I had it in mind to make a little gift for the baby of friends of Natasha and Nick's.
I now have such a sheer amount of STUFF to craft with that it's no big deal to go into my “studio” (aka sewing corner, aka pantry) and find what I need to make something, especially if it's little and not too demanding. Sometimes I have to go upstairs to the linen closet, but not often.
This little thing I had in mind needed to be girly, have a bit of rick-rack (which just makes everything better), and include just a smidge of patchwork.
A bib is nice! If you need a pattern, you can look at this Chickpea baby bib pdf file. I printed it out and have it handy in my patterns file. I enlarged it a bit. The two pieces of the pattern are taped together to make one.
Those of you who are somewhat daunted by quilt-making might be interested to know about the process I went through to make my goddaughter Anne's quilt.
After I knew what fabrics (from my stash) I was going to use, I just went ahead and made a whole bunch of easy triangle patches.
I worked not backwards from a plan but forwards from these patches.
Consequently, I have many left over. I keep them together in that basket along with some scraps, and Sunday I had the thought of using a few to make a patch for this bib. I think I can use them this way — a few here and there to add bright color to baby things!
I used muslin for the back and some scraps of quilt batting for the inside.
Never throw away your batting scraps. They come in so handy! I realize this goes against the general spirit of my cleaning posts (and I further realize I haven't addressed the clutter issue, and maybe leftover batting scraps might be considered clutter by some), but we must have our priorities.
Just sandwich your backing, print, and batting together — right sides of the outer materials facing each other, batting on the bottom.
Sew around the edge with a 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving a few inches open on the side for turning. It's like you are making a pillow. Poke out the points of the bib well with a little crochet hook or something similar.
For the patch, I sewed together four of my triangle patches to make a little pinwheel. I could have been more careful with the points, I suppose.
Then, using a bowl, I cut it into a circle. Backing with a circle of muslin, I sewed, right sides together, completely around.
See, this is a little trick with a circular applique patch: rather than leave an opening on the side for turning (the way you did with the bib), cut into the middle of the muslin.
The cut will be hidden when you applique the patch, and you won't be dealing with blind-stitching a rounded seam.
Now for the rick-rack…decisions…
I love it all. I could just plaster the whole thing with rick-rack.
Okay, dark yellow for cheerfulness.
I pinned the patch onto the bib; sewing the rick-rack accomplishes the three tasks of applying it, applying the patch, and hiding any wonkiness in the circle. Circles are hard!
{By the way, if you do any kind of layered sewing, get yourself with a walking foot. You won't regret it — it will save you much anxiety and frustration.}
{If I had been foresighted, I would have done the patch step before assembling the bib front and back, eliminating the stitches on the back (they would be hidden inside the bib). But I'm impatient and hasty, not foresighted!}
To cover that rick-rack join, I chose a button. This is a little fraught with peril, in that babies and buttons don't really mix.
So I go under the rick-rack…
And sew the button on with two separate stitchings, knotting the thread after the first go and starting again. Hopefully fail-safe.
Sew up the opening on the bib side with a nice blind stitch…
And now for the fastening of the bib. You could sew on Velcro or snaps, but I've been wanting to use this pearl snap applicator I bought a while back on sale.
Of course the packaging made me antsy, so I chucked it. Which meant that now that I was ready to use it, I had no idea how to do so! Not that the directions would have helped; they were impenetrable, which is why I threw them away.
The interwebs to the rescue! Sew, Mama Sew has an excellent tutorial for using this snap plier gizmo thingy, and it worked like a charm!
I love it! From now on everything I make is going to have pearl snaps and/or grommets on it. It's the bomb.
Woman of the House says
I love it! It looks simple enough that even I could do it!
Dawn says
Cute–I need to get busy and make some wedding and baby gifts like these–using stuff I have!
Milkmaid says
I've been eavesdropping on this site for a few months now. And I just HAD to pipe up on this post. The bib is adorable, and thanks for all the little sewing tips.And I must say…after reading your bit about what you learned from your cleaning lady…. Well, I've never been so motivated to clean my house! Really. Thanks for all you're doing here.
Leila says
Now I kind of feel like the fabric is upside down.But it's really not…But it sort of is…
Emily says
Too cute, Leila! In fact it is so cute, it should be for dress-up only. No feeding allowed. Love love love the background fabric. Is it vintage or new?
Rosie says
The fabric's not upside down, Mama – you just positioned it so that the baby can see it properly!It's super cute.
Leila says
The fabric's not upside down, Mama – you just positioned it so that the baby can see it properly!It's super cute.
Leila says
Emily — it's new-ish…maybe 5 years old? It is really sweet… 30s repro…Rosie– ha ha, our comments crossed! Some of the little people are right side up, you know. I'm glad you like it…
Deirdre says
CUTE!And yes, that fabric is wicked lovable. And I agree with Emily: I think if it were for my daughter, I would never let her eat in it.
Anonymous says
Gorgeous. You are too clever. Thanks for sharing. (Linda)
Mary says
LOVE it! There are six new babies coming into my life in the next six months. Now I know what I can do that's quick but just lovely!! Thanks for the inspiration once again.
Faithemmanuel says
How lovely! I suspect I am not alone in that I NEVER get rid of anything that was handmade for myself or one of my children. This is truly a little heirloom! Faith
Margo says
soooo cute!I also work forward from my patches when I make a quilt, and then those extra patches show up in projects a months afterwards. I like it because I like the material I chose to begin with.I agree about the scraps of batting. . .and the ric rac. . .and the general cuteness of that bib.
Carmen says
So Cute!!!! I adore it! Thanks for the tutorial.