The Big Kid Bib: Serged & Snapped in Seconds

Have you peeked over at the Dinner for 2 Flickr Group lately?  There are some seriously great-looking bibs showing up already, bibs for kids and adults alike.  Have you sewn a bib or two yet?  What are you waiting for?  A quicker method of sewing perhaps?  Do you have a serger?  Well, then the Serged & Snapped in Seconds Bib tutorial is just for you!  (Okay, so it really takes minutes, but seconds make up minutes and without seconds you don’t get the alliteration.)

Let’s get started!  First, hop over to this post: Hopeful Threads & Dinner for Two.   Read all about why we’re sewing bibs this month, print the Big Kid Snap Bib Pattern and get your three fabric pieces cut out: I have a front piece of cotton quilting fabric, a hidden inner layer of cotton flannel and a backing piece of PUL.  (This method works well with PUL because the slippery side is hidden when you serge.  Ripstop may be too slippery, but you can certainly try it!)

Grab a glue stick from your school supply closet or your junk drawer.  A fabric glue stick will certainly work, but regular glue stick is cheaper and easier to find, and as long as it’s washable, it works just as well.  You do want a glue stick that is new and not gummy at all.  It needs to spread quickly and in a thin layer.Rub that glue stick all over the shiny side of your PUL. You want plenty of glue so there won’t be any slipping and sliding. Carefully place your hidden layer on top, line up all the edges and smooth it out.
Now glue the wrong side of your front fabric piece to the top of the flannel using the same method. It is much easier to spread the glue stick glue on cotton quilting fabric than on flannel. Flannel leaves icky fuzzy stuff on your glue stick. Check to see if you have any areas where the fabrics are overlapping and square them all up. Now you’re ready to serge. Just one second before you head to the serger, though. Do you have one of these baskets? These beautiful colored spools of Woolly Nylon have been sitting in this basket since Joanns clearanced them quite some time ago. If you have a basket like this, you might consider pulling one of those pretty colors through your upper looper. If you don’t, white will work just as well! Now, off to the serger! The seam allowance is 1/2″ so you want to cut off 1/2″ or close to that with your serger blade. It’s hard to keep that exact when you’re going around curves, but get it as close as you can. I started and stopped my serging at the back of the neckline since that’s the spot that will be least likely to be seen when the bib is worn. Zip, zip, round the corners, and all you have left to do is add the snaps.Refer back to the pattern for snap placement. Press the snaps in place. And you have a bib ready to send off with love to a sweet little one who will be so excited to receive it!  Now wasn’t that fast?!  Fast enough that you have time to make another one?  Super!  Go serge some more!