Sewing Tutorial--Cloth Wipes

Hey, everyone! Today's post comes to you by reader request, and it's all about cloth wipes. Primarily, we'll be talking about how to make your own, but I'll also touch on how I use them and care for them, as well as a few ideas for purchasing them if you'd like to use cloth wipes, but prefer not to make your own. I like to make my own, personally, because it saves me quite a bit vs. buying them. So far, I've been able to make all the wipes I have by reusing items I already had, which makes them free--my favorite price. 😉

You can probably hand sew these wipes if you like. Personally, I prefer a sewing machine, so that's how I'll be showing you how to do it. The first thing you'll want to do is choose some fabric. I use cotton flannel for mine, but anything soft and absorbent should do the trick. For today's wipes, I'm using a receiving blanket. Moms, you know these things, we love them, and we probably all have more of them than we're actually using. If you'd rather just buy flannel fabric, most stores that sell fabric carry it, or if you're on a budget, you can keep an eye out at thrift stores and garage sales for flannel sheets and baby blankets to repurpose. If you're buying your flannel fabric new, you should prewash and dry  it using the same settings you intend to use to wash your wipes. If there's going to be any shrinking going on, it's best to get it over with now. If you purchased your fabric already used, I recommend washing it before use, but before or after sewing is up to you.

Ok, so. . . here's what we're using today.

One flannel baby blanket that's been kicking around here for a bit, but hasn't actually seen much use as a blanket. I like it; don't get me wrong. But I simply have a lot of receiving blankets, and I don't use them that much, if I'm honest. I have five in my cloth diaper rotation as diaper flats, and they see more action there than they ever did as blankets. So, no, I don't particularly feel guilty for what I'm about to do to this blanket. ☺

I liked the size of the last batch of wipes pretty well, so I wanted to try and match that, while wasting as little of the fabric as possible. I'll spare you the process, but I found that folding the fabric in thirds one way, then thirds again the other way gave me the best size squares. So, I did that as neatly as possible. . .

And then I used my pinking shears to cut on the folds. This gave me three (still folded) strips of fabric, which I then cut on the folds again, to yield 9 individual squares.

I was already in the process of cutting when I realized this meant I'd have an odd number of squares, and each wipe takes two, leaving me with an odd square left over. Ah, well. It's tucked away in my craft supplies waiting for me to decide to do this again. However, if you were to choose two blankets with complimentary designs, you could simply cut them both up and make the front of your wipes with one design and the back with another. Voila! Nine super-cute baby wipes. Or adult wipes (commonly known as "family cloth"), because frankly, I'm not above using these myself when we're low on toilet paper.

But back to the project. Once you have your squares all cut, you're going to choose two squares (handy hint, keep the rounded corners together if you have any) and pin them together, pretty side facing in, not so pretty side facing out.

Leaving a space on one side about 3-4 inches wide for turning, sew all the way around, using about a 5/8 inch seam allowance. Stop at the corners and make a nice, sharp turn before continuing. Your edge with the open space will look something like this:

I really should have used a darker thread color, but hopefully you can see that well enough to get the idea.

Next, trim the seams and the corners. this will help it not to be too bulky on the edges when we turn and topstitch it.

Now, you're going to turn your wipe right side out, and use something (your scissors, a chopstick, a pen, a knitting needle) to poke out the corners and smooth the edges a bit. Then, turn the edges of the hole to the inside, and pin them together to close that side completely.

This one is pinned all the way across because my first one had the entire side left open. Don't do that.

Starting on the open side, topstitch all the way around your wipe, stopping and turning in the corners. Topstitching leaves a very small seam allowance. The way I do it with my machine is simply guide the fabric where the clear plastic meets the metal at the right side of my presser foot. Once you've topstitched all the way around your wipe, you've made a usable wipe, and you can stop here if you like. Personally, however, I like to sew an X across the wipe. It keeps the layers from shifting on each other. You can use a simple straight stitch for this, but I like to add just a little more flair to mine by using a wavy stitch. If your machine doesn't have that function, no worries. If it does, and you want to use it, set your machine up for the appropriate stitch and (if necessary) change your presser foot. Set your stitch length as high as it will go (this gives you a nice, loose wave, rather than a tight wave) and simply stitch from corner to corner in both directions.

And there you have it! One handmade cloth wipe. It really doesn't take a lot of effort to have a stack, and, as with anything else, the more you make, the easier it gets.

Now before I go, I promised I'd give you a little information about using and caring for these, so here goes. A lot of moms like to use a special cleaning solution with these, either purchased or homemade. There are a ton of recipes available for the searching, but personally, I just wet them under the faucet and wring them out. That has worked just fine for me so far, and I don't have to worry about my homemade wipe solution going rancid on me, which is a problem I keep hearing about from other moms. If you'd like to purchase, there are premade solutions available, as well as solid "bits" that are meant to be mixed with water.

Washing is fairly simple. I just rinse off any solids (just get rid of the chunks; you don't have to try and make it look clean) and put them in my wet bag with my cloth diapers, then wash them right along with the diapers. They can be hung to dry or dried in your dryer.

If you really don't want to make your own wipes, there are several options out there for buying them already made. My local Wal-Mart carries single-layer Gerber cloth wipes. There are countless work-at-home moms on Etsy who make the cutest wipes you ever saw; the options are endless. And most cloth-diaper companies also offer wipes. If you like shopping Amazon, I found this pack of 15 OsoCozy unbleached flannel wipes, and Baby Bits wipe solution bits in tea tree and lavender. If I weren't making my own wipes, these would probably be my choice. They're from a trusted brand, and the price is excellent.