Monday, June 18, 2012

Quilted Baby Bib Tutorial

A while ago I had a couple people ask about a pattern for this baby bib.  I decided just to go ahead and do a tutorial along with the pattern - hope you can use it!



Here is a list of things you will need - These are instructions for making two bibs.
30 coordinating 2 1/2" x 5" pieces of fabric
2 - 13" x 11" pieces of minky fabric for the back
2 - 13 x 11" pieces of flannel
Dritz heavy duty snaps and tools (pictured below)
Bib pattern click here & here


Step One -
Organize your fabric so you have five strips of fabric across and 6 down. 


Step two- Taking a row at a time sew your pieces of fabric together - making sure to keep the fabric in the order you have them organized in step 1. Use a 1/4" seam allowance for entire bib.  Iron.

Step three - Cut each row of fabric in half so that they are now 2 1/2" long.


Step four - Sew each row of fabric together pinning at the seams.  You should have two pieces that look like this. Iron.


Step five - (my favorite part)  Quilt your fabric with a piece of flannel on the back.  I just did cross hatch quilting.  A little hint.  Always go the same direction.  I start in the middle at the top and sew down to the bottom.   Then starting at the top again - sew down to the bottom,  repeat this until all your vertical lines are quilted.  Then start on the side in the middle and do the exact same thing.


Step six - Trace pattern onto the quilted fabric.  It will be a tight fit, but it will fit.  If for some reason it doesn't just adjust the length of your bib pattern a little.  Sometimes on these bibs I sew a row of ric rac on just for a little extra.   This would be the perfect time to do that.  I attach the ric rac on the seam that connects the 4th and 5th row, just sewing right down the middle of the ric rac.


Step seven - Cut out bib


Step eight - Pin bib onto your minky fabric with right sides together.   Start on the right side and be sure to back stitch at the beginning and end.  Leave about 2 - 3 inches un-stitched so that you can turn the fabric, inside out.


Step nine - cut around the edges and turn.  Sew the opening closed.


Step ten - Attach the snap - here is a picture of the snaps I used.  These are pretty heavy duty, you could of course use something different.  I just have a hard time when my babies turn into toddlers getting them to keep their bibs on.


A little note - I just used the tip of my scissors to make a hole to fit the snap through. Directions for attaching the snaps are on the back of the package.


And ta-da your done.


These bibs make the perfect baby gift.  I like to put it with a couple matching burp cloths.    By the way, the fabric I used is called Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda.  They don't make it anymore, but you may be able to find it on etsy or something.  A charm pack works perfect for this project.



Monday, June 4, 2012

Pillow's, B-day presents, and Teacher Appreciation

Yes.............it's another pillow. I've decided that's my new favorite thing to make. It works up much quicker than a quilt and takes much less fabric. So, you might be seeing a lot of these since I have a couple more birthday's coming up. My little niece Ashley turned 5 so this pillow is for her.


My daughter actually make the cute little blanket in back.  She'd been wanting me to teacher her to sew forever.  Awhile back she was struggling with anxiety and I thought maybe teaching her to sew would keep her mind off of all the worrying her little brain was doing.    I cut out 5" squares and let her arrange them and sew them together.   She did an awesome job.


My good friend Jenny had a Birthday and I wanted to make her something special.  She likes to sew also, so I knew she would appreciate something like this.   It's just a little covered notebook.  I still need to make three more for friends birthday's that I've missed.................I'm such a slacker.


Sorry, you probably getting sick of seeing these tags sewn into everything.  I just love how they make things seem and little more personal.


It was the last day of school for my kids this last Friday.  I have LOVED their teachers this last year and really wanted to do something special for them.  I found these Welch's  sparkling lemonade's at Walmart and thought they looked so good.    The card's kind of cheesy, I'm not to creative with words.


I think I may need to go buy one of the strawberry lemonade's for myself.  


Today is the first day of summer break for my kids.  I always have a tough time with that last day of school.  I'm glad to have my kids home, but I'm always sad to say goodbye to their teachers, they've had such good one's.   My daughters teacher was so sweet with her, especially when she was going through her anxiety.  She even sat and cried with me over seeing her struggle.  She's an amazing lady.  She and her husband have adopted 8 children.

 
My son's teacher has been such a sweetheart also.  He's always struggled a little with stuttering and she has been so great in helping him get the help he needs.  This is him on the last day of school.  It was also Pajama day:)    I was sad to learn she is transferring to a different school next year.   He has loved her so much, he even asked if he could go to summer school.


Hopefully your not getting sick of seeing my projects.  I need to try and think up something new, but my goal this summer is to finish all my projects that I've started, gotten bored with and stashed away.  Wish me luck!