Guest Post: Jessica Christian

March 15, 2010

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Today’s guest post is by my old/new friend Jessica Christian, who blogs over at Craftiness is Not Optional. We grew up in the same town and know a lot of the same people, and recently reconnected via the blogosphere. Love it! I feel a need to copy her every move. I fell in L-O-V-E with her dresser redo for daughter Sadie’s new room, her crib book/toy holder (need to make this stat!!), and of course her perfect play kitchen (she makes adorable food too!). Don’t you love the great colors she uses?

So, besides being super duper cute and my daughter Sadie’s all time favorite new bib, this little number is also useful at catching those pesky globs of applesauce/spaghetti/drool! Want to make your own? Here’s how:

You’ll need:

a bib to trace for your pattern

two bib pieces, one for the backing and one to sew your ruffles to

a selection of fabric strips, cut 3/4 inch wide (although you could easily make them larger or smaller to your liking!) and long enough to cover your bib front while ruffled. Mine were probably about 18 inches or so…varying lengths. It’s a great way to use up skinny scraps!

basic sewing tools: sewing machine, thread, rotary cutter is handy, pins, etc…

First, you’ll cut out your bib pieces…one for the back and one to sew your ruffles onto. Then cut out your fabric strips…I ended up cutting out 10 strips, 2 each of 5 different fabrics.

Next step: make your ruffles. An easy way to get nice ruffles is to set your stitch length long (straight stitch of course), and make sure you have a good “tail” of thread on the start and finish, then sew down the middle of your strip…and kind of tug on your top thread (coming from your spool) as it goes through the machine. Don’t pull it hard, just kinda hold it back a little, and the ruffles will appear like magic! Then, using one of your “tails” (hehe), use that to gently pull and gather the strip to your liking!

Arrange the fabric ruffles on your bib piece to your liking…probably would have been easier before I ruffled them, oh well!

Next, pin to your bib and sew over your ruffle stitch as closely as possible. It’s ok if it looks messy, it’s the shabby chic look we’re going for anyways.

Pin and sew down the rest of your fabric strips!

Next: pretend I had a picture of me pinning and sewing the two bib pieces right sides together, with 1/4 inch or so seam…leaving about 2 inches of space along the side for turning.

Now, pretend I have a picture of me turning it right side out, and pressing it with an iron around the edges.

Alright, after those pretend pictures…now we’ll top stitch around the bib about 1/4 inch from the edge. Then, set your snaps/attach your velcro…whatever you’d like for the closure…and you’re done!

Corner the closest cutie you can find and force her to try it on. End up letting said cutie wear it the rest of the day cause she likes it so much. That made this mama very happy!

Check out my Flouncy Skirt Tutorial over at Craftiness is Not Optional!

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