10cm hole which is going to allow me to turn the burp cloth back the right way.

You should end up with something that looks like this image on the left (below), trim any excess fabric or towel away and turn right side out again through the hole that you left. Your burp cloth will then look a little something like the image on the right - not pretty! Iron it all out to make the shape a bit better.

Iron the hole closed using any remaining fabric left over from your seam allowance to fold under, your hole should look like the image on the top (below). Now to close the hole and make your burp cloth edges a whole lot neater and more professional looking, top stitch around the entire burp cloth starting and finishing at the hole. It should look like the image on the bottom.

Ta da! Your super duper burpie is now complete and should resemble something a little like this when folded in half, with your absorbent toweling on one side and your fun fabric on the other. I then made a second one from the green elephant fabric to make a matching set.

 

Sorry for terrible quality last photo, I hate winter with it getting super dark super early! :( I hope you've liked this month's installment of Get Your Craft On, and that you might tackle this little project yourself for a new mumma or bubba in your life. If you have any questions please leave a comment.

Happy sewing!

Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella