Bitty Bottle Bib Tutorial

I've totally tested and refined these bibs on my own bitty baby, using them from birth through bottle feeding, teething and even for toddler snack time. These have also been gifted to many friends who love how absorbent they are, not to mention how well they wash and wear. I'm sharing the pattern and instructions with you along with some great tips on making these Bitty Bottle Bibs!

About the toweling: I've tried all kinds of toweling for this bib, and by far my favorite has been the Room Essentials towel sets from Target. (Like these bibs made from a bright fruit set.) Each set includes 5 towels, three solid colored and two prints; cut two bibs from each towel for a total of 10 brightly colored bibs! Look for new towel sets that hit the kitchen section of Target once or twice a year, and look for older sets being marked down to great clearance prices.

Get ready to sew!

Download PDF pattern file here, (print on 8 1/2" X 14" legal sized paper).
Pattern instructions update!
Since creating this tutorial for Through The Needle in February, I've found that it works best to fuse the interfacing to the toweling instread of the backing!
These changes are reflected in these updated instructions.

Tools:

Bib pattern

Sewing machine (Walking Foot attachment optional)

Pins

Scissors

Materials:

One kitchen towel (see "Toweling" tips above) or 3/8 yard cotton toweling

One colorful cotton fat quarter or 3/8 yard fabric for backing

One yard lightweigh fusible interfacing

Matching thread for bib construction

Contrasting thread for topstitching

Pearl snap closures

Be sure to pre-wash all fabrics to get the shrinkage out!

Make a bib!

ONE:
Using the bib pattern provided, cut out the bib pieces. (If you are using the Target kitchen towels, fold short ends together and cut in half to create fabric for two bibs.) Folding the fabric in half, place the pattern on the fold and cut one from the toweling, one from the cotton backing, and one from the lightweight interfacing.

TWO:
Following the manufacturer's instructions, fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the toweling.

THREE:
Pin the bib pieces right sides together, using lots and lots of pins to help keep the layers from shifting. Leave a 3" opening along one long side for turning.

FOUR:
Stitch with a 1/2" seam, toweling side UP on the sewing machine (remember to leave an opening for turning). Using a Walking Foot attachment will keep the layers from shifting while you sew. If you don't have a Walking Foot, use lots of pins and sew slowly to keep the layers from shifting.

FIVE:
Trim the seam allowances to ¼". Clip inside curves close to the stitching, and cut notches in the outer curves.

SIX:
Turn the bib right side out through the opening, using the blunt end of a chopstick or pencil eraser to help turn the corners smoothly. Press the edges of the bib flat, turning the seam allowances at the opening to the inside. Pin the bib layers together all around the edge to help keep the layers from shifting while topstitching.

SEVEN:
Topstitch the bib close to the outer edge. Again, if you have a Walking Foot attachment, use it to help the layers from shifting.

EIGHT:
Finish by adding snap closures to the ends of the bib. I use a snap attachment tool to attach snaps (I never got the hang of the little tool you use with a hammer). If you prefer hook and loop tape, stitch a small piece on each end instead of snaps.

That's all there is to it, this is a really easy project! Go make some bibs and have fun stitching!




Disclaimer: Feel free to follow this tutorial for personal use, but please don't use any of my photos or tutorials without my permission. Thanks!

Bitty stitches for babies

There's been a whole lotta stitchin' for bitty babies around here. We have both friends and family expecting a brand new bitty baby in the next couple of months!

One of my favorite stand-by gifts includes a matching set for diaper changes made from my own Baby Changing Pad tutorial and a really cool Diaper Pouch tutorial from one of my favorite crafty bloggers, Noodlehead.

Recieving blankets are another favorite gift, and I plan on making a coordinated set to pair with the handmade Snuggler from Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing for Baby. I haven't stitched up a Snuggler yet, but I hear this pattern is soooooper cute, and I can't wait to try one.

Speaking of patterns for bitty babes that I am dying to stitch up, have you seen the Baby Binky Bunny pattern from mmmcrafts at Etsy? Dude. I have no idea how I've resisted buying this pattern so far. Seriously - as soon as I finish typing and linking, I'm off to get my copy. 

And last but not least, I love whipping up a set of bitty bottle bibs for babies. I used these from birth all the way through the teething drooling times - and K still wears them for snacks! This is K at 3 months wearing one of the bibs - looking at me like, "Whattarya doin', Ma? Where's my lunch?"

These bibs are a great shape, and the towelling makes them extra absorbent!

You may recognize these as the very same pattern published in the Through The Needle magazine back in February. I'd also like to share the project with you, and will be posting in the next couple of days - so keep your eyes peeled! And now I'm off to pick up a Baby Binky Bunny pattern. Happy stitching!

Wow. Holy mother-of-projects-gone wrong.

Yeah. Well, we all make mistakes, especially when experimenting with a new idea. And my excellent new idea was to cover a tote bag with yo-yo's made with some pretty vintage fabrics I've been holding on to. In my head, this was going to be a really freakin' cool looking summery-flowery yo-yo tote!

In reality, it looks like I went on a clown killing spree to finish this. In fact, it's already been dubbed as the "clown pelt" by friends. My husband politely acknowledged the craftsmanship and then followed up by asking if I was "really going to take that thing in public?". Yep, I have created a monster.

On the bright side, my little girl loves it. She points to all the buttons (saying, "Buh-uhns" so cute, right?) and loves the bright colors. So this may just end up being a bag for K.

I lined the bag with some vintage sheeting, too. And - now that I am thinking about it - many of the buttons were vintage as well.

In retrospect, it's not the project design that's so awful, but rather my choice of materials. I think softer colors, sticking to just a few fabrics and finishing up with just one kind of button to tie it all together would make this a sucess. However, I've had my fill of yo-yo's for the moment. I think it's time to move along to something new!

How about you? Have you ever had a project go terribly wrong?

Thread, thread, thread!

There is a great conversation going on at Sew, Mama, Sew!'s blog right now about sewing threads in conjunction with the new Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett premium thread collections.  I got all giddy last week when I saw this post asking readers to chime in about their own thread, because after all, I love thread! I was so happy to share a link to a few of my own pictures of my thread stash and advice for storing said stash along with many other great comments from readers.

And today I got excited all over agian when I saw that one of MY thread pictures is being featured in Sew, Mama, Sew!'s Thread Stash Highlights blog! Yay! Go and take a look see!

Make a Yo-yo Flower!

I spent most of the past week nursing my sick toddler K, who's come down with an intestinal flu bug. Poor little girl! But I did manage to put together a tutorial for those yo-yo flowers I blogged about last week to share with you!

Make a yo-yo flower!

Materials (for making one flower)
To learn how to make fabric yo-yo's, visit Heather Bailey's awesome tutorial!

• Two finished yo-yo's of different size (this flower uses one 3" and one 2" yo-yo)
• One or two small scraps of green felt
• One 1" shank button
• One 1/2" 2-holed button
• One 16" piece of green floral wire (or any other bendable wire that will fit through the buttons)
• One small pair of snips/sharp scissors

Get ready, get set, and go!

ONE:
Gather your materials together. Cut the felt into one or two rectangles the length of your largest fabric yo-yo.

TWO:
Using the snips or sharp scissors, cut a small slit in the center back of each yo-yo.

THREE:
Cut the rectangle(s) of felt into leaf shapes, wider at one end and tapering to a point at the other. Then cut a small slit near the bottom end of each leaf.

FOUR:
Thread the wire through the hole in the shank button, centering the button in the middle of the piece of wire. Pinch the wire together once the button is centered.

FIVE:
Start with the smallest fabric yo-yo, and with the front of the yo-yo facing the button, thread the wire through the slit in the middle. Next, thread the larger yo-yo on the wire and then the felt leaves.

SIX:
Push all the layers together towards the shank button; look, it's a flower!

SEVEN:
Thread the two-holed button on the wire; each piece of wire going through one hole in the button. Push it down against the felt leaves. Twist the ends of the wire together tightly against the flat button.

EIGHT:
Continue twisting the wire ends together all the way to the bottom, creating the stem to finish the flower.

Hey, that's all there is to it! Once you have your yo-yo's ready to go, it really takes no time at all to turn them into a beautiful bunch of flowers. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Feel free to follow this tutorial for personal use, but please don't use any of my photos or tutorials without my permission. Thanks!

Yo-yo Love

Who doesn't love yo-yo's? They're fast and easy to whip up (ahhh, instant gratification) and the possibilities for yo-yo projects are endless. I got a good dose of yo-yo inspiration last week, stitched some up, and made up a pretty bouquet of flowers!

Easy to whip-up! They look great just by themselves,

or in a big bunch!

You can't beat Heather Bailey's yo-yo tutorial for learning to stich some up. And if you're looking for inspiration, visit Sew, Mama, Sew! to download a PDF of great yo-yo project ideas; or try this great page of yo-yo links from Needlepointers.com. As for my flowers, I'm working up a little tutorial for a yo-yo sit-n'-stitch project and will share it with you when it's finished!