Corner Drool Pad Tutorial

Okay, so now you've mastered the straight sided drool pads and you want to move on to some curved ones that go around the corners. Here's your supply list:

two coordinating fabrics (about 1/4 of a yard of each)
something absorbent for the inner layer (I used natural cotton batting)
coordinating thread
snaps or velcro for closure
ribbon (optional)


Now you will need to download and print the pattern here.  (New patterns are now up! See my post here!) This pattern took a lot of time and effort for me to draft and I am freely giving my work away, so please do the right thing and don't share or sell this pattern. Feel free to link people to my blog or sell your creations based on my pattern, but link back to this page to give credit or make a donation using the link below.

Okay, first, you will need to prepare your pattern. You can either print three copies or fold your pattern on the straight lines. The first piece with be the entire pattern. The second piece will be the pattern with the small section on the right folded to the back (or cut off) and the third section will be with the small section on the left folded back (or cut). See below for a visual on what I mean here.

Place your fabric with wrong sides together and cut out the full pattern for each of your front and back fabrics. Now, fold your pattern along the line on the left and cut out that pattern on your folded fabric of each material. Unfold the pattern and then fold at the line on the right and repeat the process. You will be left with pieces that look like this.

You will also need to cut the same pieces out of your inner layer.

Collect the three pieces of one material pattern that fit together as shown in the picture below. The right sides of the material should match up together to form the same shape when they are all laid flat.

Pin along the curved edges with right sides together.

Sew the curved edges of all of your pieces together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Do the same for your inner layer. Trim the seam allowances on the inner layer to prevent having too much bulk in your seams.

Press the seams open or to one side or the other to make sewing the next part easier.

Place right sides together of your front and back material. (I'm using the same material on both sides here.) Then place your inner fabric on top. Pin all the way around, matching up seams and edges. It will feel a little wobbly trying to pin the curves, but do the best you can to line it all up straight with all three layers. If you are going to add ribbon to your drool pads, pin these in place now as well. You will want to put them in between the two layers of fabric (front and back material) with the loop pointing up (raw edges of the ribbon meeting the raw edges of the fabric).

Sew all the way around the outside edge of the three layers. Make sure to leave about a two to three inch gap along one of the sides to turn your work. I leave red pins at my start and stop points so I remember to leave my gaps open.

Clip the corners of your drool pads to remove the bulk. This will give you sharper corners when you turn. Now turn the whole thing right-side out. It will look a little on the wonky side.

A good press will clean it right up!

Now we need to close up the hole that was left from turning and make it stay all nice and in shape. Make sure that you press the edges to the inside to make it easy to sew down.

Top stitch all the way around the outer edge of the drool pad. I use a very scant 1/8" seam allowance because I like the way that it looks but you can go as wide as you initial seam allowance so long as you catch the inner layers of your turning hole.


Now press the sides to the middle and it's starting to look like something!

You  can now install your fasteners. I used snaps on mine, but you can use velcro or magnetic fasteners or whatever floats your boat.

And you're done! Admire that beautiful corner drool pad and keep your carrier straps safe from your baby's destructive nature.

If you enjoyed this pattern, consider donating to help me write more! I would love to create a video tutorial for each of my patterns but the equipment rental is not cheap. A small donation will go a long way! 

Would you like an easily printable version of this tutorial and pattern? Find it in my Etsy shop!