So since I am going the cloth diaper route, I obviously had to address the baby wipe situation as it is slightly hypocritical to use disposable baby wipes when choosing to use cloth diapers! So I decided to try and make my own. I haven’t sewed in years and I have to admit I am super excited to take on a project like this. I personally love looking through fabrics and the idea of turning nothing into something, especially when it is for my little one on the way, is so gratifying.

So I decided to make a double sided wipe, one side with a cheerful pattern and the back side in a solid, checkered or striped.  Since these will be used very often and washed frequently they need to be durable so double sided was definitely the way to go.  I chose two different materials to make two different wipes with and chose a fabric for the backing that would match both materials.

I figured that a 7 in by 7in wipe would be an ideal size, so what I did was cut out a cardboard template from a cereal box that was 7 by 7 and used that as a guide for my wipes.  I made sure to cut the fabric about 1/2 an inch wider than what I needed so that I had room to sew the wipe and cut the edges off so that I didn’t lose width in my wipe.

As I did not have access to a serger, I used a sewing machine instead.  I chose to use a wider patterned stitch that was durable and pretty.  All you have to do is start a 1/2 inch in from the edge and sew in a square pattern.  I chose to round out my corners and I did this by my eye, I did not measure it all out properly because really…it’s just a baby wipe!

Once I had sewn all around the edges I simply cut off the outside material as close as I could to the stitch without cutting the stitch of course.  Since I am not using a serger the edges of the material will frey a bit which is why cutting off the edges as cleanly as you can is helpful.

The end result was perfect.  They are adorable and will do the trick nicely!  For a closer look into making your own cloth baby wipes feel free to watch my video!

So I decided that if I am to use cloth diapers I had better use cloth baby wipes as well.  I mean what good is there in using cloth diapers and then using disposable baby wipes?

The idea of a sewing project truly excited me, I haven’t done anything like it before but I do enjoy looking through fabric and saving money so this has to be a great assignment for me.  So a couple of weeks ago I made a trip into Vancouver and sourced out some great flannel there, decided on my fabric patterns and then headed to the cutting table for some advice on how much fabric I would need for my project as I had no clue.

I figured that I wanted to make around 50 baby wipes that would be double sided in fabric and roughly 7in x 7in.  I bought two different patterns of fabric and another fabric that matched both to be used as the second side, so I would have a two sided wipe, one with a patter and the other a solid colour.  The assistant told me I would need 5 meters in each pattern and 10 in the solid in order to make the amount I wanted.

So I watched as they measured out my fabric and I was absolutely sure that there was waaaaayyyy too much material, but as I am not the expert here I said nothing.  That was my first mistake!  Once it is cut the material is a final sale!  The second mistake was that I should have asked what the price was before they started measuring.  The assistant filled out an order sheet for me first which would have been my warning sign as the bill was $154.00!!!  And that was with a 30% discount!

Ooops.

So much for my inexpensive project.  The other day I started cutting out my squares and stopped at 60 wipes and I still have enough fabric to triple this project!  So instead my project has gotten larger, now I plan to make some fitted sheets, receiving blankets, bibs and whatever else I need.

Besides the material is sooooo cute!