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.

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!

Baptism and Baby Gifts!

I've been busy sewing this week.  My niece is getting baptized this Saturday and I wanted to make something special for her.  Her mom is my twin sister and I'm sad I won't be able to make it because they live in Canada.  Anyways I saw  a pillow similar to this on Pinterest awhile ago and decided it would make the perfect gift.

Of course I'm still using my favorite fabric, Ruby.  And I'm still loving cross-hatch quilting.  Really, I love hand quilting best, but I didn't have time.. 

I stitched her name using all 6 strands of DMC floss because I really wanted it to stand out.

And of course I really wanted to use one of my new fabric labels (tutorial here) for a little extra touch.  The best thing about this project, (my husband will agree) is I actually had everything and didn't have to go to the craft store once.  Although I was super close to running out of thread.

My little 5 year old sons preschool teacher is having her first baby girl so I wanted to make some special for her.  She has three boys and is so excited to be having a girl.  I remember when they didn't think they would be able to have any children.  They adopted their first and have been able to have three since then.  Anyways she is such a sweetheart and awesome teacher. 

Last time I made burp cloths I used ric rac down the sides, it was kinda a pain so this time I just used it on the little decorative strip of fabric on the front.  It was tons easier and I like it a lot better.  On the blue one I used some lace from Riley Blake that I think turned out pretty cute.

And another label!

So that's what I've been up to.  My kids have one week of school left and I'm super sad.  Not because they will be home more, I'm just always sad to say goodbye to their wonderful teachers - and it means my kids are growing up faster than I'd like.   My oldest will be in 6th grade - the thought makes me a little sick to my stomach, why does it have to go by so fast???

I'm back ............... I think!

Lets just say a 16 hour plane ride takes a while to to recuperate from.   We are back though and we really did have a  wonderful time.   We survived, our children survived, my parents survived and life if slowly getting back to normal...........just in time for school to get out and then find a new normal :).


I thought I would share a few pictures from the trip..................we took hundreds, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone so here are just a few.

This is me and my husband at the Garden of Gethsemane in Israel.

Here is a group from our tour floating in the Dead Sea.

I surprised myself and actually put on a swim suit.  It was
 pretty cool, I don't think you could drown in the Dead Sea
 if you wanted too.

Here I am deep in thought on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.  

 My husband and I at a temple in Egypt.

This is me sitting with my in law's working on a little sewing

in the Holy Lands - am I dedicated or what!

Left to Right.  My brother and sister and law, me and my
husband, my mother n' law and father n' law.  In the
background you can see the Mediterranean Sea.

Here we are at the Spinx with a pyramid in the background.
 We thought the security guard that was in Egypt with us was
being nice by offering to take our picture all the time.
 Turns out he wanted money when it was all said and done. 

The Temple at Petra in Jordan

Luxor Temple in Egypt.

We went on a four day cruise down the Nile River.

Every day when we got back they had our towels folded

into something interesting.

This is my cute sister n' law Jenny showing some children how

to fold a boat out of paper.

A cute little boy in Egypt that melted my heart.

 

My husband and I standing in front of one of 

138 huge columns in a temple in Egypt.

There are a ton more pictures.............maybe I'll post them another time.  Thank you all for your well wishes for me and my husband on our big adventure.  I was pretty nervous about leaving 4 little ones for so long.  I missed them a ton, but it was a great experience.   I'll post some pictures of some projects I worked on in a couple of days!

One more post before I take off on that plane!   I've been sick to my stomach the last few day at the thought of leaving my four children for so long.   I've only ever been away from them for 4 days - how on earth am I going to handle 16 days.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited - I'm blessed to have this opportunity, it's the chance of a life time.

I read this article today from the Utah Deseret News.  It's better than any crafty post would have been I promise you.  So often, I loose perspective trying to keep up.  If your like me - this article will be a breath of fresh air to you.

http://motherhoodmatters.blogs.deseretnews.com/2012/04/10/your-children-want-you/

Project Pain in the Neck!

I'm not sure there is a single part of this project that I haven't unpicked at least once.  I so wish I was kidding about that, but I'm not.  I don't know this project was such a challenge for me, and honestly...................I'm still not all that happy with it, but I just don't have the time to make another one. 

I should make it clear that I did not follow the pattern for this little sewing kit that can be found here.  I don't know why on earth I just didn't follow the pattern, instead I figured I would just figure it out on my own.  (Not the smartest idea).    I still need to sew some velcro onto the bottom of the strap in the middle.  The little strap is what holds on a couple spools of thread.

This little sewing kit was also supposed to be  a little bigger then mine turned out.  Every time I would fold it into three like the original, it pulled the fabric all weird with drove me crazy so I ended up cutting off about a third of it.  Oh well!  It's  done!  I do love the fabrics - They are so vintage and colorful.  I bought them over here in a bundle.  I don't think she sells them in a bundle anymore, but you can buy some of the pieces separately.

I have some exciting news.  I've been making this sewing kit because in a few days me and my husband will be here.......................

My husbands parents are taking us on a tour of Jordan, Jerusalem and Egypt.    I'm super excited and scared and nervous, you name it, I'm probably feeling it.  I'm super lucky that my parents are going to come and watch my kids while we are gone, or I don't think I could leave for for the two and a half weeks that we will be gone.

I may try and get a post done before we leave this Saturday, but if not I guess I will see you all in a couple of weeks with I'm sure a lot of stories and pictures to share!

Tutorial - Making your own Fabric Labels

I've wanted some fabric labels forever to sew onto things I make.  I just think they are cute and make things more personal.  Ok, and Nana Company always sews cute labels onto everything.  I'm to cheap to order any so I though I'd try and make some by myself.  I was pleasantly surprised when my little idea worked.  I thought maybe some of you would like a tutorial so you can make some of your own.  I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is.

Items Needed
- 9x12" piece of fabric
- 9x12" piece of light Heat and Bond
- Iron
- Ink Jet Printer


Step One - Iron your fabric onto the Heat and Bond.   Do not take of the paper backing.

Step Two - After you've ironed the fabric onto the Heat and Bond, cut it down so that's it measures 8 1/2" x 11".  I ironed mine again after this just to make sure it adhered well.

Using Photo shop or whatever program your comfortable with, type up some labels.  Load your fabric sheet into your printer and it should print just like it would on a normal piece of fabric.   At the bottom of this post I've typed up some labels if you would like to download and print them. 

I have heard that this does not work with Laser prints.  I think the ink may bleed or something.  I ran one of my labels under water just to make sure it didn't bleed.  You may want to do the same before sewing onto your project.

Here are my gray patches sewn onto the burp cloths I recently made.   I could use a little practice with my zig zag stitch.

Here are some labels I made up if you would like them.  I'm by no means a graphic designer so they are nothing special, but if you would like to download them  just click on them!