Baby Bib Tutorial

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I made a baby shower gift for some family friends and part of the gift was a baby bib that I made using Martha Stewart's Bib shape available here. I looked for many bib outlines since I didn't want to design my own. The only problem with Martha's is that you have to print it out and enlarge it 150% (which I can't figure out how to do straight from my printer so I had to print and scan while enlarging it). But when it was all printed (and taped together since it's bigger than a piece of normal paper) I finally had my template.

Materials:
- Bib template
- Flannel fabric for front
- Flannel fabric that matches for back
- Thread
- Scissors
- Sewing Machine
- Pins
- One snap (or velcro if you choose)
- Scrap of fusible interfacing (if you're using a snap)

Tutorial:















Using the bib pattern, cut one piece from the main flannel and the flannel for the back.
















This is what my back piece looked like all cut out.

















I'm going to add a snap closure to the bib so I needed to reinforce where the snap will go. Cut a small piece of fusible interfacing (or you could use scrap cotton fabric - you just want to give the area a little more substance) and fuse/sew to the area the snap will go. Make sure you attach it to the wrong side of the fabric!
Now it's time to make the "cloth sandwich" and sew it up - place your fabrics right side together and pin it together. Take it to the sewing machine and stitch 1/4" around the bib leaving an opening at the bottom to turn the bib right side out.





















This is the bib that has been sewed and turned right side out. I ironed the piece flat and pinned the opening closed. Take it to the sewing machine and top stitch around the bib. I used a decorative stitch and stitched as close to the edge as I could. This closed the opening on the bottom and cleaned up the look a little bit.
















Using a snap kit to attach the snap or however you would like to attach snaps (I use snap pliers since I don't like to hammer).
























You're now finished! Now place on baby or wrap up and give it as a gift!

Baby Burp ClothTutorial

Some family friends are having a baby in July and I wanted to make them a handmade baby gift. I'm so busy knitting the "Playmat" blanket that I wanted something that could be done quicker than a week of intense knitting (and something easier to wash). So I decided on some burp rags. I feel like a lot of stuff you buy in the stores is really expensive, a little to "goofy baby", and not a always high quality. So I sat down and in an afternoon I was done with a baby shower gift - 6 burp clothes and a baby bib to round out the present. They turned out adorable and were really easy to make. For the burp rags I made up the pattern (available here for download from 4-shared) and for the bib I used the shape from Martha Stewart available here.

Quick note on the pattern - I scanned my pattern and it is a 17 inch long burp cloth. But my scanner is a normal size paper scanner and I didn't want people to have to increase the pattern size so it is only half of the original pattern. To make the full pattern print two copies and paste them together on the line indicated (one will be right side up and one will be right side down). This will make the full pattern that you place on the fold of your fabric. That sounds more confusing than it is!

Here's the tutorial:

Items needed:
-1/2 yard (depending on how many you are making) cotton fabric in pattern you like
-1/2 yard (depending on how many you are making) terry cloth fabric that matches main fabric
- 1 package of Warm and Natural Cotton Batting in craft size (this makes the burp cloths thick and absorbant)
-Scissors
-Matching thread and bobbin
-Sewing machine (or do it old school with needle and thread...)

Directions:
















Print pattern and place the pattern on the fabric fold line (the pattern is half of a complete burp cloth). Cut a piece of the main cotton fabric, terry cloth, and the cotton batting. You will have 3 total pieces (one of each fabric).
















This is how the pieces should look when you unfold them.
















These are the three pieces that I cut.
















You will now stack the fabrics to get them ready to sew together. Place the cotton fabric RIGHT SIDE UP on your surface (iron to make it lay flat). Place the terry cloth fabric on top with the RIGHT SIDE DOWN (iron to make it lay flat). Place the batting on the top most layer (doesn't matter which side is up or down. Iron to make the whole stack flat and line up). For this picture I just folded the corner over to show you the stack.













Pin the whole stack around through all the layers. I like to place a lot of pins...
Then bring the stack to the sewing machine and sew all the way with a 1/2" hem around leaving a 5 inch or so opening on one end open so you can turn the piece right side out.
















Turn right side out and iron the piece flat. Pin the opening closed. You will sew the opening closed in the next step when you top-stitch around the whole piece.
















It's back to the sewing machine! Starting where you have pins to close the opening, top stitch (that is just plain stitch, or in many cases I use a decorative stitch my machine does) 1/4" in from the edge all the way around. This gives a finished edge and closes the opening. Trim thread ends and...













Ta da! You're finished... One down and a couple more to go!





















This shows the front and the back of the burp cloth.
















My fininshed stack. I used odds and ends of fabric that I had. Some I used flannel as the top and the bottom of the burp cloth. I also ended up using a decorative stitch to top-stitch around in a coordinating thread and it made it look even cuter!
Have fun!

How To Dye Yarn

I recently was at Jo-Ann Fabric Craft Store for their after-thanksgiving sale. They had Paton's Classic Wool yarn on sale for cheap and I thought it would be the perfect yarn to buy to try my hand at dying yarn. I bought 2 skeins of "Classic Ivory" and re-skeined the yarns into 3 foot long skeins (splitting the 100 g skeins into two 50 g skeins). By putting the skeins into thinner, longer skeins the yarn has better opportunity to be fully dyed with no white areas being left undyed.

Following the directions on Knitty Gritty, this is how I dyed my yarn (using Jacquard Acid Dyes):
1. I placed the skeins into a large bowl of hot water to prep the yarn to receive the dye (while it soaked for 20 minutes or so I started preparing the dye).
2. I gathered up my 3 Mason Jars (the containers I was placing the finished dye in), 3 plastic syringes (with NO NEEDLE attached), put a plastic table cloth over my kitchen table, and put down long sheets of plastic wrap.
3. Now it was time to make the dye. I used Colors Vermillion (611), Saphire Blue (622) and Brilliant Blue (623). I scooped 1/4 tsp. of each color into a seperate container. I added 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, and 1 cup of HOT water to each container. The Mason Jars were the perfect size.
4. When the dyes were made and my yarn had soaked and "bloomed" as Knitty Gritty explained, I lightly squeezed the excess water out of the yarn and placed on the plastic wrap on the table. I knew I wanted to make small blocks of color on the yarn so I placed the skeins on the wrap making the skeins as long as possible.
5. Using the syringes, I sucked up the color I wanted and squeezed it on the yarn in the place I wanted it (I purposefully used colors that if overlapped would still make a beautiful color, not brown).6. I continued to add dye to the yarn in blocks to make the effect I was looking for. I did not want any white areas so I overlapped the colors quite a bit (which with red and blue made a beautiful purple). I continued working until the yarn was completely saturated.7. After the yarns are completely saturated, I placed each skein on a piece of plastic wrap and warpped them up like a burrito (again, as described by Knitty Gritty).
8. I placed a large metal pot on the stove and placed a small amount of water in the bottom and placed a glass bowl inside (I don't have a steamer basket). The dye sets by the vinegar and the heat. Knitty Gritty recommends microwaving the burritos but I've heard multiple accounts of that resulting in EXTREME stink! So I opted for the steam method.
9. I simmered the water and placed the yarn packages inside the glass bowl.
10. Place the lid on the metal pot and steam for 45 minutes. After steaming is complete, let the yarn sit until it is cool to the touch and you can handle it. (If you placed hot yarn in cold water to rinse it you would shock the yarn and it would result in felted yarn...)
11. When cool to the touch, I unwrapped the burritos and gently rinsed the yarn in cool (not cold) water until water ran clear (which was instantly). If your yarn loses dye in the rinsing process, it didn't set and needs more steaming. Below is the picture of the yarn when I unwrapped the plastic wrap.
12. I placed the yarn in my empty laundry machine and placed it on spin to get out as much moisture as possible. I then hung the skeins over my laundry sink. Hopefully it will be dry by tomorrow and I will reskein the yarn into balls ready for knitting!!