Why is it that baby showers all seem to happen around the same time? If you are in need of quick and easy baby gift ideas I have you covered!
You can quickly make some soon to be well loved and used gifts using your serger. Bibs… every baby needs a whole passel of them! Personally, I think that every bathtub in a household with a baby should be equipped with a garbage disposal. Then you can put the wee one in the tub, feed them and just rinse them off when done. What could be better? Dinner and bath time in one! But, in the meantime… Let’s make some bibs.
What you will need is a pattern, some fabric (flannel is great), a cone of coordinating serger thread and 2 cones of a wooly poly like AreoFlock. I like to choose two different colors of AeroFlock that complimented my fabric, so fun. For the bib, you will also need some 1/2" wide sew on Velcro, both hook and loop sides.
Thread your serger with a 3 Thread Wide stitch or even better a Wave stitch. The regular thread will be in the needle and the AeroFlock will be in the upper and the lower needle. I like to use a stitch length of between 1- 2 (I liked the look of 1.5 on my machine). Since you are using decorative thread your edges are finished all in one step! So fast and easy. You will also want to have your sewing machine handy to stitch on the Velcro - I have a fun trick for you here too!
Here is the "Nut Shell" sewing instructions:
Bib
• You will want two fabrics, one for each side.
• Cut out your bib pattern, one of each fabric.
• Place WRONG sides together. Use a basting aid like pins, Wonder Clips or Free Fuse to hold the layers together as you are stitching.
• Serge around the outer edge of the fabric.
• Once you have gone around all four sides and are back to where you began, stitch over your starting location then taper off of the fabric leaving a long tail.
• Use a double eyed needle designed to pull the resulting tail inside the finished edge.
Adding the Velcro
Ya gotta keep that bib on and an easy way to do so is to use Velcro.
• Cut both pieces of your Velcro to be about 1" in length.
• Position one piece about 1/2" away from the narrow end of the neck piece.
• Use QS Glue Stick to hold in place.
• Choose the location for the other piece of Velcro in a coordinated place on the body of the bib.
• Use QS Glue Stick to hold that in place.
• Let the glue set for a minute or so that is dry and no longer tacky.
• Stitch this on by straight stitching around the edges of the Velcro, making sure to stitch securely
Fun Velcro trick
Instead of straight stitching around the edges, as stated above, consider using the bound buttonhole stitch on your machine.
• Select the stitch.
• Set the needed length/size of the buttonhole (approximately 1 1/8" or so).
• Stitch the buttonhole twice - once the first time is done, do not cut the thread but instead just stitch it one more time to make sure it is nice and secure.
• Repeat this on both pieces of your Velcro.
Done! Now wasn't this easy? I must admit, mine was even easier! I used the new Bib Die from AccuQuilt.
Talk about fast, easy and perfectly cut! I have also had loads of fun using the new Burp Cloth die too!
Happy Sewing,
~Reva
