Bandana Bib Tutorial

These Bandana Bibs are pretty darn cute and here is how I made them.



This is my first Sewing Tutorial EVER... ^_^

First of all, I used plain cotton for the top layer (actually I used fat quarters divided into 4 triangles) and single sided terry for the bottom layer.

Cut your Triangle shapes make sure the longest edge of the triangle will reach comfortably around your baby's neck with some space between their neck and the material and you'll need a couple of inches either side of where the snaps will go.



After you have both your pieces place them right sides together.



Pin and sew around the edge leaving a gap so you can later turn it inside out. Make sure to stop the machine and turn the fabric with your needle down to get nice sharp corners.



Don't forget to leave a gap, it will need to be big enough to turn the fabric inside out. Backstitch on each side of the gap.



Next trim the corners and turn your fabric inside out poking the corners. Trimming will ensure your corners are nice an pointy and not bulky. Turn your fabric inside out, iron it flat and then hand stitch the hole closed.



Next step is to Top stitch. If you don't know what that is, basically just sew a basic stitch a few millimetres in around the edge. This will help your work to sit flat and also give it a nice professional look.



The last step is to install the snaps! The best way to make sure you put them in the right spot is to put the bandana around the child's neck to see where the snaps should go. You could even put a few in so there is room for growth. But whatever you do make sure you put them on the right way not like I did, whoops!



Also, you could also make your bandana like this.



So that's It! Now you just need to find a cute neck to put them around.




Feel free to use this tutorial or photo's but please link back to my post and give me proper credit. If you make your own bandana bibs leave a comment and let me know I would love to see them!

Enjoy!

Dribble Bandana Bibs and Taggie Blankets

Busy day today!

I've been meaning to make Aimee a Taggie Blanket for AGES but I just couldn't find the right fabric. Then at spotlight the other day when I was looking for something else I found a bundle of fat quarters on sale. Different fabrics of similar colours that looked great together. Perfect!

I also picked up some terry (you'll see why in a second) and some fluffy blanketing type fabric and off I went home, inspired and ready to sew.


I used this tutorial to help me Taggie Blankets Tutorial by Chica and Jo It was a very easy project!

The Front:


The Back:


Aimee enjoying her new Blankie....Om nom nom!


You should see my carpet after cutting up that fluffy stuff!!

The next project was a Dribble Bandana.



I've seen these sell for $13-$15 or more on the internet, They're basically a bib that looks like a bandana that attaches with a snap. Very cute, and stylish.

Aimee isn't a heavy dribbler so I used terry for the back and plain cotton for the front. It worked out very well, and was super easy to make.

Will write a tutorial soon!



Having a cute child always helps of course...

Pretty Pinafore

I made Aimee a Pinafore, it's so sweet and I'm quite impressed. It came from here



The perfect thing to show off ultra cute Cloth Nappies.



love love love it, it's not really warm enough for this kind of outfit yet so I'll wait till it warms up then make some more for her I think.

Peasant Style Top

I thought I would attempt a top this time, I've not done sleeves since my very first project and I don't really count that as it was what I like to think of as mindless sewing. I was following a pattern with the help of an experienced sewer, I really had no idea what I was doing and in the end I didn't really retain any knowledge of how I did certain things...like sleeves...

So following this tutorial by the wonderful Prudent Baby I gave it a go.



Here is Aimee showing off her new shirt!



I couldn't resist the red check, it's terribly cute! I want to do more now in heaps of different colours. ^_^

Until Next time!

Spotty Skirts

After finishing some dresses and skirts I was feeling pretty confident that I could make a skirt without any pattern. I remember seeing a picture in a magazine of a double layer skirt and thought I would be able to manage it myself.

So using the techniques I'd learned from the Itty Bitty Dress I made Aimee my very own Double layer skirt.



I love the spotty-ness, reminds me of a ladybug.

I also fooled around with some scraps and managed to create a matching headband.

Aimee makes everything I make look so cute!

Refashionista!

While surfing the interweb for new ideas and new discoveries in children's sewing I learnt about Refashioning.

One day I cut the legs off a pair of my horrible old jeans that were covered in paint as It was far too hot to wear them otherwise. I was almost going to throw out the scraps of denim when I realised there were large patches of denim without pain splatters on them and decided to see if I could get enough scraps to make Aimee a skirt.

Here is the result!






I made the band out of a super stretched t-shirt my partner would never wear and made the flower to cover a small patch of black pain splatter.

I'm quite pleased with the result and though it's not very fancy, I'm proud that I used stuff I already had to make it and I made it without a pattern!

I got the idea for making this skirt after seeing this tutorial Homemade by Jill's Guest post on Kokodesigns

Happy Sewing everyone!

The Itty Bitty Dress

There is this fantastic mum who without knowing it helped me make my very first outfit for Aimee.



Her itty bitty Dress Pattern was the first I ever followed all by myself without anyone helping me and it could not have been simpler!

Here is my 3rd attempt at this dress, my first two were okay, but my fabric choices were poor and the first one was too small for Aimee and very hard to put on her.



In my third attempt I added snaps down one side so I could fit the dress over her head easier.

The fabric (I can't remember what it's called) is so cute I really think you could do anything with it and it would still look cute!

I highly recommend this pattern for beginners, it was straight forward and fun.

Free Itty Bitty Dress Pattern

Inspiration

So i've found this thing I'm good at, and it makes me so happy.

It's sewing of course. My Mother in law first introduced me to sewing when she helped me make my own costume for a Medieval Festival. With patience and a gentle hand she leant me her sewing machine and guided me through the pattern, helping me create my very first piece.



When I was done I was really quite amazed that I had finished it, that it fit and that it actually looked really good!!

But I was quite over the whole process, it was complicated, and seemed to take forever. So I didn't really do anything else for a while.

When I found out I was pregnant, my head filled with dreams of dressing my child in my very own handmade clothes. I had bought a very nice Brother sewing machine on special a year earlier but it had only been used a handful of times and more often than not gathered dust in a cupboard.

I was reluctant to sew anything during my pregnancy, as it seemed a little scary and I didn't really know where to start. I didn't know what the gender of my child was going to be so I did nothing.

Then...



My little Aimee was born and she granted me the inspiration and courage to give it a go.

This blog our story of my adventures in sewing.