Sewing for Baby: Cloth Wipes

I have a nice quick post for you all tonight. It is the first in a new series that I have titled Sewing for Baby.  I have had my sewing machine for about 3 years now and I am proud of all that I have accomplished with it.  I don't consider my self a professional seamstress by any means but I definitely think that I have moved up from the status of a novice.  Last summer I decided that I wanted to add to my skills (and tools) and so I asked my husband for a serger for my birthday.  That serger has sat in the closet until recently when I finally got up the nerve to give it a whirl.

I decided that cloth wipes were a good place to start since they are very simple.  We have decided to give cloth diapering a try at least part time so it only seemed natural that we use cloth wipes when cloth diapering.  Joann Fabrics had a sale on their flannel prints not too long ago for $2.80 a yard.  I bought a half yard each of 5 different prints.

I pre-washed the flannel and then I used my rotary cutter and mat to cut 8 1/4" by 8 1/4" squares.  2 and a half yards yielded 40 wipes.  There are tutorials out there where people made double layered wipes but I didn't find that necessary.

My perfectly cut squares sat for quite awhile because the serger was still intimidating me.  I finally got up the nerve to thread the thing and then used a scrap piece of fabric to test it out.  The test run didn't go so well so I had to walk away from the serger again with a little bit of frustration.  A few days later I came back to it and discovered that I had made a few errors in the threading process. Once I fixed it, the machine worked like a dream.  I got to work serging the edges of my wipes.  I don't think that I would of been successful with this project if it weren't for the plethora of blog posts on serger tips, so thank you internet!

It took me no time at all to blast through that pile of 40 wipes.  I am pretty pleased with my first serger project.  The next one that I have in mind looks a little more complicated so I think I will have to work up some nerve again before I tackle that one!  I hope to be back later this week with a post on more art for the nursery wall.