Fast & Fun Rag-Edged Bibs w/ Bling

by Heather Lewis
(Spring, TX)

Don't ask me why I do these things because I just don't quite know. I have 2 boys (7&8) and have no use or need for girly things; but, I just love to make them and can't stand to give them away. Maybe someday the Lord will bless us with another miracle baby and I'll finally get some use out of this stuff.

Took less than a half hour to make (and I'm a terrible seamstress that uses my grandmother's sewing machine from the 1950's).

I used some flannel that I got at Jo-Ann's to make these adorable bibs and backed them with an old kitchen towel I was ready to retire. I used sew on snaps (that I also inherited from my grandmother) and silk flowers I got on sale at Michael's with jewel embellishments from the Dollar Tree.


Did you use a pattern or were you inspired by one?

I printed out a template from http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2008/02/bib-tutorial.html, but you can use any template you like. I traced the pattern to be 1 inch larger all around, folded it in half from top to bottom and then folded in the spot I liked best for side to side (makes it about the half point from the bottom of the bib to where the shoulder curves.)

Once the whole thing is cut out, I had four pieces of pattern that were 1/2 inch larger all around than the original template (with the exception of the neck, which I just hand sketched in so that it was 1 inch too wide from side to side, but the same as the original template pattern from top to bottom.
I used my 4 pieces of coordinating flannel fabric from Jo-Ann's and an old kitchen towel I didn't want anymore and started cutting.

I made sure since my towel had a pattern on it that I cut it in such a way that the pattern did not show and sewed the bib together as you would a rag-edged quilt. Once the outsides and center seams had been sewn and cut, I then used a zigzag stitch (which would look much better done by someone with more experience and or a nicer machine) in a fun purple thread to sew bias tape on to the inner neck that will touch baby.


After washing a time or two, the rag edges were beautiful and I decided it just needed a bit of bling.

I sewed on a snap to the center of one of the bottom pieces and the opposite side onto the bottom of a silk flower I had disassembled. Once the snap was secure on the flower bottom, I used low-temp glue to reassemble the silk flower and topped it off with a gem instead of the center that came with the flower (which in this case was just down right ugly)

Viola!

I can't attest to how it will work out because I don't have any babies to try it out on, but the logic behind it seemed solid when I did it.

It's fancy, beautiful, fun AND functional. With the flower being easily removable, it can be used just for show when the bib is on to protect baby's clothes, and removed when feeding or washing. The towel on the other side is perfect for wiping off baby's hands or face. Lastly, I made several sets of fun colored bibs, and several sets of color neutral bibs and TONS of snap on accessories; so, baby's look can be matched and or changed in the blink of a blingy eye!