Letting children feed themselves and make a big mess is part of the fun of learning to enjoy food and to be independent. But what a mess it can be! On a recent shopping trip I went to buy some baby bibs to have at grandma’s house for our granddaughters and couldn’t find a single one I liked. They were either tiny little things or ugly hard plastic ones that looked uncomfortable.
I decided to make some of my own from a piece of white cotton fabric I had on hand. They are so easy to do. I drew my own pattern but wasn’t satisfied with how it looked so an online template at marthastewart.com/clip-art-crafts provided a pattern, although I lengthened it to make them come down to the lap and I sewed a pocket across the bottom to catch any spillage.
The website also had suggestions for edging the bibs with bias tape, which was my original intention also. I made my bibs with colorful red, blue, and yellow bias tape and added appliquéd fruit outlines.
We tested the bibs the next day on spaghetti night! They worked perfectly and our granddaughter seemed to approve. Although it’s hard to tell, since she’s not talking, it might just have been the spaghetti she approved of.
Supplies for making homemade baby bibs
½ yard of white cotton fabric or any fabric of your choice. Remnant tables are a good place to find fabric.
About 2 yards of single fold bia tape in any width for the binding and the ties of the baby bib.
Scraps of material to cut out appliqué designs. I traced an orange, an apple and a banana from a coloring book pattern I already had. You could make your appliqués of animals, dinosaurs, whatever appeals!
Directions to make homemade baby bibs
Step one: Take the pattern, (I made my out of newspaper) and cut out your bib. Then drawing a line across the bottom third of the bib, make a second template for the pocket. Cut out the pocket. You could use a coordinating fabric if you wanted or the same fabric as the bib.
Step two: Turn the top straight edge of the pocket under ¼ and stitch a seam and then turn under about ½ in. and stitch the edge of the pocket.
Step three: Lay the pocket on top of the bib, with the wrong side of the pocket on top of the right side of the bib. Pin along the edge and stitch ¼ inch around the curved bottom of the pocket and the apron, attaching the pocket to the bib.
Step four: Take your bias tape and attach bias tape around the neckline of the bib and rim the excess even with the bib edges. Now cut about a yard length of bias tape. Measure about one foot from the end of the bias tape, leaving it for the tie. Attach the tape to the bib, beginning at one end of the neckline, catching in the raw edge of the bias tape there, and moving on around the bib to the other end of the neckline.
Step five: Measure your other 12 inch tie and cut off any excess bias tape remaining. Now stitch a running stitch along the entire length of the tie, folding in the ends of each tie and double-stitching there.
Step six: Cut out your appliqué shapes to decorate your bib. You can use a fusible interfacing to attach them to the front of the bib and then use a zig zag stitch to sew around the design.
Cost of the bib: If you have to buy all the material, one bib should cost about $2.00 and most of the cost is in the bias tape. I managed to get four bibs out of one yard of white material that cost me about $3.00 a yard on sale.
These would make beautiful homemade shower gifts.
Resources:
Martha Stewart .com for pattern template for bib
http://marthastewart.com/clip-art-crafts
Another source for free bib patterns at PooPockets (I have no idea what that name means! )
http://www.poopockets.com/free/bibs/bibs.htm
