Rainbow Denim Ness Mini

Hi guys, I'm here to share my latest sewing project with you, not because its anything spectacular, but because its something I spent a lot of time and energy on an I felt it deserved a bit of lime light. I have been doing a lot of thinking about sustainability lately, and about the fact that fashion is one of the biggest pollutants on the planet today. Sewing of course has its part to play here, so I have been trying more and more to think carefully about what I am sewing to make sure that its something that I will get use out of, and will last a long time.

Simply Sewing Polka Dot Headband

 

I finally got round to stitching up the headband from the first issue of the new simply sewing magazine using the free polka dot fabric which came with the magazine. The mag did provide patterns and instructions for three things which could all be created from the one piece of fabric provided. First was this headband, second a gathered fabric flower and third a fabric covered book. I have done both the gathered flowers and a covered book on the blog already so I have gone for the headband (and I used the rest of the fabric to make the pockets of my new dress!) 

Lil Foxy Critter

One of the things that seems to come as part of the territory with being a Fox is being tagged for every item of baby fox clothing imaginable! Now if you've read my blog before, or looked at my instagram you will have seen there has been no shortage of fox related crafts, however it seemed it was time to recreate that ever popular Fox dress we see popping in up in all sorts of guises all over the internet.

I've always been very defensive about people interpreting fox dresses because I have been a huge fan of the work of Wild Things Dresses on Etsy for a long time (honestly, these are the most amazing kids clothes ever!). However it seems that sadly all the high brand kids retailers have cottoned on and copied her designs in one form or another, which as a creative makes me very sad. So if you want an amazing dress like this one, and are not a sewer, please pay her a visit and purchase one of her amazing creations.

 

Here is an image of one of their amazing fox dresses along with the book which so thankfully tells you how to make your own, perfect for the likes of me who get enjoyment out of the process of making as well as the clothes.

I do have a copy of the book, as you can see in my first image, but sadly the patterns don't run as small as Miss Fox, so in this instance I have had to improvise a bit until she grows up and I can use the patterns in this book.

I used a tried and tested pattern the Lil Critters dress from Puperita. This pattern is so easy to follow and is the perfect dungaree bib dress, with slightly flared skirt it really is adorable. As with all her patterns the instructions are really clear and are a doddle to follow so I managed to make 2 of these on my day off today. Go me!

In order to make the fox face I just drew the shapes onto the original bib piece and then traced the individual shapes onto separate paper adding a 1cm seam allowance where I needed to join the pieces together. I am really happy with how it all came out, its a very cute little foxy face and this pattern lent itself really well to this adaptation.

For the fabric I used some babycord or needle cord which is very fine corduroy fabric. I love making dresses for kids in cord for Autumn/winter, its such a nice thick fabric and is relatively easy to sew and comes in a huge array of wonderful colours. It can be a little stiff but that's why it lends itself so well to this type of dungaree pattern.

I'm really chuffed with how this turned out and its a lovely fit on her so should serve her well this winter. I will definitely make more of this pattern and there will definitely be more Fox dresses in Miss Fox's future.

Have you ever made any cute adaptations to a regular pattern like this? I'd love to see them, the more cute critters the better!

Me Made May 2018 - Why I loved it, and why I didn't

Wow,  as if you weren't sick enough of my face I had to go blog about it too!

Those that have seen my instagram will be acutely aware I took part in Me Made May this year. This is something that has been going on for a number of years on instagram but this year was the first year I felt I probably had enough clothes to get me through the month - which I thankfully did. The base concept is to wear handmade clothes through the whole of May, this can take on various guises but I took it in its literal form. 

I just wanted to document how it went for me; my thoughts, why I found it really useful and why I actually hated parts of it. I'm going to cover what I learnt about my style and my sewing, my favourite outfits and also your favourite outfits. Its more of a record for myself than anything but I am pleased its given me enough drive to return to my blog.

Selfies - all the selfies

This was the reason I hated this concept. Honestly, I got bored of my own face so I can bet my bottom dollar you did too (so you know i'll just write a blog and fill it with me again!). Then there was the orchestration of it all. Do I have someone to take the picture for me, or do I have to prop my camera/phone up somewhere precarious, how many pictures do I actually need to take to get a decent one, loading them on to my phone, sorting through them, making a post etc etc. It was honestly exhausting so I'm very happy to be back to posting on my own schedule. 

My style 

Over the past month I have discovered for the most part I have 3 distinct styles which I am going to call;

Rockabilly

Goth as fuck 

or 15 year old

I'm not sure they gel perfectly well together in terms of having a 'capsule wardrobe' or whatever that is because a lot of it depends on my mood and what I am doing on that day. Obviously rockabilly works best for formal and work, Goth as works best on a night out and the 15 year old is just me trying to chill in something a bit more quirky. It does feel a little bit like I lack direction sometimes and I should just pick one but I don't want to do that, this is me and that's how I like it. Does anyone else find they don't really conform to one style? what influences what you wear?

I also noted that I have a definite preferences for paler colours up by my face and darker on my lower half. I think a lot of that is down to my hair being paler now so wearing black higher up washes it out a bit. This lead me on to have a good think about the types of colours I think work with my skin tone and the kinds of patterns I liked (note a distinct lack of floral!). Making sure I keep this in mind for my future sewing I'm hopefully more likely to make clothes that I LOVE rather than just being a little meh. 

My favourite outfits:

You can see a selection of my favourite outfits below. The reason for picking these was largely based on 2 factors: How they made me feel and how easy they were to wear. 

From left to right: 

Bettine by Tilly and the buttons in Atelier Brunette 'like a dandy', Another Bettine in some emerald viscose (this creases so bad but its soooooo comfy), A very altered Megan Nielsen maternity skirt in gold spot ponte roma (top is from collectif clothing).

Simplicity 8342 in some old lightning cotton jersey, Colette Zinnia skirt in flamingo cotton lawn, Lilou dress from Tilly first book in some houndstooth viscose

Your favourite outfits:

These were the outfits that got the most likes during the month. Sorry the third picture is not the one from instagram but I can't find the original (I've gone through 3 phones this month, my photos are all over). 

I can definitely see why they are some of your favourites they are all very striking outfits. especially the fabric in the middle one its so pretty. 

From left to right:

Kim dress from By Hand London in some llama print Robert Kaufman cotton, Another Bettine in some stunning crepe from Sew Over It, Wren dress by Colette patterns in some blue lightning jersey from Stof & Stil

So where does that leave me?

The one thing I did realise is that I don't have many great clothes for super hot days. I HATE not wearing tights and having bare legs. Even in a knee length skirt, if its a flared skirt and there is a slight breeze i'd still rather have tights on. I need to address that in my handmade wardrobe and i'm thinking some maxi skirt/dresses might be a nice way to go.

I also realised that a lot of my outfits just felt really uninspiring. Some clothes, whilst plain, can just make you feel great but I found a lot of my clothes just lacked lustre. With this in mind I am going to try and pay more attention to what I make and give it some consideration before I jump in. This starts with fabric and pattern choices but also what can I wear with it, can I bling it up a bit, does it need accessorising etc. Generally I need more sparkles in my life!

Overall it was a very helpful experience. I don't think I will do it so publicly again but it certainly came at the perfect time when I'm just getting back into personal sewing and it has motivated and invigorated me. Hopefully I can use this drive to take my sewing and style to the next level.

As a final side note the blog is very broken. I accidentally let me domain name lapse just after having little Miss Fox and now they want to charge me extortionate rates to have it back so it has changed to a .co.uk domain. This means all my internal links are broken, not the mention all my pinterest ones which just makes me want to cry. So I will be quietly trying to work on that and get this thing going with a bit of gusto again.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my makes, I really enjoyed everyone elses and got some great inspiration so thank you to everyone that took part and took the time to like my posts. 

An ombre array of baby headbands

Ok, so I know of all the sewing I have been doing these aren't exactly the most practical or useful things but they are pretty damn cute!

Will I actually put my baby in a headband? Am I that person? I don't know, but now I have the option to at least. I have a feeling that its just going to be more hassle than its worth to dress up a baby this much but I imagine they will go on for the odd posed photo ;)

These actually mark the last thing on my list of sewing projects for when baby arrives. I know we definitely didn't need these, but a baby in a headband is adorable and it was a really great use of some leftover jersey from some of my other more recent makes. Plus who can deny the value of a what would be free accessory? What is nice about them as well is that at least a couple of them are made out of fabrics which I used to make other outfits for her so they will even match.

I used a free online pattern from Coral & Co to make these. The pattern was a download but it was very minimal pages and included the pattern for both a thick and thin version as well as various sizes. Their website looks lovely and they have a fair few other free patterns, especially children's ones. There isn't much else to say about the pattern, it wasn't a difficult sew, but definitely a nice way to use up some leftover jersey you have, especially if you have already made a matching outfit and have some fabric spare.

Three of these fabrics are cotton jerseys and the plain pink one is a polyester jersey. The cotton ones have a lovely stiffness to them which helps to keep the bow in shape really well whereas the pink one is a little floppy and I feel might not be as practical on a little baby. Time will tell when I get to test it out practically.

Its lovely to have another use for those fabric scraps though. What is your favourite thing to do with fabric scraps? I'm terrible for not wanting to throw them away but also I really don't have the space to store them anymore. Its especially hard with having kids because every small piece could be a facing or a pocket lining for a tiny outfit! Argh! I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this plight though. 

He's a star pocket shorts

But whats this you ask? That's right, boy sewing! I thought it about time I stopped neglecting the boy with all this girly sewing going on.

These shorts actually serve a very specific purpose, they are his new 'potty training pants'. We have just started with this joyful phase of toddlerhood and what we learnt is that he likes to take his whole bottoms off before using the potty; yep naked from the waist down! This is perfectly fine when you are at home but when you are out and about and in a hurry you don't want to have to be taking those pesky shoes off just to get his trousers off. Thankfully its summer and so I went on the hunt for the perfect shorts pattern to help us with this dilemma.

How adorable is this little man modelling his new shorts whilst running around an illuminarium! Not the best visual representation I know but have you ever tried to keep a 2 year old boy still! At least you can see the fit on him.

I was looking for something very specific when trying to find a pattern for his potty training shorts; a soft waistband for easy up and down action, no cuffs on the legs so they would go over his shoes whilst they are still on and preferably knee length. I was given a few suggestions but the pattern that came to my rescue was from Brindille and Twig and its their pockets shorts pattern. It fit my above criteria perfectly, looked really easy to make and also seemed to fit some fabric which I already had in my stash of leftovers. I also love the fact it comes with pockets, its such a cute little addition and adds a nice bit of detail to make them more interesting.

I've never made a pattern from this company before but not only is their website visually gorgeous they have so many basic jersey patterns for kids, there is definitely something for every occasion.

The pattern was a PDF download as you would expect these days, but it was so simple I only needed 5 pieces of paper. The construction was also simple enough and the pattern came with really helpful instructions that included very helpful images. In fact I don't think I actually read any of the text when constructing these shorts I just following the photos. That is my idea of a perfect pattern.

I made two versions as you can see; the blue pair are some leftover single jersey from myfabrics.com with blue rib for the waistband and some leftover black jersey for the pockets. The second pair are made using a more sturdy grey and black sweatshirt knit which I got from the Ottobre Etsy shop, some black ribbing for the waistband and the same black jersey for the pockets again. The pattern worked perfectly for both types of fabric but I definitely like the black and grey pair better. I think that's just because I love boy shorts in sweatshirt fabric, they are more like joggers and this fabric just handled really nicely and they have such a professional finish.

I made these shorts in a size 90cm (18-24 months) and they fit him perfectly, and I mean perfectly. I did sew the waistband a tiny it shorter as I know he has a little waist but otherwise its spot on. This was a little surprising as most of his stuff in this size is still a little big but I am not going to complain, its summer, they fit and he needs them for now not in 2 months time.

So all in all I love this pattern, I recommend it and this will definitely not be the last Brindille and Twig pattern I make for my little monkeys! They only question is which of their gorgeous patterns next, and will it be for a boy or a girl?

The cutest kitty baby Hula Hoop dress

Who can resist something so perrrrrfect? I mean its a tiny dress with colourful jolly cats on it!

I was inspired to make this dress by one that I saw in John Lewis. It really was a beautiful dress but I just looked at it, and I looked at the price label and I just thought meh, I can do that. So the search for the perfectly cute kitty fabric commenced and I came across these cats in cotton by Dashwood studio.

The pattern is another from my very favourite children's pattern designer and its the Hula Hoop dress from Puperita. This pattern is so classic and yet modern for little girls. The shape is pretty timeless with the high waistline and gathered skirt but the square neckline make it feel much more modern and interesting.

The sew itself was very straightforward. As usual the instructions from Puperita were clear, with good photo's to help you along the way. The facing on this dress was probably my favourite bit, it was just so satisfying. After I stitched it it lay so perfectly with the top pattern it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The sleeves were a bit fiddly, but they went in easy enough and the rest of it was easy as. I managed to sew the whole thing together (with all the associated ironing, god I hate the ironing!) in one short evening.

I love the little bow on the front, its such a cute little detail. I did think about adding some piping to the waistline but I didn't want to risk ruining it so I missed it off this version. I definitely would consider adding it if I make another, it would help draw attention to the waist detail. This is such a lovely pattern for woven fabrics. The gathered skirt design means that it copes well with a more structured cotton like this. It is also easy to pair with a long sleeved top or cardi for the colder months.

I made this in size 0-3 months, its so dainty! I hope Miss Fox will be able to get some wear out of it before she is crawling around.

So, which are your favourite cats? I think for me it has to be the pink and yellow one, mostly because of the colours. It needs to be more common for adults to wear clothes like this!

Another New Look 6216 and its floral!

I'm pretty sure a few posts ago when I did some baby sewing I talked about how I NEVER sew in florals for myself because I just never ever wear them. What happened?

The print is very 'twee' and feels a bit Cath Kidson to me, what with the colour and the flowers and I honestly can't tell you whats drawn me to this fabric. Maybe its my inner 'mummy' but whatever it is I actually really like it.

There isn't really much to say about this sew, it is another New Look 6216 in size 10. The last two I made just seemed to feel really nice when I tried them on over my bump so I figured I could fit another one into my wardrobe for after baby arrives. This pattern is just so easy to sew and the results look stunning, it could definitely be store bought. I really liked the additional sleeve option out of the two I made last time so I used it again on this version.

Both fabrics are from a local fabric shop in Derby called 'Elegance'. I don't tend to go in very often but I definitely should more, they have some lovely bits in there and the staff are so nice.

This jersey is a little thicker than the stuff I used to make the other versions in my previous post but the top still hangs really well and this jersey handled perfectly.

I'll tell you what though, I'm bored of blogging about things which I can't actually show you being modeled, everything looks so flat. It's also hard to write about the fit etc of a pattern when you can't actually wear it. That being said I can't wait to start sharing them later on. Watch this space.

Do you ever sew with fabrics out of your comfort zone in terms of colour/print? How did you find it, were they worn or did they just end up in the back of the drawer never to see the light of day again? Hopefully this won't be the case here as I do really like this fabric but only time will tell whether I actually managed to add a floral print to my wardrobe.

A Busy Book for Master Fox

What is a busy book? Well its a book filled with activities in a hope to keep your little toddler busy! Who are we kidding right, this is going to work for all of about 5 minutes! 

I, just like i'm pretty sure all other mothers of toddlers have done, have used pinterest to find activities to keep your little ones entertained, but also with learning in mind. This is one of those examples and has been something which I have been collecting ideas for for a while now. They are usually handmade and sewn so this was definitely a project I knew I could do. 

My plan for this book is to keep it until baby Fox arrives and then it can be his special book which he looks at with mummy while I am breastfeeding. It will hopefully become special to him and will allow us to still have some bonding time and not feel neglected while I have to spend so much time looking after baby. 

I'm not going to lie, I pretty much stole all the ideas for the pages for this book from pinterest, so this is by no means unique or original, but hey when there are so many good ideas out there where is the need. Also I have made this for personal use, it is in no way going to be marketed or sold by me. If you want to have a look at my board of ideas you can find it here on pinterest. 

So let me tell you a little about the pages: 

Page 1: Felt carrots attached to ribbon which can be inserted into holes in the ground which have been sewn as buttonholes. The top of the wheelbarrow also remains open so that the carrots can also be put into the barrow.

Page 2: Animal beads strung onto ribbon which has been attached between two pieces of felt. The number of animals on each row increase by one and the beads can be moved back and forth to encourage counting. 

Page 3: A felt monster with a zip for a mouth which contains some pom poms. This page helps encourage fine motor skills in opening and closing the zip and Master fox will surely have lots of fun putting the pom poms in his mouth. Pom poms are one of our favourite non play play items. You can have hours of fun with these, including pom pom fights which seems to be a favourite game of his grandparents! I purposefully made this monster in blue and purple to match his favourite monster Sully!

Page 4: Three vehicles attached to ribbon which can be moved backwards and forwards across the page. A car, a train and an aeroplane. This again encourages fine motor skills and also imaginary play. 

Page 5: A whale with an open mouth and 3 fish attached to the page with poppers. The fish can be removed from the page and fed to the whale and then reattached. Master Fox loves a whale, and he has a Duplo one which he loves to feed so hopefully he will enjoy this. 

Page 6: This lovely little crocodile has a mouth that opens really wide to show off its sharp teeth. This is great for making snapping motions but the page also includes a toothbrush which can be used to clean the crocs teeth promoting good dental hygiene. The toothbrush can be placed back in the holder once used. 

Page 7: This brave little fireman has got into his lift to help put out the fires in the building. The lift is attached with buttons and buttonholes so that he can be lowered up and down to be closer to the fire. 

Page 8: The last and final page is the least sophisticated with some coloured pockets and some coloured wooden sticks. Not the most exciting page but an excellent one to help learn colours and matching skills. 

I really hope Master Fox likes his little book, I am really pleased with it and I am glad I finally got around to making it. I had loads more ideas for pages but I needed to finish somewhere otherwise I wouldn't be getting anything else done. 

Mermaid baby dress and leggings set

What little girl doesn't need a mermaid dress? Especially at the moment, is it just me or are mermaids definitely the on trend print right now? Not that I mind, Ariel always was my favorite Disney princess anyway.

This amazing fabric was from LLFab who design custom digital print jersey fabrics. Most of their stuff is done in 'runs' for pre-order so is only available for a limited period. To be honest I find that a little annoying, but I can understand from a home business owner thats the practical way to do things as you don't have the means to store endless runs of custom printed fabrics. This does however mean that sadly there isn't any more of this fabric to buy, though they have been known to do re-runs so do join the facebook group if you are interested.

The pattern is another one from Ottobre issue 4/2016. It is a lovely jersey tunic length dress with an integrated vest top underneath. I also made the matching leggings to go with it to make it a complete outfit. I really like tunic style dresses for babies as I never really liked the idea of babies in dresses (despite having sewn a few) as I always think by the time they get to crawling a dress must really get in the way under their knees.

My hope is that this dress will fit Miss Fox once the weather starts to get a bit cooler, though to be honest I'm finding it really hard to sew for her at the moment as I have no idea how big she is going to be. Having said that though I know I won't have any time to sew once she arrives so I am just trying to make the most of it and wing it a bit.

My binding went a lot better on this make as opposed to the kitty romper I last made. I made a couple of adjustments to the way I attached them this time. The first thing was to make sure I didn't stretch the fabric when overlocking and the second was to release the tension in my sewing machine when doing the top stitching, I think this made the biggest difference. Its very nice to have found the biggest cause of the problem though as it will vastly improve future projects. the neck isn't ideal but its ok. I definitely prefer adding a neck band as opposed to binding a neck, something to bear in mind.

I am not 100% sold on the mauve colour of the vest and leggings, It was an online purchase and I was hoping for more of a cadbury purple like the binding. The vest is less of an issue as once its on with some trousers you won't see it. I am hoping though that the colour grows on me more once its actually being worn by a tiny human. I'm sure she will be plenty cute enough to pull it off.

Have you ever bought any fabric from a custom designer? I would love to hear about them and how you found the fabric/service. Its definitely a perk of the digital age, especially in the UK where nice prints have historically been much harder to come by.

New Look 6216 - Striped baggy tshirts

Its ok that all my clothes for the next 6 months are stripey isn't it, or do I maybe need to start branching out a bit? :)

Following on from my earlier post where I talked about my personal sewing being all about the breastfeeding at the moment these are no exception to that. What with summer approaching and everything I thought I better sew a couple of short sleeved tops to see me through the warmer weather. I kept with the same theme of nice and baggy so there is room to lift up for feeding and also plenty of room to hide my post baby belly.

These tops are both made using the New Look 6216 sewing pattern which I bought form Sew Essential again. The grey stripe and pink version is made in view B which includes these extra sleeve bands and the black and white version is in view C which has slightly shorter sleeves. I actually haven't made a decision on which version I prefer as yet, they both look and feel great, but as I haven't managed to get the wear out of them you will have to watch this space for my final verdict.

These tops were ridiculously easy to sew. I have always shyed away from making any jersey basics, for a couple of reasons really; firstly they are usually so cheap to buy, why go to the effort of making them and secondly it always seemed really fiddly and not the easiest fabric to sew with. I was really wrong! I knocked both these up in about 4 hours total (including tracing and cutting the pieces) which is really fast and they look great. I have to say I am really pleased with the way I have been managing knit neckbands lately which makes me happy.

Again I have mostly just been experimenting by using up some of my stash jersey which was getting a bit out of hand. These were both made out of polyester jersey which I bought from local markets. I have a nice mix of poly and cotton jerseys in my stash but the reason I picked the polys for this project was because they have a much more flowing drape. They are a bit more lightweight that cotton jerseys tend to be so they lend themselves much better to this sort of baggy top. A definite consideration if you are thinking of making a top like this.

The fit seems to be pretty ok (as much as you can tell with a massive baby in your tummy!). I made this version in a more true to size size than the last top I made which I think was a much better idea, its less like a tent and seems to fit a lot better. I like the neckline on this top, its wide enough but not too massive to fall off your shoulders and the length seems pretty good.

All in all i'm really happy with how these have come out, a couple of quick satisfying makes. Again, its a shame I can't model them for you but I will make sure to pop some pics on instagram once they are in action.

For my next selfish sew I have been looking at tank top patterns, I think I like the look of the Rumi tank, though I worry it might be a bit short length wise. I will have another look around to see if I can see anything else that fits the bill, but if you know of any patterns please shout up.

Lastly, as a rather random final word; I have had my eye on this sewing pattern for a while now, the reason being that I have been hankering after making a top which Veronica Mars wears in the Veronica Mars movie. Ever since seeing this movie in 2014 I have had this make in the back of my mind but just haven't ever got around to it, mostly because of my fear of tackling a jersey basic I think. The top is this black burnout stripe one (I can't find a better picture on the internets). From my recollection it has a sort of faux leather binding which I would love to pull off. Watch this space, I now have the means!

Pink and Orange Triangle Cot Bed Quilt

Also known as the sew I have both hated with a fire in my belly and adored at the same time! Anyone who has me on instagram will have seen me whinging about this thing as I have been going along in the last few weeks. 

Seriously, I have HATED sewing every inch of this quilt, it was long, boring, repetitive and monotonous, all those damn straight lines. I seriously don't know how avid quilters do it, though maybe I do, the whole thing felt like such a slog. But lets not be that down about shall we, because look at it! Its bloody stunning! 

I'm just going to keep going; I LOVE it! The finished thing has just been so worth all that effort that maybe I can see how quilters do it, they just probably have more time and patience than me, patience is not a thing I am known for. 

So, about the quilt. The pattern is a free pattern from See Kate Sew's website which includes full instructions and a pattern piece, so I will let you go read her post to find out how to make it. Her site was great at giving me all the details I needed, and the quilt comes out as a good cotbed size. Mine came out in slightly odd proportions to the bed, but its definitely big enough to function as a working full quilt as Miss Fox grows. 

The main pattern and flamingo fabric is a fat quarter bundle from Emma's Fabric Studio. I have used her bundles before and I love them. You get a nice amount of fabric and they come in some lovely combinations. The plain white, pink and orange are just sheeting cotton which I got from Dunelm and ebay. 

I adore the colour combo of this quilt. Pink and Orange are my absolute favourite. It sort of goes with the nursery, I maybe should have added more yellow, but it works. Its so vibrant and the colours really 'pop'. I have a friend to thank via instagram for adding more of the pink and orange, it definitely was a good plan, so thank you to her. 

The quilt batting is a lovely cotton batting which quilted brilliantly. It was an iron fix one which meant I could secure all the layers together before sewing to stop it sliding around. This is by far my preferred option than all the pinning, it just takes a lot of the worry out of the layers moving and sliding around. 

I also got to use some special quilting machine equipment on this quilt. I got a free quilting kit with my machine from Sew Essential so I made good use of the 1/4 seam foot, the extra large sewing plate table and of course the walking foot. All these things definitely eased the blow on this make and made things a little easier. But don't worry if you don't have all this, the only thing I would say is a must is the walking foot, but I think everyone should own one of these regardless, they have so many uses. 

So after all that hate will I make another? Well I am already thinking about making Master Fox one now he is in his big boy bed! I must be insane! 

Do you have any experience quilting? How do you find it? I'm desperate to hear from someone who does this a lot and enjoys it so can hopefully explain why they love it. Again, its probably just down to my lack of patience. 

Baby dribble bibs (including pattern)

Can you ever have enough dribble bibs? There is a possibility I might have gone a bit overboard on the bibs here but personally the answer to this question is no, you definitely can't have too many of these things. I know from the experience of my own little dribbler these things are a must for pretty much any baby (unless you are lucky and manage to get a dribble free one, but I am not convinced they exist). Master Fox was known to go through at least 3 a day some days so unless you want a constant wash on the more the merrier.

The best thing about these though is that they have all been made out of fabric I already had, so not only are they amazing and super useful but they were also free!

But even better than that, I have included my pattern and the instructions for these bibs in this post. Aren't I good to you :)

See below for my instructions as well as the downloadable pattern.

A note about the pattern: I made this pattern by tracing from a shop bought bib left over from when Master Fox was little. I love this size and shape for a bib, but the ones from the shops come in so many different sizes you might find you prefer a different type. In which case, just fold the bib in half, draw around it and add a small seam allowance, it really is as easy as that.

Click here to download my DIY Fox Dibble Bib pattern

Make sure you print the document at 100% size so that you know your final bibs will fit your little ones.

Materials: main fabric, backing fabric, poppers/snaps

I used a variety of different fabrics for these bibs:
For the main fabric I used quilting cotton and knit/jersey (some cotton, some poly). Cottons are easier to sew but are more rigid. Knit/Jersey are harder to sew with but they are nice and soft on babys skin
For the backing I used either flannel or knit/jersey, you could also use toweling, minky, fleece or cotton.
For the poppers I used Kam snaps but you can also use sew in press studs or no sew studs. You could even use velcro if you preferred.

Bibs made from quilting cotton

Instructions:

1. Using the pattern above cut 1 piece main fabric and one piece backing fabric. Make sure to cut the pattern on the fold.
2. With wrong sides together pin the front and back pieces together and sew around the edge leaving a 2 inch gap along one edge to turn the bib the right way around.
3. Trim the seams as close to the stitching as possible
4. Turn the bib so the right sides are now on the outside through the hole you left in the step above
5. Make sure that the seam allowance for the gap you left for turning is folded to the inside of the bib, it helps to iron these seams so that they stay flat
6. Sew all the way around the outside of the bib making sure you catch the seams over the turning hole
7. Attach a snap to the ends of the bib according to your snap instructions. 
8. Admire your work :)

Bibs made from Knit/Jersey

So you see they really are that easy there is little point in buying any at all.