finishing touches.

The last steps in completing the bibs were simple, but I had to use a sewing machine, which I'd never done before. In order to sew the patterned fabric onto the back of the bibs, I pinned the fabrics together, with their front sides facing each other on the inside. I then stitched all the way around the bibs, leaving about a two-inch opening, which I used to turn the bibs right-side out. Then the openings had to be top-stitched, and Velcro had to be sewn onto the bibs.

My mom was really excited to teach me how to use the machine, and while it seemed really daunting at first, it was much easier to learn the basics than I thought it would be. The straight edges of the bibs were pretty easy to do, but it was often hard to manipulate around the curves. This, however, was okay because my mom helped me fix the bibs when I messed up, and her sewing machine can do a back-stitch, which takes out the previous stitches you've made. It was a lot easier to fix mistakes than I thought it would be, which was really relieving.

Because I had to go back to school, my mom sewed the Velcro onto the bibs for me, but she said she'd show me how to do it when I'm back home this summer. I asked her about student models of sewing machines, and she said I was more than welcome to use hers when I wanted. Then, she told me she'd been putting together a pile of applique and sewing supplies for me. This really meant a lot, especially because she wasn't able to shop with me for the supplies to make the bibs. She's really excited that I'm taking an interest in something she loves. She learned sewing from her maternal grandmother, and I'm really happy that I get to learn some stuff that's been passed down through the women in my family for years.

I really enjoy going home to see my family, and it was such a good experience to learn sewing from my mom. She was happier to pass on her knowledge than I ever imagined she'd be, and we were both thrilled to be creating something together. More and more over the years, I've realized how much I'm like her, and it's making us become closer family members and better friends.

more sewing.

The next step in making the baby bibs was to finished appliqueing the animals onto the bibs. For the giraffe, I only used the running stitch, but for the turtle and elephant, I used both the running stitch and the blanket stitch.

The blanket stitch is a little more involved.

Once you figure out the motions of how you make the stitches, it's pretty easy to repeat them around the animals; however, it's sort of hard to stop halfway through and then pick up the project later to finish the stitching. One day, my stitches were small and close together. I put the bib down and finished it on another day, and the stitches were bigger. It's not that big of a deal because I like that the bibs look homemade, but I'll need to consider the consistency of the stitches in my future projects.

starting to stitch.

When I started this blog, I made a timeline to follow so I finished the bibs the week we ended our blogs. First, I peeled off the adhesive backing and ironed the patterns onto the bibs, overlapping the various layers a little bit so that when I stitch around the edges, the thread will go through all of them.
Next, I decided to do a blanket stitch around some of the parts of the animals and a basic running stitch around others. First, I practiced a running stitch. It basically just involves going from the front to the back of the fabric in a line around the edges.

Next week, I'm going to practice the blanket stitch and finish stitching the animals onto the bibs. Then, the only things left to do are sew the backing onto the bibs, and add Velcro so the bibs can easily be put on and taken off the baby.

piecing my project together.

This week, I cut out my animals and the bibs. Now that I can basically see how the bibs will look, I'm getting a lot of gratification. I'm glad I'm making something tangible that looks good but is also functional and useful.


As mentioned in class readings, I'm also starting to see the economic value behind crafts. While it cost quite a bit of money to get all the tools necessary to start appliques, selling them at a farmers' market or similar venue is an easy way to get some of that money back. I'm not sure that I will do this, but it might be something I look in to if I continue making appliques.

Next week, I'll iron the animals onto the bibs and get them ready so I can start stitching.

finally dealing with fabric.

I feel like it's taken me a long time to get to this step, but this week I finally traced patterns onto my fabric. First, I ironed an adhesive to the back of my fabrics.

I had to iron the adhesive onto the fabric, peel off the paper backing, and then iron that fabric onto your other one. This secures the fabrics to one another, which is especially useful if, like me, you will not use a sewing machine to stitch the edges together.

Then, I laid the patterns down on the paper backing of the adhesive and traced them. At first, I forgot I had to trace the reverse patterns so they're facing the same way on the fabric.

I also traced out a pattern to use for my bibs. I bought a plain bib to use as a guide, and my mom suggested that I fold it in half to create a pattern. This is the best way, she said, to guarantee that the two sides of the bib are the same. I folded the bib in half and traced it onto the back of a sheet of wrapping paper.

Next week, I will trace the bibs and cut everything out.

The farther into this project I get, the more I'm enjoying it. As mentioned in Michael Owen Jones' article, I'm enjoying this project for various reasons. It's starting to provide me with aesthetic pleasure, and it's therapeutic and stress-relieving to work with my hands as I create something for someone else.

paper animals.

Over the weekend, I finally picked out the animal patterns I'm going to use for the bibs. The elephant and giraffe were pretty easy to find. I went through some children's coloring books that were laying around my parents house and saw these, which I liked. I will have to alter some things, however, so that the designs can feasibly be appliqued onto the bibs. For example, since I will hand sew all of the spots onto the giraffe, I will have to ignore the spots on this one and draw a couple big ones of my own. Also, I will probably make the elephant's tusk a little bigger than it is.

The monkey, however, was not so easy. I thought this photo would work, but when I showed it to my mom, she said that I need to consider how much stitching will be around it. The monkey's arms, for instance, are pretty skinny, so there would be a small amount of fabric on which I would need to make a lot of stitches. After looking at a bunch of coloring pages online, I decided to switch to a simple turtle, which I also found in the coloring book.

After I picked the animals, I scaled them to their proper size (about 5 inches tall), printed them and cut the pieces out. The elephant and giraffe will both have layers of fabric, so I needed a full body as the base. I will cut this out of one fabric, then layer the details on top of the main body. For the turtle, I only have two pieces, and they barely overlap, so it's much simpler.

I am starting to realize how much of an art applique is. I talked to my mom about it a lot this weekend, and there are so many details in the process that I would have completely skipped over had she not been there to listen to my schedule for making the bibs. I am realizing just how important and helpful it is to have someone guiding me through the process, teaching me tricks and reminding me of little steps along the way. I am very lucky to have a couple people in my life who have done applique before and who are skilled at it.

As mentioned in one of the class readings about craft classes and settlement schools, I am able to learn a craft through those who have been doing it for years, and through me, they are able to pass an old art form on to a new generation.

patterns.

This week, I tried to find animal patterns for the bibs. I've been looking at Web sites and coloring books to find them but haven't figured out which ones I want to use yet.

While looking over my class notes, I realized that my craft process is similar to the arts and crafts movement of the late 1800s to early 1900s. It's interesting to think that in the early 2000s, with as much technology as we have, I'm working on a project that evokes historical periods from more than 100 years ago. In Britain, the separation of workers from the products they made became became a problem. There's a sense of pride in creating something from start to finish then being able to see it in use.

Over the next few days, I'm going to decide what patterns to use, scale them to the proper size and prep my fabric so I can start cutting pieces out.