Burpies and Bibs

This picture of Joshua shows a glimpse of one of my favorite baby crafts. When I had Lydia, a friend gave me these super snuggle flannel bibs and burp rags that a friend of hers makes. I loved them so much I wanted to make tons more, for Lydia and anyone else I knew who was having a baby.

The burp rag is just a rectangle of flannel and chenille with some fun ribbon tags attached, but it ends up being a great multi- tasking baby item. I don't leave the house without one. In addition to protecting my shoulder or wiping a little spill, in an emergency I have used them as a small blanket, a breast feeding cover up, and even a diaper changing pad (washing them in between, of course!)

I have adjusted my method for making these over the years and gotten it down to a pretty good system, which I will now share with you! Starting with a yard of fabric that is still folded in half like when it comes off the bolt, fold it into 3 (third of a yard) sections.

This will yield six rectangles that are each the size of a burp rag. You can sew two of these rectangles together to create an all flannel burp rag. Or you can cut a matching rectangle shape from chenille to have a thicker more absorbent burp rag. Either way, sew around three sides of the rectangle (with right sides together). Turn so the right side is out. Add ribbon taggies of you like. Top stitch the open end shut and continue top stitching all the way around the square.

I also make my bibs from the same initial third of a yard sections. You can see how one of the initial six rectangles will make two bibs with a little extra fabric left over. The shape I make is basically a rectangle with rounded corners and a hole cut in the center. I also sew one flannel shape to one chenille shape, leaving an opening at the bottom of the bob. Trim, turn, and top stitch the bib adding small pieces of Velcro to the top.

I stock up on flannel whenever JoAnns has snuggle flannel on sale for about $3 a yard. The chenille is around $14 a yard, so I buy larger quantities of it and use a JoAnn's 40% off coupon on it. Lately, however, I have not seen chenille either in a store or online at JoAnn's. I could buy it from other online retailers, but not with a 40%off coupon.

So, I had been searching for a solution when my friend showed me her new towels. They are a quick dry, eco-friendly towel sold at Bed Bath and Beyond. I took one look and instantly thought of my hard to find chenille! In the pictures above and below, the towel is on the left and the chenille is on the right.

The prices are similar for both materials, and the towel ends up being twice as thick as the chenille because it has the texture on both sides, while the chenille has a textured and a flat side.

Finally here are two of the burp tags I made for Joshua. The brown one with tool pattern is all flannel while the blue owls are backed in the chenille.