Daisy Girl Press: Waterproof Catch All Bib Tutorial

So I thought I'd do something useful today and create a tutorial on how to make a waterproof catch all bib for kiddos still trying to master the whole food-goes-in-the-mouth thing. If you can thread a sewing machine and make it go, you can easily make this bib. You need a bib to trace, fabric for the front and back, iron-on vinyl (easy to find on google), and snaps.

To start, grab a bib and use it as a pattern to trace. Lay your fabrics right sides together (which means you'll be looking at the back of the fabric) and trace your pattern adding about 1/4" for your seam allowance. Cut out your pattern. (Click on any picture to enlarge.)

Notice I added about 4" in length in a bell shape for the catch-all pocket. Also, you're going to need to widen the neck straps a bit. Iron-on vinyl is great but it's hard to turn inside out in tiny spaces.

Next I like to iron the front and back to make sure they're nice and pressed before I waterproof.

Next, cut 2 pieces of your iron-on vinyl, peel the vinyl away from the backing (keep the backing handy, you're going to need it) and smooth it out over the right sides of your fabric.

Next, with the shiny side down, place the backing on top of your vinyl and press on medium heat for 8 seconds over each area of the bib.

But the vinyl will stick to my ironing board, you say. Yes it will. But it will also peel off very easily in one piece. No worries. After you've pressed on your vinyl, peel the backing paper off and cut the excess vinyl from your bib.

Much like wrapping paper your scissors should glide along the vinyl making your life a lot easier. Now you have two perfectly waterproofed sides of a bib.

Now turn your right sides (waterproofed sides) together and pin them. Don't worry about holes in your vinyl, they'll be closed later in the process. At this point you can also trim up any uneven edges you might have.

Now take a break and feed the baby.

When he's sufficiently full of something both delicious and nutritious, you can now begin sewing. Sew your right sides together using a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving a big space unsewn along the bottom of the bib.

Cut tiny little verticle slits around the edges of your corners. This will keep the edges from being bulky.

Now turn your bib right side out, poking out the edges and the neck straps as you go. You'll end up with a bib that looks wrinkly, puffy, unsewn, and altogether unpresentable. Don't fret. We'll fix it. This is what it will look like:

With your fingers, turn under the unsewn edge of the bottom of the bib and smooth it out.

Now grab your vinyl backing one more time, put it shiny side down and press both sides of the bib.

When you peel the paper off, you will end up with a very soft, nicely pressed bib.

Now back to the sewing machine. Top stitch around the edges of the entire bib. This will close the open edge at the bottom. Don't forget to match your bobbin thread to the backside fabric.

Next, place your snaps on the front of the bottom of the bib.

Then fold the bottom up to decide where to place your top snaps that will create your catch-all pocket.

Then place your snaps on the BACK SIDE of your bib. This will create a natural opening for the pocket to catch all those stray pieces of chicken nugget.