Sewing Tute: How to Make Easy Burpees

Now, let me first start by saying that no...there is no bun in the oven please. I am not even married (yet!).

Before I purchased my sewing machine, of course I did the right thing and researched on the Internet the things I could make with it. And one finds very quickly that baby/children things are in abundance. They are not only easy to make but can be very forgiving which is handy for beginners like myself.

I am slowly being surrounded by procreating women and these *burpees not only make wonderful, personalised baby shower gifts but also serves as an excellent first project for the beginner sewer.

So here is my step-by-step of how to make a burpee. I just combed the Internet for tutes and combined it all to make it my version.

*burpees aka burp coths: just like other humans, babies love watching the world go by and enjoy being propped up against the shoulder. But like every other baby, they do drool and have the occasional spit up. These are just prettier versions of the terry towel or whatever mothers use nowadays to protect their shoulders!

1)Start out by cutting your cloth into 30cm x 45 cm pieces.

As you can see from my picture, I cut the flannel a little larger than the muslin. I find that easier for me for some reason. The excess I will trim off later.

I had planned to use muslin for the top and flannel for the bottom as I've read that real life mothers have claimed that flannel seems to adhere better to a clothed shoulder and doesn't tend to slip off.

Just bear in mind that you want something soft for the top fabric (think of those chubby cheeks!) but also absorbent enough.

*Do invest in a pair of specialised cloth cutting scissors. I was reluctant at first but Leng talked me out of it and this $20 dollar pair cuts through cloth like butter! Definitely a must buy for all beginner sewers!

2) Iron your fabric out. This step is essential for beginners. It just makes life simpler!

*My ironing board cover says, "IRONING BORED" :):)

3) Place your fabric correct sides together (as you will be turning these inside out later on).

4) Pin the 2 pieces of fabric together, making sure you leave a gap of 7-8 cm on one side. This is the gap where you will be putting your hand in to turn the burpee inside out.

Picture of my pinned gap. The pins are essential for the beginner as you will find out!

Just be sure to remove the pins as you sew! Some machines come with a presser foot that allows you to sew directly on top of pins but I don't think my little machine can.

5) Sew right round with a simple, straight stitch (I used the Number 2 on my machine), but remember to NOT sew the gap which we pinned out earlier.

I normally start at one end of the gap and go right round to the other end of the gap. Remember to BACKSTICH (You Tube this) on starting and ending. I think this is so your entire burpee doesn't end up unravelling at the seams!

6) Cut away any excess cloth.

7) Clip all 4 corners. Just don't clip them too close to the seam. This is before...

And this is afters....

And why do we clip them you ask? To get a lovely looking corner! :)

You can aid your corners further by using the blunt end of a chopstick or eraser on the end of a pencil to gently push the corners out. It really does make a difference!

9) The final step is to iron out your burpee and tuck the excess fabric in at the gap and then topstitch all round the burpee, remembering again to backstitch at the start and end (sorry but I didn't take any pictures here!)

Tadaa!! And you have a burpee! This is my first ever burpee and I made it under 20 minutes!

Here is my complete set! I had originally wanted to give them out as Xmas presents but babies grow up so quickly that there might not be any use for them when I gift them!