Crafty stuff

Baby bib bonanza

2016 has been the year of babies (amongst other things, but let’s not go into that…).

All my friends are having them.  5 so far, with 4  more due in December or early Jan!

As baby gifts, I’ve been making bibs – experienced mothers tell me you can never have to many of them, and they are fun to make.

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

Useful AND fun is about as good as it gets for baby stuff – plus, quick to make, and great for using up fabrics scraps.

So for the last three months, a corner of the sewing room has had a stack of fabric scraps and cut-out bibs, and whenever I need a quick sewing fix I make one up, and accumulate a pile of finished  ones.  Every few weeks there is another baby shower, or time comes due to send a package off, and my pile of done ones dwindles.

This is 1/4 of the bibs I’ve made so far:

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

I’ve made reversible ones:

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

And ones lined in moisture-proof fabric:

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

Ones with applique:

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

And patchwork ones:

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

I’ve used fabrics from Made on Marion, Fabric-a-Brac, op-shops, The Fabric Store, and The Fabric Warehouse!  Plus lots, and lots, and lots of bias binding.

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

Felicity, has, of course, helped, participating in quality control, and glaring at me when I got too distracted with the camera instead of the sewing machine:

Baby bibs thedreamstress.com

It hasn’t been quite as exciting and making something big and elaborate and historical, but it’s been nice and relaxing!

Would anyone be interested in a template and a tutorial?

33 Comments

  1. Those are super cute. I would recommend snaps if you were to do a template or tutorial though – I ended up removing any Velcro on our bibs and replacing it with snaps because I just don’t have the time/energy to deal with Velcro in the laundry.

    • I’d be including snaps as well as velcro. I polled a number of mothers I knew and they said velcro over snaps, which is why I went with it 🙂

  2. Carole says

    Yes a tutorial and template would be wonderful! But how you are going to convince her Majesty to hold still on the template? Or is she going to allow you to make copies of her fluffiness?

  3. They are lovely!
    And as a new mom myself (with teething just around the corner) I can only concur with your friends – we go through lots and lots of bibs each day, trying our best to keep them clean(ish) and dry between uses.
    I would love a template/pattern as my own tries at making them landet in the trash.

  4. Libby says

    Would love a template and/or tutorial! Although I may not be able to use it, as I’ll be too busy gazing at those neat little stitches on the elephant patchwork…

  5. Elise says

    So cute! So useful! Personally, I preferred the hanky-looking ones (my kid looked like an adorable cowgirl!) while she was teething and they were switched throughout the day. You can never have too many. These days, we just tie a big flour sack around her neck for dinnertime. I concur with the snaps rather than velcro (although we made due just fine with the velcro), unless a person’s washing/drying machine interior will get scraped by the metal.

    And I second the neat and tidy stitching!

  6. Deanna says

    These are so cute! Love the bright, happy colors and variety of fabrics. And yes to a template & tutorial.

  7. Bibs are so useful. They are a bit like the baby equivalent of aprons and either cover or deter some of the worst stains! These look nice and big which is so great. I would be happy to have a template and I am curious whether you use a bias tape foot or sew and flip…. I haven’t yet gotten a bias binder to work just as I want it to but I know they can and it seems like it would be the perfect thing to practice on.

  8. MayravB says

    Those are adorable! I’d be interested in a template. I’ve been looking for good bib tutorials, and if you made one, I’d know it was good!

  9. MayravB says

    Actually, I’m amending my comment. What I REALLY want is to know how to get such even, nice looking binding. Do you baste? Pin? Glare at it until pulls itself together?

  10. Home-sewn baby bibs are such a great gift idea for new parents! While I’m not in the market myself, I think it would be a real service to post a tutorial on how to make them. And they need not be just for babies; the model could also be adapted to adult size for other uses (e.g., shampooing/hair dyeing, adults with stroke or other coordination problems, etc.)

    Re: the Velcro problem. One could I imaging also make these with ties, though ties would be less convenient to use than either Velcro or snaps.

    • Elise says

      YES! Sized up for our lovely elders who may need some help keeping clean while eating. My grandmother had a sort of bib as she got weaker and weaker. (the waterproof backing is a great idea, too!)

  11. There do seem to be a lot of babies being born this year. These are such a fun, cute little gift idea.

  12. Heather says

    my grandma made not only bunches of bibs just like yours, but she also made these great smock/pinafore type things that were great when my kids were older. A template would be great, since my youngest are 14 now, and maybe in a few years my older ones will be having kids and neef some bibs!

  13. A template and tutorial would be fantastic, I tend to knit baby presents which gets a bit stressful when my friends have a baby boom.

  14. Grace says

    Yes I would love a pattern!!! Seems everyone I know is pregnant too!!

  15. Haana says

    A tutorial and a template? Yes, please! It will make a lovely change from Knitting All the Things, and your tutorial and so helpful and clear, especially for a beginner like me.

  16. Kaela says

    I love the bibs and was thinking, “I’ll have to try drawing a pattern for that and research how to get such neat bias binding.” I was ecstatic when I read the last line in your post, asking if anyone is interested in a tutorial. I can’t get bias binding to look good unless I hand sew it, so I would love to learn your trick.

  17. Hatti says

    I’d love a tutorial and template!

    Also I’m visiting New Zealand from the UK (flying tomorrow!) And would love any guides to fabric shopping in Wellington! You always use lovely fabrics.

    • mademarioncraft.co.nzthefabricstore.co.nzfacebook.commademarioncraft.co.nzthefabricstore.co.nzfacebook.com

      Oooh! Lucky you! I hope you have a lovely time here!

      My favourite shops are Made on Marion, The Fabric Store (thought it’s gotten a bit overrun with Liberty lately), and The Fabric Warehouse.

      If you start off at Made on Marion they will give you a cool map with all the other places on it. And The Fabric Store is less than two blocks from Made on Marion 😀

      Have a fantastic trip!

      • Hatti says

        Thanks so much for these! I went to Made on Marion and thought it was awesome, and bought some lovely fabrics from the Fabric Store (not Liberty!). Barely had space for them in my bag but so glad I got to visit such good stores! (and we loved the rest of NZ as well, obviously!)

  18. helen mclean says

    That bias binding is AWESOME! Would definitely appreciate a tutorial on such neat binding.

  19. Your bibs look so neat! You and your friends will hopefully have many noisy/fun gatherings in the near future.
    Your template is way too late for my family… but since they do make great gifts, thank you for offering to do this.
    My older one yanked bibs like this right off. I found one shop that sold hand towels with a hole cut out for baby’s head. They’d finished the hole with exactly matching sweatshirt ribbing, and then put an elephant applique on the bottom of the towel. They were cute, and my child couldn’t get them off alone. Have you ever seen one of these types of bibs?

  20. Della says

    You do such lovely work! Beautiful job and a pleasure to see (even better since I’m way out of this stage 😎 ).

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