How to Make Cloth Diaper Wipes

My name is Gabrielle, and *gasp* I'm a cloth diapering mother. 

Now that the danger of a coronary has passed, and you've had a chance to catch your breath or roll your eyes, let me just say that I use the new version of a cloth diaper, which involves no pins whatsoever and is very convenient to use.  More on this next week.  First I'd like to tell you about the project I've been working on today: making more cloth wipes.

Once you begin cloth diapering, cloth wipes are a pretty easy jump to make.  Think about it.  When you change your baby's diaper, what do you do with the wipe?  Most of us tuck it neatly into the diaper and throw it into the garbage.  If you use cloth diapers and disposable wipes, then that just doesn't work.  So like the thrifty mama I am, I decided I wanted wipes, but I wasn't spending $10-$15 on something that would wipe poop off my baby's rear end.  I made my own, and I love them, but I needed more.  So today I made another 6 or so wipes during naptime.

It's a very easy sewing project, even if you hardly know how to sew.  And the great thing is if you mess up, who really cares?  Again, it's just going to wipe poop!

Choosing fabric:  Wipes are often made out of flannel, fleece, terry cloth, bamboo (rayon), or any combination of these fabrics.  When choosing fabric, go with what you already have or can get cheaply.  My wipes cost me a grand total of FREE.  I e-mailed moms, asking if they had any flannel receiving blankets I could have.  I got plenty of fabric this way.  I also came across a few hand-me-down baby bath towels that had been passed down to me from a family member.  They had definitely seen better days, and since I had received so many as gifts, I had planned on tossing these.  Instead, I cut the binding off and used the rest as fabric.  I also had some scrap fleece, so I used this too.     

I ended up with wipes of flannel/terry, flannel/fleece, and flannel/flannel. My favorites are the flannel and terry because it really cleans up dirty diapers. What I used to refer to as a 5 wipe poopy has now become a 1 or 2 wipe poopy with my cloth wipes.

Instructions:  You can make them with a single piece of fabric or double-sided.  I like mine double-sided, so they're nice and thick.  These are the instuctions I'm giving you.

Step 1:  Cut fabric into 8 1/2 by 8 1/2 squares.

Step 2:  Piece them together, right sides facing in.

Step 3:  Sew them up, using a zigzag stitch (1/4 inch seam allowance), and leaving a gap to flip them inside out.

Step 4:  Trim any excess fabric and turn them inside out.

tep 5:  Sew them all the way around with a zigzag stitch, overlapping where you began.

Folding them:

Cloth wipes can be just as easy to use as disposable.  You just have to learn how to fold them, which takes a whole 60 seconds to do. 

Lay one wipe down, then lay another, overlapping halfway. 

Fold the first one over. 

Then overlap another wipe, and fold the second one over. 

Continue this process with all wipes. 

Then drop it into a wipe container, pour your solution over it, and voila, you've got your own wipes!