The yo-yo garland I made last week helped get rid of some of my fabric scraps, but my fabric scraps seem to be multiplying faster than I can figure out what to do with them. I needed to come up with a project to utilize the really small pieces so I decided to do a patchwork baby bib. And no, I’m not thinking about having another baby.

I wanted the finished size of the squares to be 1.75 inches so I made a 1.75 square template and traced a bunch of squares and cut them out leaving about 1/4-inch of space on each side. Alternately, you could cut 2 and 1/4-inch squares and sew with 1/4-inch seam and get the same effect, but I like to have a line to sew down (use a fabric pen with disappearing ink).

Note- The way I cut squares is a little time-consuming and old-fashioned. You can cut squares much faster by stacking the fabrics and using a rotary cutter and a cutting ruler but be careful! You can easily lose a few fingers with a rotary cutter if you are not focused on what you are doing.

I traced out a pattern in the shape I wanted on a piece of paper.

 Then I started sewing the squares together in strips.

Of course arranging the different fabrics is the most fun part!

 As I was sewing rows, I put my pattern on top now and again to determine how many rows I would need and how long they would need to be.

I determined I needed 1 4-square row, 2 5-square rows, and 2 6-square rows.

Once each row is complete, press the seams alternating which side the seam is pressed to.

Then sew the rows together and press the whole piece to smooth it all out.

Using the pattern piece, cut one piece from the patchwork and 1 from a coordinating fabric.

You can use a layer of fusible fleece to give the bib more thickness. I would usually do this but didn’t in this case because I found that having so many seams provided some structure (I didn’t trim them). I think I will make another one using the fleece and see which one I like better.

If using fleece, cut a piece with the pattern and follow directions to fuse it onto the front (or the back -I don’t think it matters) on the wrong side of the fabric.

I wanted rick rack to show around the edges so I pinned it to the front along the edges and stitched it in place. I stitched through the very outside edge . This is just to hold it in place until the front and back are sewn together.

I cut 2 lengths of ribbon for the straps and sewed in place. Use some Fray Check on the end of the ribbon to prevent fraying.

Next I pinned the front and back together with right-sides facing in. Leave about a 2-3 inch opening at the bottom to turn it through. Careful that the straps are tucked in so they won’t get caught in the seam. Then turn right side out and slip-stitch the opening closed. The hard part is getting the seam positioned so the right amount of rickrack shows. If you have any tips on this let me know. I have learned most of my sewing through trial-and -error and it is a good method but it takes a long time!

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