Five Genuinely Useful New Baby Makes #4: Dribble Bibs

Now that the fun of Me-Made-May is over for another year, it's high time I got back to my mini series of blog posts offering ideas for those wishing to make some cute gifts for a new baba. This post first appeared on the Village Haberdashery blog 'The Daily Stitch'. Thank you to them for allowing me to repost it here. 

My fourth project suggestion is dribble bibs. These natty neck accessories are designed to catch some of the crazy-amount of dribble and small possets that will come from a baby’s mouth. These are not the same as the kind of bibs that babies wear to catch the mess when they start to eat solid foods at around six months of age. Dribble bibs are needed much earlier in the baby’s sartorial life and play a major role in cutting down the number of outfit changes the baby will require throughout the day. 

Why should you make dribble bibs? Because it may feel to the parent that, even if they owned all the bibs in the world, they still might not have enough. My daughter could get through eight a day when at her dribbliest, and in fact still wears one most days now she’s 2 years old. I’m going to show you how to make a cute neckerchief-style dribble bib that is both super-absorbent, and is adjustable in size so it’ll be useful for a long time. And once you get the knack of making them, you can set up a little production line and make a stack in different fun fabrics.

You will need:
Paper and pencil to draft a basic pattern
30cm knit fabric (jersey or interlock), which tends to be more absorbent than woven fabric (this rainbow plush jersey can be found here)
30cm medium weight cotton (brushed cotton/flannel are ideal), for adding body to the bib
30cm soft, fluffy fabric (micro fleece, toweling or velour), as a further barrier and feels nice if the bib touches the baby’s skin
matching thread
2 X press studs/poppers (poppers that attach with a clamp have been used here, but sew-on press studs are fine as long as they are securely stitched on)

Draft a simple bib pattern shape like the one above. Mine is 28cm long and 12cm wide (which will be doubled when cut on the fold) including 6mm / ¼” seam allowance. (pic3)

Cut out three bib shapes on the fold:
1 X top layer in knit,
1 X middle layer in cotton,
1 X bottom layer in fleece, toweling or velour

Place the middle/cotton layer down on the table. Next, position the top/knit layer on top of it, right side facing up. Finally, position the bottom/soft layer on top of that, right side facing down. Pin the three layers together.

Stitch round the edge, leaving a gap of approx. 4cm / 1½” for turning the bib through. (PLEASE NOTE: I have used a contrasting coloured thread here for clarity, however it is advised that matching thread is used). Check that you have stitched through all three layers all the way round (excluding the gap). Re-stitch over any areas where one or more of the layers didn’t get stitched through initially.

Trim the seam allowance leaving 3mm / ⅛” all the way around, except at the gap. This is particularly necessary around the tight curves. Trim away the seam allowance at the point of the bib close to but not through the stitching. This reduces bulk inside the bib when it is turned through.

Turn the bib through so the knit fabric and the soft fabric are on the outside and the cotton layer is hidden inside. Use a pin to gently tease out the fabric at the point.

Tuck the seam allowances inside the gap and pin it closed.

Top-stitch round 3mm / ⅛” from the edge. Give the bib a press.

Apply two sets of press studs/poppers at the ends, 4cm / 1½” apart.

Ta dahhhh! One jazzy dribble-catcher complete.