A New Baby Towel, and Easy Dribble Bibs

In an earlier post, I wrote about how I made the Christmas towel for baby A out of a bargain towel. I'm please to say it is still going strong. I used the second of the two bargain towels I bought to make a hooded baby towel for her cousin, baby I, for her first birthday. Baby I had a blue one:

I had some pieces of towelling left over when I made the baby towels. I made these into simple dribble bibs. Easiest things in the world to make, and they make great gifts. A new Mum can never have too many dribble bibs, and they are so easy to make.

                                       

These were made by cutting out triangles (right-angled triangles) which measured 9 inches.  That allowed for a neck circumference of nearly 11.5", with an overlap of 1.25". If you want to be more sophisticated, you can  curve the long side (the one which will go round the neck) for a better fit, but in practice I've found it doesn't make a lot of difference. The edge is on the bias, and you've bound it with more bias binding, so it's pretty stretchy / forgiving. Cutting it straight is easier than cutting a curve.

If you want to make one, here's a guide to sizing your triangle according to the baby's size. The neck measurements here are the full length of the long side of the bib, so assuming you want an overlap, of say an inch and a quarter (or 3cm), you need to deduct that from the neck measurements below:

         An 8" side (c 20cm) will give a neck measurement of just over 11" (nearly 29cm)
         A 9" side (c 23cm) will give a neck measurement of 12.75" (just over 32cm)
         A 10" side (25.4 cm) will give a neck measurement of c 14" (nearly 36cm).

Each one was edged with double-fold bias binding. I now always recommend sewing the bias on in two stages after attempting to do the lazy way (all in one) and generally ending up with more work. First, open it out and sew along the seam line on one side, then press it over, pin, and sew it very close to the edge on the other side. The corners are easiest if you make them slightly rounded, then you can just ease the bias round them. Otherwise you can mitre the corners - which works perfectly on the right-angle, but is more fiddly on the acute angled corners. I added a piece of spiky Velcro (the hooks) to the outside of one top corner, and the fluffy Velcro on the inside of the opposite corner. I made them reasonably long to allow for neck comfort (and growth!).

Finally, each one had some type of motif on to coordinate with the binding. I've written about home-made motifs you can use here.

These bibs have now been in and out of the washing machine and dryer many times and are still holding up well.