Everyone knows how useful those Gerber cloth diapers can be. In addition to diapers they are awesome for baby burp clothes ! We even use the ones we received as gifts over 5 years ago for cleaning around the house. They are awesome!
I received an embellished one of these years ago and thought it was so cute. Now that my friends are having children I decided to make some myself to give away as gifts at baby showers.
These are really easy to make and are perfect for the new seamstress! You will hear "wow! You made that?!" when you give these at a baby shower. It is easy to find cottons that will match any baby shower theme. You can also use little bits of cottons you have saved in your stash making this a really affordable gift idea.
For this project you will need cotton fabrics (flannels and quilting cottons will work just fine!) and pre-made cloth diapers. I use the Gerber brand "prefold premium 6-ply" diapers as they are already thicker than the un-folded and I can find these very easily at any store in my area. I have pre-washed and shrunk the diapers but you don't have to. If you don't do this the cotton fabric you sew on will have a puckered look after the first washing because the cotton diaper will shrink more than the cotton fabric you sew on. If this is something you want to avoid then pre-shrink those diapers!
Measure the center of the diaper panel to determine the size of cotton you will need. I like to make a cardboard pattern the same size as the center diaper panel. I then cut out a piece of cotton that is about 0.5 inch larger than the cardboard pattern on all sides. Iron this rectangle of cotton to remove any wrinkles and center the cardboard pattern on it with the WRONG side up.
Now, you can carefully fold over the cotton onto the cardboard pattern, ironing as you go.
When finished, remove the cardboard pattern, flip over your cotton so the right side is facing up and now you have a nice rectangle of cotton with no raw edges showing! Easy peasy!
Now it is time to sew the fabric onto the diaper. I prefer to use a walking foot on my sewing machine when I do this. If you do not have a walking foot I highly suggest investing in one. They are invaluable when sewing knits or thick fabrics. If you do not have a walking foot you need to pin the cotton to the diaper as well as you can. The more pins you use the less the cotton will shift as you sew. Now it is time to sew all around the edges of the cotton. I like to use a white thread in my bobbin so that you can not see the thread on the reverse of the diaper. Sometimes I match the needle thread to the cotton but other times I like to use a contrasting thread to make it more fun!
If you have the ability to move your needle position, I recommend doing this so that your entire walking foot is on the fabric. Sew all around the edges of the cotton and you are done!
Yay! So much more fun than those boring white burp clothes!