The "Big" Bib: Tutorial

Welcome to my first ever tutorial! (Please have patience and mercy as I have never done this before...) I have been meaning to make some new bibs for the boys for a while now. The little bibs I got for my baby showers just weren't cutting it anymore. They are like highwater bibs--they come to the middle of the boys' chests!

I have looked at Target and Walmart for bigger bibs but they were $4-5 for ONE and since I have twins, and would need at LEAST two bibs for each messy kiddo...OUCH! That would be shelling out almost $20! So, here is a cheap and easy way to make new, adorable bibs for your "big" kids.

I used materials that most moms would have around the house so this project should cost you little to nothing. Enjoy and happy sewing your own "BIG" bibs!

Supplies:

Old towel (mine were my hubby's old college towels...I think)

Receiving blankets

Velcro

Construction paper (or scrap paper)

Marker

"Little" bib (for pattern)

Scissors

Thread

Pins

Sewing machine

30-45 minutes

First, trace a pattern from your "little" bib on your construction paper. The neck of these bibs still fits my boys pretty well so I left that the same on the pattern.

Cut out your pattern.

Fold it in half and then trace a new pattern on a new sheet of paper. This will ensure that your bib will be symmetrical. I added a bit to the neck as well.

Cut our your new (final pattern). Have your kids throw away the scraps of paper. :) You will cut your material on the fold.

Fold your blanket and place your pattern on the fold. Pin in place and cut one.

Repeat on the towel. (If there is a ribbing or decorative band on the towel, cut that off first so it doesn't get in the way of your pattern)

You will have two pieces: Flannel (front) and towel (back)

Iron your flannel (if it has been sitting in a drawer for two years like mine has)

Pin your pieces, right sides together

Mark a small opening for turning the bib after you sew

Sew around your bib with a 1/4 in seam allowance (against the presser foot)

After sewing, trim excess fabric from the neck straps (and anywhere else where it seems thick)

Cut small slits around the curved parts of the bib (neck and bottom). Be sure not to cut through the thread!) Clipping the curves will give a smoother finish when you turn your bib.

Clip the bottom too.

Turn that baby inside out! Use a pencil or your scissors to help with the straps.

Smooth out all the seams.

Tuck in the loose fabric along the opening and pin shut.

Top stitch around the whole bib, closing up the opening as you go. Use your presser foot as a guide. Go slowly as the fabric will be really thick.

Topstiched goodness!

Cut a small square of velcro and separate.

Sew one square to the flannel side of your bib. (If it is the sticky side, be careful as your thread can get caught in the stickies if you go too fast)

Sew the other square on the towel side

All done! You did it!

Compare: The "Big" Bib to the little one. Your toddler should stay a lot cleaner after this....should. HA! (My children would not model for the bib but it fits well and reaches down to their waist)

Thanks for following my tutorial! Leave me a comment if you make one!

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Greek Goddess Dress

Are you ready? I made another dress to feed my growing addiction. Or fill my closet, either one. :) I found a tutorial online that I wanted to try called "Most Flattering Shirt Dress." And it was flattering--on the model who sewed it online. Super cute on her. On me? not so much. It looked like a frump bag. I was very disappointed/grumpy.

So I threw it on the ironing board for the night and the next day, since I didn't want to waste the super pretty/soft/inexpensive (I got the material for 6.50 on the clearance rack at Joann's!) material, I decided to cut it up and try to revamp the dress. I ended up cutting off the neck, sleeves, and ripping out the side seems down to the elastic. Then I gathered up the neck and sewed a casing around it. The bodice ended up looking very Greek--you know, a bit clingy/drape-y around the bust. Pretty! The shrring at the waist keeps the dress super comfy and I don't need to add another zipper (thank GOD!) So, all in all, the dress turned out great. I am glad I didn't give up after the first (awful) attempt. I love it and am going to wear it too playgroup pool party tomorrow. Enjoy the pics!

Mail Organizer

Here is another project I made a week-ish ago. It is fun and practical--a mail organizer! I don't know about you, but the mail PILES up on my kitchen counter tops....and stays there. UG! It is horrible and embarrassing. So, here is my attempt at a solution--and I got to MAKE something too. Win, win!

I followed the tutorial on www.noodleheads.blogspot.com. If you would like to make one, click here I didn't have any stiff interfacing so mine looks a little floppy compared to hers. Sad. But it still works.

Aaron hung it for me last night and my counter tops are looking better already! Enjoy the pics!

A Frock By Friday

If you want a great picture tutorial for the Coffee Date Dress, check out this website! Personally, I NEED pictures when I sew. Enjoy!


A Frock By Friday

Coffee Date Dress

I made a new dress! Seriously, I have an addiction. I really love sewing right now and I really love clothes SO...the more dresses the merrier!

I found this FREE pattern online! Yes, FREE! You can't beat that! It is called the Coffee Date Dress. I printed off the pattern, taped all the pieces together and then cut out the pattern.

I actually revamped a botched twofer dress that was just NOT coming together. I made the top out of a men's button down short sleeve shirt. Then I altered the skirt pattern to work with the one I had already made. The whole dress came together really quickly. I made it over 2 days and wore it to church on Sunday.

The hardest part was installing the invisible zipper. GAH! I kept messing up. It really wasn't THAT hard to instal if I hadn't have sewn it in backwards, then once with the dress twisted (don't ask me how I accomplished THAT one), sewn over the zipper teeth, and who knows what else. I spent a lot of "quality" time with my ripper and reminding myself that I don't use foul language--and that this WAS the first zipper I installed. I'm sure the next one will take 15 minutes--instead of 2.5 hours.

If you want the pattern, click here Just scroll down a bit. This pattern is courtesy of The Selfish Seamstress.

If you want a good tutorial on how to install an invisible zipper, click here

Enjoy the pics!!!

90 Minute Shirt

A week or so ago, I made this little shirt for the boys. I found this awesome tutorial for the "90 minute shirt" here (BTW, I currently love the "MADE" blog. I stalk it daily. :)

Anyways, here are some pics of how the shirt turned out. I love it and it really was easy (after a bit of trail and error and some quality time with my stitch picker). The shirt is special too because I made it out of one of Poppie's old shirts.

Enjoy! And make your own 90 minute shirts! I plan on doing some more soon. Aaron willingly donated some of his old t-shirts for the project.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Here is a super yummy (personally tweaked!) recipe that I have been making quite a bit lately. They are a great way to use up brown bananas.

The boys love them and so do I (even though I am usually not a big fan of banana bread)! The boys call these muffins "mups!" So cute! Enjoy! Let me know if you like them!

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt OR flavored yogurt OR sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (1-2)
1/2-2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (if you make mini muffins, mini chocolate chips work wonderfully!)

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.

In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt, milk and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or 12 min for mini muffins until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. ENJOY your MUPS!

Poppie

My grandfather, Charles Kenneth Arpke, passed away on Tuesday May 18th. He was the ripe old age of 88 and had been fading for a while but his passing still hurt quite a bit. Aaron and I packed up the boys, picked up my sister Kalina, her son Hunter, and my brother Kellan (who happened to be in Norfolk VA for an ROTC event), rented a huge SUV and drove down to FL. It was an adventure! The kids did really well (mostly) and the adults didn't kill them or each other. It was really nice to see my siblings but a sad circumstance to bring us together.

We got to Florida on Friday and saw my parents, uncles and grandmother, Nonnie. Nonnie and I just sat on the couch together and snuggled. She seemed alright but I know that having her family there was helping to ease (mask?) the pain of losing her husband of 60 years. She nursed him at home until the end.

I really missed Poppie when we got to the house. He would always say, "Hey Brit!" or "Hi there sweetie!" and give me a big hug and kiss. His memorial service was on Saturday at 1pm. It was nice service although we had to sit in the "cry room" at the back to the sanctuary with the boys because they were WILD! They were pretty good for most of the trip but they didn't get a nap at their normal time (most of the time not at all!) the whole time we were gone so my family didn't really see their best side but everyone understood.

In the past 4 years that Aaron and I have been married (4 years TODAY, actually) we have lost 4 grandparents between the two of us. Wow. I guess we are at that age where we are both creating life and saying goodbye to those we love too. I am so glad that because Aaron is from FL, I was able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents in the last 7 years. I know I appreciate my relationships with them so much more than I did when I was a kid. Poppie was a wonderful man and I miss him dearly.

Tiss and Snugs?

I wrote earlier this year about the cute way the boys say certain words, especially "kiss" (tiss!) and "snuggle/hug" (snugs!)

The other night the boys were NOT wanting to go to sleep. The kept crying and crying in their room. After numerous trips in there to talk to them and snuggle with them, we finally decided to get them up again. It was about 9pm and Aaron and I were watching Two and a Half Men on TV. The show is pretty funny but a bit off color in parts (probably why it is so funny!) and definitely not a kids show.

One of the characters was getting, shall we say, amorous with a lady friend in bed. Usually the boys are oblivious to non-kid shows on TV but lately, we have noticed how much they are noticing. Well, Micah, apparently was very in tune to the TV that night. He watched the couple on TV and said, "Tiss? Tiss? Tiss?" (There were lots of kisses on TV) Then he turned around and kissed me.

(I was thinking, "Our kids should probably not be watching this.")

Then, as the couple got more "friendly" (it was nothing super inappropriate, it was NBC, not MTV) Micah said, "Tiss! AND SNUGS?" Aaron and I just about died laughing, me with a red face and pricked conscience. Sweet little Micah just saw the couple being loving with lots of "tiss-es" and "snugs." This incident just showed us how much the boys are picking up these days. Parenting is a hilarious and humbling job!

Chew! Chew!

Like most 2 year olds learning to talk, the boys are repeating everything we say, especially common phrases like "be careful!" "What do you say?" and "Are you ok?"

We say this last phrase quite a bit, especially after the boys cough. The tend to cough quite a bit at dinner where there is a great temptation to stuff all of one's food in one's mouth at once. Of course, the result is coughing. After the familiar, "Are you ok?" the next command given is "Chew your food!" or simply "Chew! Chew!"

The other night Aaron was laying with Micah before he went to sleep. Aaron got a tickle in this throat and started coughing. Usually Micah, our sweet sensitive son, will ask, "Are you ok?" But this time he told Daddy, "Chew! Chew!!"