DIY: Cloth Wipes

It has been a long time since I touched a sewing machine...easily over a decade. But I found an old one in college and told myself for several years that I would clean it up and start sewing. But when I finally got around to it, I discovered that the bit that makes the fabric move was broken (boooo!). Enter Meg and her spare sewing machine. Huzzah! Meg was also the source of the hand-me-down receiving blankets that led to this project...

I'm cloth diapering our Jem--more on that in another post, but, basically, I love it! We're in a season of increased thrifty-ness and more careful stewardship (ie: I'm no longer working outside the home), so I realized we could save money if I also started using cloth wipes. But, YIKES those are expensive for what they are (fabric bum-wipers. C'mon y'all). Of course the logical leap at this point was to make my own. Yeah!

 

What you need:

1 flannel receiving blanket

(mine was a hand-me-down!)

Ruler

Scissors

Pencil

Sewing Machine

(or the patience of Job to hand-sew these)

     

 

Step 1:

Cut blanket into strips

(approximately 7 inches wide).

 

Step 2:

Cut the strips into rectangles

(approximately 7x4 inches)

I just marked all these measurements with a normal pencil. It'll wash out soon enough.

 

Then you have a nice pile of wipes-to-be:

(my blanket made 36) 

Step 3:

Hem those suckers.

(I promise you can do this with minimal sewing machine skills. The thing I loved about this project was that it was no pressure. It's totally fine that my hems are wobbly and corners wonky. The important things were that, in the course of one nap time, I tried something (re)new, and I am saving $$.)

 

 

Ta-da!

Look at you, you super crafty, super thrifty, super-hero mama, you!

Now pop those in a wipe box and

just add water! 

This is a gratuitous picture of Monte being a bit freaked out by and totally fascinated with the sewing machine. ;-)

It really is amazing how doing something new-ish makes one feel accomplished (as a mom, as a woman, as a person). 

Adventure well; Live fully.
HAK