Mother’s day is just around the corner and I wanted to make something for my daughter, Kimberly, since this is her first Mother’s Day. So, I pulled out the ol’ stash of colorful fabrics and remnants from her childhood that I had saved and started sewing them together to create a couple “Crazy-quilt” bibs for my new granddaughter, Reagan, who will be 8 months + 4 days old on Mother’s Day. 

Have you ever made a crazy-quilt bib? It’s a lot of fun. I save even the smallest scraps of fabric and then piece them together and press the seams to one side on the back until I have a large enough piece of fabric to use for my pattern. 

In this case, I took the tissue paper that had come with the vinyl I just recently purchased for another project and used it to draw my own patterns for 2 bibs – one with a tie that is easy to stash in your purse if you are going out with your baby to the grocer and just want something cute to tie around their collar to keep their clothes clean, and another that is a little larger for if you go out with your hubby and baby for a nice lunch or dinner together and you want something adorable that she can drool and dribble on.

First, I pieced together some remnants of fabric I had in my stash.  Then I pressed the seams on the back so that the fabric lies flat.  

Next, I pinned my pattern onto the fold of the fabric and cut it out.

Then I cut the pattern out of the backing fabric and the batting. I placed the wrong side of the bib top onto the batting. With right sides together, I then placed the right side of the backing on top of the right side of the bib top. (Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of how it looked during that process).

Also, I personalized Reagan’s bibs with her name using the embroidery feature on my sewing machine and creating it in the 4D Software. If you embroider the top of the bib, it is best to do that before you quilt the bib, not after or the embroidery will be reversed on the back. I like my bibs reversible, so I embroider them before I quilt them together. Unfortunately, I figured that out after I embroidered the smaller bib and had already quilted it and before I made the second bib. Live and learn.

I sewed all three layers together 1/4″ from the edge, leaving a 7″ opening at the bottom of the bib so that I could turn it right side out.  Make sure you tie off the beginning and the end of your seam or it will not come apart when you turn your bib right side out.

Press your bib and make sure that all the seams are pushed out and smooth.

Next, sew a 1/8″ to 1/4″ seam around the entire edge of the bib, making sure to tuck in and pin the 7″ area on the bottom of the bib that is open.  This will add a nice edge around your bib.

For the small bib, I added a tie around the top of the bib. Now that’s a real pain to turn right side out after you sew a clean seam down the long edge. A neat trick is to put a safety pin on one end and work it little by little through the inside until you can turn it right side out.

For the larger bib, I opted for a nice snap closure.  When I made the pattern I used the largest mug I could find in our kitchen cabinet for the template of the neck opening then I made it a tad bit larger for baby’s comfort. 

As soon as I figure out how to convert my pattern from the tissue paper to the computer in Adobe Illustrator I’ll post the bib pattern here for you too.

In the meantime, give it a whirl and don’t forget to create some crazy fabric of your own by piecing together those scraps you have lying around your sewing room.

Note: Another great use of baby clothes that are outgrown that you would normally give to the goodwill is to take them apart and cut out the larger sections of fabric and use the pieces to make a memory quilt. That is always fun and when you look at your quilt you will remember that special dress, or that fun spring day when your little girl ran around the yard looking for Easter eggs.  Scraps can hold special memories so hold on to them!

As a matter of fact, some of the fabric I used for these bibs that I made today for my granddaughter were from fabric I had saved from when Kimberly was a baby.  I have a cedar chest filled with memories from my little girl’s baby, toddler, and childhood years and I thought “what a special way to carry on these fabrics for baby Reagan McKenzie by using some of the fabrics from her mother’s toddler years.”

While I sewed, Sarah worked on her laptop, turned on her iTunes, and did her French homework with me in the sewing room. Tomorrow, Sarah is running in the “Event to Honor” run sponsored by her high school in honor of someone who has cancer.  Sarah is running for her grandmother – my mother, Mary – who was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2005.