Many moons ago, I wrote a quick tutorial on making baby bibs from a commercial pattern and terrycloth. Recently I had reason to use that tutorial, to make gifts for friends who’d had a baby Christmas Day and another pair of friends who had a baby in early January. Here they are!
First, a stained-glass bib.
For the same couple, an Irish bib with illuminated initial of the baby’s name, made from a St. Patrick’s Day guest towel.
For the couple with a sailing husband, a sailboat bib.
The second bib for the same couple, with an Eire-loving wife, a Celtic shield knot.
When I went looking for a Celtic knot to applique on a bib, I did not expect to find one that was traditionally placed on children’s clothing to protect them, but that is exactly what I found!
The knot and letter are done in ribbon, hand-sewn in place with matching thread. I formed the knot on a life-size paper printout of a photo of such a knot (in that case engraved on a button), pinning it first to the paper and then pinning each intersection and fold to itself. I unpinned it from the paper, lifted it over to the bib, adjusted it and centered it as best I could, and pinned it down. Periodically I repinned it, trying to minimize the number of pins used so there would be less for the sewing thread to catch on. It took a very long time. The letter T was formed directly on the bib and stitched down with somewhat less care than the knot, and then embroidered over to give it a medieval illuminated look.
The stained-glass bib was made by piecing strips and squares of terrycloth over the paper pattern, zigzagging them together, and then cutting out the bib and zigzagging the edge. After it went through the wash I had to darn one part of it that has started pulling apart. The heart on the T bib and the sailboat were both made by appliqueing terrycloth shapes with a zigzag stitch; the sailboat has additional details (lines and mast) made just with stitching.