When I first started cloth diapering I made some homemade baby wipes by using pinking shears to cut squares out of a flannel receiving blanket. I still have those wipes, but they are a little on the thin side. My favorite wipes are the ones I have made out of two layers of flannel using the “turned & topstitched” method.
I have been going through all of my sewing supplies this week and found that I had cut out a bunch of wipes from some flannel I had saved as well as from some receiving blankets. I am pretty sure it has been over 2 years since I cut them out. Monday I decided it was time to get to work and quit keeping projects in my to-do pile and actually do them.
I ended up sewing 90 flannel wipes. Whew! I am wiped out. 🙂 OK, that was bad, but it was a little tiring.
Here’s the breakdown on the different sizes of wipes I made. There are 51 baby wipes of assorted sizes (41 of which are going to my sister-in-law who doesn’t know that unless she reads this post.), 33 tiny wipes that I am going to try to use in place of cotton balls and as facial cleansing cloths, and 6 large wipes that can be used as cloth napkins or “paper” towels.
If you are curious as to how I make these flannel wipes, here is a little tutorial for you. The method is the same no matter what size you choose to make your wipes.
To make flannel wipes you will need two squares of flannel that are the same size. I used my 12 1/2 inch square ruler to cut these pieces of flannel. I like to make baby wipes 6 1/2 inches square. The tiny wipes I made were about 3 inches square.
Place the two pieces of flannel together, with right sides together, and stitch around the outside edges using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Leave a 2-3 inch opening for turning.
Clip the 4 corners and turn the wipe right side out.
Flatten all of the seams and fold the fabric under at the opening. Pin the opening shut. You can use an iron to press the seams nice and flat if you want to.
Topstitch around the entire wipe using a 1/8 – 1/4 inch seam allowance.
That’s all there is to it. This is an easy project that yields useful results. Have you ever made cloth wipes to use in place of baby wipes, paper towels, etc.?
For baby wipes, I usually just get the wipes wet using warm water. If you would like to make a wipes solution, check out this post I wrote a few years ago about homemade baby wipes.
