that's not a bib, THIS is a bib

Monday 16 November 2009
apologies for the lame Crocodile Dundee joke, us Aussies do sometimes trot it out when we're trying to be only a little bit funny......

Anyway, I have a stack of bib from various stores and they all seem to have one thing in common: they're either small, or very small and don't do much in the way of stopping food getting onto clothes. Lately Anna has developed a real attitude around meal times - she only wants to feed herself, but likes to rub her food into her face, hair and all over the high chair before eating it! All of her clothes are seriously food stained, and I have given up soaking them in Napisan before each wash because they just get dirty again.

But I recently bought one of these very handy snap presses from Nappies Covered:

I bought this to use snaps instead of velcro on the next lot of nappies I make since Anna has worked out she likes being without a nappy best (there's that attitude again!). And it is so simple to use, I'm trying to use it on practically everything I can. Since I have a stack of terry towelling nappy flats and more than enough decorative fabrics, I decided to make some supersized bibs to defeat even the messiest meal time.

I trialled a few different fabrics - the yellow polka dot is a plastic coated polyester cotton from Spotlight which is wipe cleanable but liquid spills roll off very quickly, the blue dotted and ladybird fabric are woven cottons which work great and were easy to sew, whilst the pink dotted is a cotton knit which works great as a bib but was a bit shifty when sewing. I used this free download pattern from Chickpea Studios, but I enlarged mine a bit.

As you can see, it covers her shoulders and her entire front:


And this is the reason why it is needed!

19 comments:

  1. LOL! she is so a cutie.
    Don't you have the plastic bib with a pocket that retains all the food that falls? It was very useful with my daughters... You could clean them in a second.
    I wonder who has passed this attitude thing to her???

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  2. Those are great bibs. When my kids get to the inevitable point of wanting to feed themselves and making a mess, I just feed them naked--or at least topless. Yes, they get dirty skin, but that's not going to stain like a shirt. However, both my girls also started refusing to wear a bib. If yours is okay with the bib, you're a lucky woman. I also came up with what I call the "bib shirt". It's basically a stack of old stained shirts that I keep in the kitchen that they can wear while eating if they're cold. It doesn't matter if they get stained because, well, they already are old and stained and not publicly wearable.

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  3. I do exactly like Carolyn, for this youngest, I gave up on bibs except in public. So I have her in an old shirt or topless if it's messy enough,then plan on a quick rinse in her bathseat. She gets cleaner that way. They came out cute.

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  4. LOL! Love those pictures!

    If Anna gives you attitude about wearing a bib at all, I suggest you let her pick out which one she wants to wear for each meal. Sometimes being offered a choice, even if none of the choices are what they really want, will sidetrack a toddler's attitude issues for a few minutes. :)

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  5. Thanks for the laugh :) Anna is a cutie.

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  6. Great idea. I found the same problem with store-bought bibs, toooo small. I always undress the little boogers during meal time so they don't stain their clothes, eat, plop in the bath and redress. Or I used the plastic kind with the big pocket at the bottom that catches the food. They're great, no food in the lap or seat of the high chair.

    Anna looks adorable.

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  7. Ohmy! She really is into eating isn't she? *LOL* Cute picture! And great job on the bibs!!!

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  8. I love that first picture--she looks cranky that she won't be able to stain her clothes anymore!

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  9. That's what my little grandson is doing! Too funny! I know, it's not funny when your the one doing the laundry!!!
    Our DD and her hubby are going on a cruise leaving soon... so that means we have the kids for around 10-12 days... if you don't hear from me in the next little while... send help!!!! LoL...

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  10. You'd need to have the first rinse from the washer go through the food disposer, like dishwashers do. I'll bet that's some stuff that needs to be scraped off. She is seriously cute though. Gosh, they do grow up fast!

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  11. These look much better than the ones I've bought in the past for baby shower gifts. Nice work!

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  12. These look much better than the ones I've bought in the past for baby shower gifts. Nice work!

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  13. She is SO cute!! Great bibs. I liked the plastic ones with the pocket at the bottom for my kids also.

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  14. Adorable! And the bibs look great as well as being functional!

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  15. **laughing without sound**

    Do you have a drop cloth under her chair?

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  16. that is ONE great picture to show the first unsuitable boyfriend. best laugh of my day!

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  17. Great bibs! I use the plastic ones with the snap together pocket. They wipe up quickly. (But tomato products stain them and after a million wipes, you can wipe off the design.)

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  18. I made a bunch of bibs, almost identical to the ones you've mde for my little boy... they are fantastic! the snaps are brilliant as he can't pull it off (and boy does he try!)... can't wait to see your latest batch of nappies... i am also in the middle of making a bunch of new nappies at the moment (for my boy and for a friend's boy)... i make one size fits most using snaps and aplix (my husband can't cope with snaps up the top... ) i would definitely make a new bunch of bibs, exactly the same if i had another baby (they are all getting so manky now :)... he's the grubbiest eater in the world!
    Amy

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  19. I soo need one of those snap presses, thanks for bringing it to my attention!!! I have just started making baby clothes for my twins due in May 2010 and most of the rompers call for snaps. I have brought one of those kits with the tool that you hammer but I imagine your gadget would be way easier to use.
    BTW your daughter is adorable :)

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