It's a Phat Friday...

Hello world, guess what, it's a Phat Friday again and Iv'e got a great little dibble to share with you...the Bandanna Bib.  I remember when I was little and my family would go down to my grandparents house for the weekend. This was a spectacular thing because not only was it my grandparents house but it was the beach house! I love everything about a Southern California beach, well almost everything -but that's another story. After a long day of sand & surf, then a quick soak in the hot tub, it would be time for dinner. Do you remember sitting at your grandparents dinner table? I sure do, that's where I learned that the fork goes on the left because they have the same number of letters and the knife sits blade out to the plate because he is the knight and is protecting the damsel, aka the spoon. The glasses were always in their spots on the place-mats and the center piece would be moved off right before the food was put on. I also remember my grandpa, we call him Big Papa now, sitting at the head of the table waiting to bless the meal. Immediately after the blessing he would pull his cloth napkin out of its fancy ring and literally shove it down the top of his shirt. Then we knew we could start to eat! This always made me giggle inside because with all the fancy fanfare that I associated with one of my Grr-Grrs' meals my Papa would shove his napkin in his shirt all barbaric-like.

My Grandmother, I've called her Grr-Grr since I was about two, has been fighting breast cancer for just over a year now. It was very aggressive but Grr-Grr is one of the bravest women I know and she has fought back with all her might. In November however she had to say goodbye to her womanly figure and had surgery to remove her breast. To help with her recovery my Big Papa and Grr-Grr moved into a retirement home near my parents and away from the beach. But, dinner must go on. So now they get to have the table set in all its glory, dinner made, and friends for company -all without even lifting a finger. And this is where the bandanna comes in.

Apparently on the old man circuit stuffing your cloth napkin down your shirt is out and cool Old-Man Bibs (as I now call them) are in. How stink-en cute is that!?! So who does a Big Papa call when he is in need of fitting in with the popular crowd at the dinner tables. His wonderful, sweet, beautiful, very talented ..sorry ran away with myself for a moment...granddaughter, aka ME. After searching Pintrest for bib images trying to come up with something new and fresh I found this tutorial over at The Purl Bee; Molly's Sketchbook: Bandanna Bibs. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this idea and so as all wonderful tutorials go, I quickly got to work...on one for my baby NOT Big Papa. Geesh, where are my priorities...But then the thought came to me; how fun would matching bandanna bibs be for these two amazing men in my life! Fantastic! So seeing as it is Phat Friday here are two great tutorials for you, one for the babies in your life over at Purl Bee and one for your grandpa (or your husband if its rib night) from me.

•  (2) Fat Quarters of coordinating fabric
• Clasp (I used a pearlized snap for the Baby Bandanna & magnets for the Old-Man Bandanna)
• Basic sewing supplies

I cut 4" off the top of each fat quarter, leaving me with (2) 18" x 18" squares, one of each fabric.
Next step is to place your fabric, right-sides together and stitch around the perimeter of your square leaving a 3" hole for turning. I also serge my edges because its a habit and looks cleaner to me, but that is optional. Clip your corners.

Now shove your hand into your 3" opening and turn your fabric right-sides out then press your square.
Now to make the folds you need to lay your square down with the top fabric against the table. Take the top point and fold it down until you are happy with the look. You should now have an uneven triangle. Press the top fold.

Then taking that top fold, fold it over one more time until you have your desired width for the 'collar.' Press this fold.

Now my Papa has a hard time with small snaps so for his bandanna I decided to stitch magnets in. You could use purse magnets that you can purchase but they also are hard to open with one hand let alone with it behind your back, so I opted to use the little circle magnets you can get in a set. First I wanted to make sure the magnet would not run away from me when I sewed it in place so I figured out where I wanted my magnet to be and drew circle around it large enough that I could stitch it with my machine. You could also hand-stitch  it and then make your circle smaller but I'm not going to.

Next I stitched half of the circle BEFORE I put the magnet in. Once the magnet is in it's little pocket, I stitched around the rest of the circle and repeated this for the other side. To get rid of my markings I held the iron above marker lines so the heat could make them vanish. Now that your magnet is in go ahead and top-stitch your the square.

Now re-fold everything we pressed earlier and make three small stitch lines to hold the folds in place. I put one on each side and one in the center. I can't decide if I like these lines to be vertical or horizontal, but either way they function
to hold the 'collar' down better.

There you go. You now have a Old-Man Bandanna Bib. Now, my Papa lives in California and I am in Washington so you are stuck with a pathetic excuse of a self-portrait & a baby. I also noticed when I put the bandanna on that it will be too small for my Papa. So, this one will be used by me as I chase my boys around playing cowboys. I am going to try a 22" x 22" one this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes on facebook next week. Until then...

WANT ONE?!? Sure you do! So, I'll give one lucky reader a baby Bandanna Bib of their choice. Yeah, you heard me right, it's a GIVEAWAY! Go to our Etsy Shop and check out our Bandanna Bibs then come back and tell us which is your favorite in the comments below (don't forget to click on the listing to see the variety available). Earn and extra entry buy following our blog, and a third chance by following us on Pintrest. Leave one comment for each. The contest will end Thursday, May 23 at midnight. Good Luck!

A New Friend & a Sneak Peak

I made a new friend this week while getting my groove on at Zumba. Her name is Mari and she has two beautiful kids and I'm sure a fabulous hubbie. She also is super sweet and CRAFTY! Yeah, another friend to craft with. Mari allowed me to take some pictures of her little girl for this weeks Phat Friday post and we got to talking.

Mari runs a great blog In My Own Words and is currently a contestant in Blog Wars over at Just Between Friends. I headed over to check it out, so should you, and it looks like a lot of fun! I can't wait to see what she is able to do - no pressure though, Mari. Another dibble about this fun little competition is that you can win some cool prizes too. So head over and check it out, and don't forget to come back here for Phat Friday...it's gonna be a fun one!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

To our Moms, Grandmothers, and dear friends,

who have given thier love to us and to our children we would like to say

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

 

 

 

 

Phat Friday's Wetbag Tutorial

Today we are going to make a simple wetbag. Wetbags are wonderful bags you can use to store your wet swimsuits after swimming lessons, or for dirty diapers, water bottles that tend to leak and/or anything else that might contaminate your adorable new purse! They can also be made extra small and be used for for a reusable snack bag. Wetbags are easy to make and inexpensive. So here we go!

Being Phat Friday I am going to start with a fat quarter (18" x 22") of PUL (polyester/polyurethane laminated fabric). The point of this fabric is that it is water resistant. I wanted to make 2 medium sized wetbags for baby shower gifts, as these are great to throw into a diaper bag. So I will cut my fat quarter in-half width wise to make two 9" x 11" pieces. 

Then taking one of the 9”x11” pieces I am going to fold over each short side about 1/2" creating a small lip. Stitch this fold in place. This will keep the seams clean on the inside of your bag. 

These edges will be the insertion point for your zipper. I used a 14" plastic zipper. Next I will sew in the zipper. Be sure that before you sew you use a few pins and that you sew slowly, this fabric slides easily! If it does become uneven your fabric won't lay flat. Once the zipper is attached I unzipped it and give it a nice top stitch. 

Now for the assembly!

Now I will close my zipper and place the right-sides of the fabric together. At this point you can choose where you want the zipper to lay. I made one of each. The white zipper lies across the top of the bag and the green zipper is about 2" below the top of the bag. To change the location of the zipper you simply shift the bag up or down until the zipper is where you like it. I prefer sewing 2" down from the top because you get a clean looking zipper that lays completely fat. Gemia prefers the zipper at the top so she can shove as much into her bag as possible. This is totally up to personal preference, so make one each way and figure out what works best for your family. Once you know where your zipper will be, use two pins and secure the zippers location. Remember that we want to use as few pins and stitch marks as possible, we will seal the bag before use but it’s still important not to create too many holes.

If you want to add a ribbon or clip to your wetbag for easy hanging now is the time to do it. To make a ribbon loop take your piece of ribbon and simply fold it in half. You should also melt the two ends of your ribbon with a small flame. This will keep your ribbon from unraveling. Then take your ribbon loop and pin the loop inside of the wetbag so that the raw edges of the ribbon and fabric touch.  

So, now to sew the wetbag together. Sew each edge starting with the side where the zipper opening is. I found it easier to sew with the zipper closed at this point. Then, BEFORE sewing the opposite edge you MUST OPEN the zipper. **CAUTION... if the zipper is not open when you sew the second seam you won't be able to open it your bag to turn it inside out!

Turn out your bag by putting your hand through the zipper holes and pulling out your material.

Viola you have a wet bag!

To seal the PUL fabric you need throw it in the dryer on med/low for 15 minutes. By warming the fabric the tiny holes from the sewing will seal up and be waterproof!

Now it’s time to take your kids out into the sun and swim. Then put all those wet suits into your new wetbag, throw the wetbag into your adorable purse and go get some ice cream without the fear of water leaking on your fancy I-phone or tablet, or your good old fashioned daily planner!

Need a little more hands on help to complete this project? Well, we are her to help those that are local. One of our ‘Adventures With Sewing’ classes this month is on Wetbags. The class will be held on Friday May 17^th at the La Center Grange. The cost of the class is $20 and you will be making a fancy fabric covered, PUL lined, double zipper Wetbag. Oh yeah, we are upping the ante a little. To join us for the class you need to register here. We hope to see you there.