Genes, Lobster Bibs, and the Final Product

When my grandmother came to this country, she found work in New York City as a seamstress. If I'm not mistaken, she made costumes for Broadway shows, (or something like that). My mother inherited those sewing skills and has been applying them to her quilting hobby. She is really quite good and very meticulous and patient with her work. Me . . . well, I didn't exactly get those genes. I mean, I've tried my hand at sewing a few things, but the end result is usually some compromised version of my "vision". I even use my Nona's vintage sewing machine, a lovely shade of sage, but I usually fumble through the elementary steps. I WANT to be better, I WANT to sew lovely things more often, I want to be like Jill who is constantly posting adorable projects and presenting a totally mod perspective on this age old skill.

Soooo, after having my eye on this bib all through Lent, I decided to give it a try last week.
For some reason I had trouble getting the template to print out in an appropriate size and my first attempt at the bib turned out looking more like something an adult would receive upon sitting down for a lobster dinner. I wasn't sure what to do with it except tuck it away for the next time I go to the dentist. Won't he be surprised when I bring my own "fashion bib" to catch all the drool?! I tried to pass the bib off to Matthew who said "good job mommy" but still refuses to wear it. Oh well, what do you do? I didn't let this outcome get me down, I went right back to the cutting table and tried again. Using one of Micah's existing bibs as the template, I followed the rest of Jill's directions again and this time . . .

Overall the project went rather quickly. Infact, I was starting to feel my confidence grow when it was time to turn this double-sided bib right-side out. The vinyl coating makes it a bear to turn inside out. After much struggle I got through it, re-ironed the bib to make it smooth again and finished it off. I felt satisfied with the end result but I don't think I'll make another one as they cost like $3 at wal-mart. But I will make more uncoated bibs in the future. I also learned how to use piping during this project and found it much less intimidating than I first thought. I'm excited to use it in the future as well.

If anyone out there has other great bib patterns, please send them my way. If anyone is going to Red Lobster or the dentist soon, let me know- I've got ya covered!