Bandana Bib

Turns out that Alex is quite a dribbler. Rather than try and constantly wipe his chin to keep his clothes dry I thought I'd make a bandana bib to see if that works better.

I found this pattern on Mad Quilter's blog which was great. I shortened it a little bit but afterwards realised that the pattern length would be fine.

I used toweling for the back and flannelette for the front. It works quite well so may have to make another.

Kids Apron

The idea for this came from getting this material in the form of a couple of old pillowcases. It's quite heavy material and I immediately thought 'candy striper apron'

I measured Chloe up and decided that the top bib would be 15cm x 15cm with a 1 stripe seam allowance (about 1cm). The apron is 30cm long x 40cm wide. The neck bands are about 6cm wide in total x 60cm long, and the waistband is 2 pieces each 6cm wide x 75cm long (next time I would make this 1 metre).

* Sew the neck pieces into tubes, turning right way out and top stitching.

* Sandwiched these between the 2 bib pieces and sew around the 2 sides and the top, leaving the bottom open. Turn right way out.

* Fold the sides and bottom of the apron and sew around to hem the edges. (I forgot to do this step though the bottom was already hemmed from the pillowcase)

*Sew the bib to the apron, fold the bib up and press the seam down right along the length of the apron.

* Lay each of the waistband pieces on either side of the apron, approx. 2 com down from top edge. Sew along the length of the waistband and press the band up towards the bib.

* Fold down the top edges of the waistband and sew, catching the bib as you go.

* Finish the ends of the waistband and neck straps as you like - flod in and top stitch, or if you are lazy like me, just zigzag the ends.

Turned out like I had hoped and will be great for working in the kitchen.

Merino Pants

With the arrival of our little boy, Alex, I haven't had much time to do ,well, anything. He has started going to bed at the same time as Chloe so I thought I'd use my evenings to do some sewing. First up were these merino pants as the weather has suddenly got cold and Alex doesn't have any warm clothes. I have a bit of merino left over from making the blanket so I grabbed a pair of cotton pants that are a bit big for him yet and traced around them. They have a nice wide leg, but not too wide, and a bum insert to help fit over a nappy.

I sewed the elastic into the waistband at each seam to stop it twisting, and to keep it even around the pants.

Front and back views

Back view showing insert

They ended up a bit long, which is fine cause they cover his feet too...and it's not like he's going to trip over them. Much easier than trying to keep a blanket on his little kicking legs.

Our little Alex (3mths)

Now to make a black pair as I think these will be used a lot.