Sunday 16 September 2012

Keeping it neat

My friend's gorgeous boy turned one today and along with a few things he will enjoy I included things to make his mum's life a little easier, and with four kids aged from six to one I am sure every little thing helps!

These little bibs were made using Nikki's Fabulous Fifties Bib pattern.



It's available as a PDF download so it's great for instant gratification!

The bib provides really full coverage so little people are less likely to end up wearing their food...


I lined it with some cotton waffle fabric and added an outside layer of plastic so it is wipe clean.

I have a third one nearly done for another friend - and it was such good fun choosing boy fabric combinations, something I don't get to do very often.


I chose not to add the optional pocket as I am not a fan of digging food out of a pocket, I'd rather just clean it off the floor later!
But I liked the way the contrast panel at the bottom looked so I still added that on.

And I did lengthen the ties at the neck by 5cm when I was making it.


It would have been a far more difficult process had I not been sent a walking foot from the lovely Carmel a while back - otherwise plastic can be a little troublesome as it sticks to the bed of your sewing machine.

To make it easier to sew when the entire piece of plastic is facing the bed of your machine - put down some baking paper and sew through it as you go - it just tears off later.

I do think a tailors awl when sewing binding is the way to go to get a good result.

These are a very sweet little gift and if you were making them as shown in the pattern with fabric and towelling backing they would sew up in no time at all.

5 comments:

Jane said...

I just had to Google up 'tailor's awl binding' to discover what you meant about using the awl! And, I get it. Think I need one now.
The bibs look great and I really agree with you about pockets on bibs - those plastic ones with the scoop bit at the bottom make me shudder!

Unknown said...

That bib was the first pattern of Nikki's that I ever sewed. It's a great pattern. I really should make some more for Amélie with some girly fabrics as the ones she wears mostly have trucks and bulldozers on them. I love the fabrics you've chosen. I was wondering how that walking foot was going.

Karyn said...

Your bibs are so very cute! I have been making toddler aprons the last week or so, and these are a great design.
I agree about the pocket: it would be a nightmare trying to scrape all the food out of one. Yuk!

DangAndBlast! said...

Cute! I like the pockets - just turn it inside out, shake over the sink, toss in the laundry, and the baby who drops food all the time can still eat it rather than wasting everything that drops. But I suppose it's a matter of personal preference!

Anonymous said...

can some one tell me if they converted her measurements into inches? I want to make one of these but when I convert the measurements I alwaus get a decimal number and dont know if I should round UP to the next inch or what....can anyone comment on that? help???? Laurie