Tutorial: Pocket Bibs

Over the past few weeks we've noticed a need for a bib with a pocket. With The Bubb now picking up more of his foods with his tiny fingers, not all of it ends up in his mouth, but instead ends up in his lap, past his bib. I've seen bibs with pockets on them at the store and always sorta thought they were dumb, but I was wrong. It is perfect for this stage of eating.

I decided that I could fashion up a couple of them quickly last night to accommodate this new need. They are pretty easy to make and I made two in about 45 minutes. There are lots of variations one could do: bias tape trim, velcro or tie closure, backing no backing, etc. For us I decided that a laminate front would be ideal with a terry cloth back and a snap closure. Conveniently I had some laminate left over from the Reversible Playmat so I opted to just go with that as I can easily wipe down the front but still wipe The Bubb's face with the soft terry cloth backing.

Supplies needed:
1 1/2 yard front fabric, 1/2 yard back fabric
2 metal snaps

Step 1 Take a bib you already have that you like the size of and trace it on the back (wrong side) of the fabric. I used a sharpie on the laminate as I needed it to show through the fabric to get the pocket on. Probably shouldn't have used a sharpie on the yellow fabric but oh well! When I was tracing my old bib I actually made it about 2 inches longer than the original one as I wanted it to hang lower. So I just moved the bib down as I was tracing the sides so that I could still follow the curve of the already made bib. Side note - it is always helpful to trace a bib that is already symmetrically made, this one wasn't and I was too lazy too correct it.

Step 2 Trace the bottom portion of the bib onto the back of the fabric. This is the front part of the pocket. If you want it to really match up, trace it onto the front of the fabric as that is the part that you will see and you can get it exactly where you want it. Cut it out. How big? Well how big a pocket do you want? Mine is about 3 inches deep.

Step 3 Press the top (straight edge) of the pocket portion down about 1/2 inch. Then sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance straight across. I did a second row of stitching an 1/8 below that just to make it a little more fancy. I also used a wider stitch, on my machine it was at 3.

Step 4 Pin this pocket to the front of the bib portion, where the pocket is going to be at the end. Because I used a sharpie to trace the bib earlier, I was able to see where the bottom of the bib was and able to align the pocket to the bottom of the bib fairly easily. Pin in place. If you want to move the sides of the pocket (the sides, not the curved bottom part) in a little bit when you pin it makes the pocket pop out just a tiny bit which allows the food to be caught. Sew around the curved part but not the top of the pocket :)

Step 5 Lay the front of the bib onto the backing material. I used white terry cloth as that is what I had on hand. Place right sides together and pin in place.

Step 6 Sew all the way around the bib. I sewed a 3/8 inch away from my sharpie line all the way around, as when I originally traced it, I made it about 1/4 inch larger all the way around. When sewing over the pocket, follow the stitch line of where the pocket is attached. Just stitch right exactly on top of the line. Leave about a 2" hole on one of the straight sides in order to turn the bib.

Step 7 Cut off the excess fabric leaving about 1/4 inch all the way around. Cut triangles into the round section of the bib - this will make it lay flatter after turning.

Step 8 Turn the bib right side out and flatten out. Try to roll the front fabric over the back if possible so the back fabric doesn't show as much.

Step 9 Pin down and top stitch all the way around using 1/4 inch seam allowance. This will also close up the hole you made when turning.

Step 10 Install a metal snap on the ends of the neck parts. You could install two snaps so that it is adjustable or use Velcro. All will work, just a matter of preference.

And you're done! Go try it on the kiddo and see how it looks.

Worked out pretty well too, food was caught! I decided to make two cause well why not? I actually made 3 as the first one the pocket was a little too big. Happy Sewing!

How To Install a Metal Snap

I loved making bibs for The Bubb. Something about the terry cloth was just so much fun to work with. However the only downside was installing the snaps. Although the thought of them seemed fun, it was definitely not. It took me about an hour to do each snap and many many packets of snaps (I had to take a lot of them out). I was asked to make some bibs and while I agreed and was really looking forward to figuring out the fabric pattern placement, I was absolutely dreading doing the snaps. I decided to find all the different snap install tools at the store and conquer this 'problem' once and for all. And you'll never believe that the simplest hammer method is by far hands down the easiest, fastest and just is absolutely awesome. The snaps on these bibs are just fabulous. I am so excited by them that I sorta want to come up with a project just to use more snaps!

This is the tool that I was using, it also makes eyelets, kinda like an all-in-one. That was probably my down fall. They just never properly installed with this "press".

This is the new tool. You just need a hammer, that is it. The package came with 4 snaps, but they were used by the time I took this picture (I wasn't planning on blogging about it as I didn't know how simple they would be and would want to share!)

So here are the steps to install the snaps. The diagram on the back of the package is less than helpful. First thing first, figure out where you want the socket part to be. Then position the prong part on the opposite side of the fabric and push it through, it goes really easily.

Then use a pencil eraser to push the fabric down in the middle of the snap so all the prongs are sticking up nicely.

Next position the socket part on top. Because of the grooves, you can sort of feel when it is positioned correctly because you can turn it and it feels like it is in a groove.

Position the metal tool (not sure what this is called) over it, to hold the socket in place, then hammer. I hammered probably 4 times, checked to make sure it was installed correctly, then hammered about 4 more times to make sure it was really on well.

All done!

For the other side, the snap ball, figure out where you want it to be then push the prong piece through the fabric.

Use a pencil eraser to push the fabric down so all the prongs are showing, then position the snap ball on top of it. It will feel like it is in a groove and you can spin it and it won't move when it is in the right place.

Position the metal tool on top (it has a little hole for the ball part to fit in). I thought that it would get stuck in it, but it just twists out.

Then hammer away, I did the same as before, 4 taps then check then 4 more taps.

All finished. It was so easy!

And it looks and worked so much better than any of the bibs that I made for The Bubb. I am so excited by how these bibs turned out. And it only took me about 30-45 mins to practice and then install all of them (and take pictures of the process).

Bibs and Burp Cloths

When I originally set out to make a whole bunch of bibs on Sunday, I didn't realize how much fabric I had accumulated over the past few months for this purpose. So I ended up making a lot of bibs, which works out fantastically as the Bubb is drooling a ton right now.

All of the bibs are backed with Michael Miller's organic terry cloth and the fronts are one hundred percent cotton. The burp cloths, yes well, I hadn't planned on making them too, but with all the fabric I couldn't help myself. I finished embellishing the rest of the plain Gerber Birdseye Prefold cloth diapers. If you remember, I also made a bunch from the All Star Flannel found here and here. I used snaps (yes they are still evil) instead of Velcro because it works better on the Bubb, same reason for why the closure is on the left front.

Of course they make sets!

If you noticed, the burp cloths made the with car fabric, currently one of my favorite fabrics, Kokka Cute Cars, it can be found here, are actually backed with the terry cloth.

Secretly I have hoped that the bright colors will focus the Bubb's attention to spit up on the burp cloth instead of everywhere else. He was greatly entertained by them sitting on the couch, so we'll see how it works out!

I also made a couple for me, cause I LOVE this fabric, and just because I have a boy doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to use girly fabric once in a while.