How to Make Burp Cloths from Jersey Knit Fabric

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A couple weeks ago I purchased a variety of 1/4 yards of jersey knit fabric. Since these were not fat quarters, they are pretty narrow strips of fabric. They are only nine or ten inches wide. My options for creations were limited because of this.

I originally bought the fabric to make a few headbands for our new baby girl.

I made plenty of jersey knit headbands using this excellent yet simple tutorial found at https://howdoesshe.com/knotted-baby-head-tie-with-free-pattern/.

The template is free and simple to download. I’d recommend it.

So I made a handful of headbands and though, ‘now what?’

I could attempt to sell the remainder of the fabric I purchased. I looked up tutorials for making leggings for baby girls. I considered attempting to piece the scraps into a little jersey knit quilt. I googled, ‘what to make with jersey knit fabric.’

Baby clothes and accessories seem to top the list for knit fabrics.

I considered making baby clothing, but then I remembered that I really am not overly detailed and perfectionistic in my sewing endeavors. Sometimes I just jump right in hoping for the best, and then things quickly go awry, and I get frustrated at my husband when he can’t solve all my quilting problems.

The jersey knit fabric is so soft. I really toyed with the idea of turning the leftovers into some sort of baby blanket, but I really couldn’t find much on piecing knit together. Considering the texture and difficulties (and my lack of experiece) of sewing with knit, I decided to not be the first one to attempt a pieced knit quilt.

Our dear little Betsy is proving to be a spitter upper. Milk goes in and comes back out of her mouth shortly thereafter. Two of my boys rarely spit up. One spit up constantly. Betsy needs her clothed changed more than once a day because of the amount of milk saturation on her little pink outfits.

Considering some of our burp cloths are shredding at the ends, I had a moment where I realized making burp cloths could actually be a practical use of the leftover knit fabric. Not only would the burp cloths be practical, they’d be a quick project AND rather cute.

I have rarely sewn with knit. I made these bibs years ago, and I believe that is the only time I’ve purchased knit fabric. (These bibs, by the way, are the most viewed tutorial on this blog. Check them out for a free downloadable template!)

Before I show you how I made my burp cloths, here are a few tips I’d offer up front:

-You need a ball point needle for your sewing machine. (It has a rounded tip that is different than the standard needle.)
-Considering using your walking foot when sewing with knits. (See why below.)
-Knits roll at the edges like crazy. Have starch and an iron close by.
-For any projects that need precision, I’d recommend using an interfacing in conjunction with your knits. It’d provide some stability.
-Doing a project with knit AND precision and intricate details would grow frustrating for me fast. Knit stretches and it curls.

Where do I purchase my knit fabric?

I purchased all of this from Two Dreams Shop on Etsy. I loved her selection, and free shipping is offered with a $35 purchase. I had a hard time finding many shops with a wide variety of options for knit.

If you are willing to purchase a full yard at a time, Fabric.com is another great place to look for knit fabric. They have a ton of options, but they all come with a minimum purchase of a yard.

Since I was after a wide variety in small amounts, I purchased from Two Dreams Shop.

How to make burp cloths from jersey knit fabric:

1. Cut two pieces of jersey and one piece of batting to the size of your burp cloth. (Pictured above.) Mine are approximately 10 inches by 19 inches. I likely would have made them a bit wider, but a quarter yard of fabric is only about ten inches wide.

Use scrap batting for this! I sewed two narrow pieces together for these. And, maybe keep your batting a bit larger than your fabrics. (See below as to why.)

2. Layer your fabrics and pin together. Put your batting on the table first. Lay one fabric FACE UP. Lay the other fabric FACE DOWN.

You can see below that the batting is on bottom. It’s the biggest piece.The aqua floral fabric is face up. It’s just a hair larger than the peach fabric. The peach fabric is face down on the top.

Pin around the edges. If you don’t pin, the sides will curl in.

3. Since we’ll be flipping this right side out at the end, I suggest arranging two pins as a reminder to stop sewing. (see below.) You’ll need a two to three inch gap or hole to flip the inside out.

4. Sew around the perimeter leaving a two or three inch gap at one end. I used the top peach fabric as a guide. I sewed about an 1/8 of an inch from the edge of the fabric.

Here’s a closer look:

5. Trim the excess batting and fabric off around the stitching.

I don’t trim the excess off where I left the gap. It is much easier for me to sew the gap shut when I have a little tab of fabric and batting to fold in.

Here’s a closer look:

6. Using the two or three inch gap you left, flip the burp cloth inside out!

Here’s what mine looks like turned right side out. So now here’s the one tricky part to the project.

It’s time to stitch a small border around the outside of the burp cloth. I guess you could simply use a whip stitch and sew the gap shut and be done! But I wanted a border around the perimeter.

I first did this border with my sewing machine. My machine had trouble chewing through the bulk at the edges. I felt I was constantly shoving and pulling the fabric through.

Jersey knit fabric is stretchy, right?

Think of elastic. What happens when you pull elastic taut as you move it through your sewing machine? The elastic is going to crinkle or ruffle your fabric once it’s relaxed on the other side of the foot.

The same concept is going to happen if you pull the jersey through. Since my machine was having trouble stitching through the bulk, my pulling created a wavy finish. (see above and below picture.) While this does not bother me much, I wanted to figure out if there was a solution.

I tried using my walking foot with the second burp cloth. The waviness was better, but I was still handing my fabric more than I wanted. It was, by no means, gliding through my machine.

Third burp cloth? (the teal one below.) I hand sewed the edge. Perfect! With such a small project, it only took me a few minutes to sew around the outside to create a finished look.

From what I understand, the issue I had above is likely the result of the quality of my sewing machine. Those of you with a more sophisticated or heavier duty machine likely won’t have the same challenge I did.

I am still completely satisfied with my Singer Quantum 9960, but I know there are many other options out there for a higher quality machine.

All that to say, I loved this small project. It was simple, and I think the burp cloths turned out adorable!