Holy Cow! Bibs!

I've been on vacation.  No, not since the last time I posted, but I was busy getting ready to go on vacation.  My house had to have a massively thorough cleaning BEFORE I went on vacation.  We're talking wiping down walls and baseboard, just short of repainting, cleaning.  Ceilings, walls, and all matter of flooring got my attention.

I'm weird like that.

I had a blast; thank you for asking.  I actually stayed home.  Yeah, I'm weird like that too.

But this little guy and his Mama came to see me!

My 7 month old grandson, Matthew Ryan, and my middle daughter, Holly, flew in from Texas for 10 days.  Although the weather was a little too cold to do the things I wanted to do, like going to the National Zoo, or visiting museums in Washington DC, I think we still had a good time just hanging out. 

And I was able to give my daughter a break from being mom, all the time, for a bit.  Not that she isn't completely and totally in love with her little man.  She said he a vital part of her, like an organ .. kind of wonky, but I know what she means.  Still, she was able to go out to dinner and hang out a bit with some old friends; two of which are pregnant now. 

You want to hear bizarre?  I sat in a chair in my living room listening to these three girls (I still see them as girls and probably always will) talk about pregnancy and babies and I was blown away.  For me it was a surreal conversation, because I still think of them as the collage aged kids working at TGI Fridays.  They're all grown up and having families of their own.  I'm still amazed!

Any whoo ... little man is teething and boy can he soak some bibs. 

Stephanie, one of the friends that is now expecting her own little one in September, made Holly some bibs and she loves them.  Holly claims they are the best things ever!  EVER!  So I thought I would break out the old sewing machine and make her some more, collaberating with Stephanie, of course (because the last thing I made was a toddler dress for my now 19 year old). 

This is the first set, of three, I made.  I wasn't thrilled with how they turned out, but I love that fabric.

I was really happy with these. Here's how I did it!

I purchased 1/2 yard of each flannel pattern and 1-1/2 yeards of white terry cloth (Holly and I thought we would double the terry, but decided against it.  We feared it would be too bulky.  Becuase I'm a rusty at sewing, I only got 3 bibs out of the flannel.  I left myself plenty of room for error.

Here's my inspiration bib (note what it says please).  I washed and ironed all my fabic first.  Yes the edges are frayed; I told you it's been a long time since I've done any sewing.  Then I laid the flannel, wrong side out, on top of the terry cloth.  I pinned them together.  I also pinned my inspiration bib to the material and traced the outline with a marker.  After outlining, I removed the bib and re-pinned the material together and cut it out.  You can see that the top of the inspiration bib is closed, however, I was using velcro, so I just folded the cut pattern in half and cut through the top (forming two piece to go around his little neck - see the photo above). 

I ran a straight stitch around the outer edges, leaving the bottom open.  Holly wanted the neck to be bigger than the inspiration bib, so using the machine foot as a guide, I stitched the neck twice and just cut the fabic back to the inner line of stitching (effectively making the neck larger).  Snip the fabric edges along your outer and inner corners a bit;  This will stop to fabric from bunching in those areas when your turn it. Turn the fabric right side out.  Here's a trick, I used a long wooden kitchen spoon handle to help with getting the corners turned out. 

Once I turn the fabric right side out, I ironed it again, turning in the bottom edges in that were left open.  I then ran another straight stitch around all the edges (hemming the bottom at the same time) for reforcement.  I sewed a strip of velcro on the back of the neck to close. 

And I should have taken more photos with more steps to show you.   Sorry.

But I do have this one.  He's such a happy little guy.  I love you to pieces Matthew!