Welcome to this utterly fabulous tutorial on how to make this wonderful minky backed bib! In this tutorial I am going to show you a wonderful neat trick for getting the shape and neckline of your bib just ‘Mary Poppins Perfect’!
Anyone who has ever sewn with Minky will know what a complete pain in the fanny it can be to get it to sit straight! It shifts all over the place! What is minky?? Well minky is that beautifully soft wonderful fabric often found in baby’s items. If your familiar with my work you will know I use it A LOT!!
So over the years I’ve tried different methods to get it to behave and this little trick I will share with you will make your life soooo much easier!!
So lets get started……
Supplies
Fat quarter or half yard approx of cotton or flannel
Half yard approx of minky
Scissors
Pins
Marker
Pattern (later in this tutorial I show you how to adapt a pattern template of your own!)
Method
First step, put the kettle on a grab a cuppa and a choccy biccie! This will help you think straight and is good for the soul!
Next, grab your fabric and lay it all out nice a flat. Remember that pattern template I mentioned?? Well the easiet way to create your own pattern is to mirror image an old bib! Grab an old bib and fold it half length ways.
Trace around it on paper or card, allowing about quarter inch for the seam line. Personally I prefer to use card for my patterns, it lasts longer and is sturdier to trace around. I don’t like to pin patterns to my fabric, I like to lay it on, trace around it and then cut out the piece following the lines. Now here is a little trick to remember: You are only going to cut your cotton fabric AT THE FOLD using this pattern piece, NOT the minky part. More on that in a mo! Lay your cotton wrong side down, and fold over just enough fabric to trace around the pattern. Lay the pattern with the flat edge on the FOLD of your fabric:
Then when you open up your bib, its perfectly symmetrical!!
Cut the top of the bib to separate the part that fits around the baby’s neck.
Now for the hack for getting that neckline just beautiful!!! Are you ready?? Quick, go and put the kettle on again for another brew, I can wait……
Ok your back!!!
Sooo, remember earlier I said to only cut out the cotton piece NOT the Minky?? Well that’s because we are just gonna use a big ole square piece of minky instead! 
Some might say you could be wasting a bit more fabric than necessary, and minky isn’t cheap! But believe me when I say, it’s so much easier to just sew around the cotton piece right on to the minky and get those seams straight, then to have to try and get the two pieces cut the same to stay together whilst sewing! Minky will twist and pull, I’ve learnt the hard way! You sew all the around only to find out you have totally not sewn the back part to the front and have to unpick or patch up the lines!!! Meh, no this is by far the best way I have found to do it!! Just make sure to use just enough of a square to fit the bib, that way your not wasting too much of your lush minky fabric! Does this make sense?? I hope it does. If not drop me a message at http://www.facebook.com/BabyEllieDesigns and I will be happy to help!
Ok, sew all the way around 
leaving a gap just big enough for your hand to fit through for turning.
So now we have our two pieces sewn together, we are gonna cut the minky away just at the seam, but leave a flap of it hanging out. This makes it much easier to get a flat seam when you top stitch it.
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Next step is snip any corners, you can of course have it rounded at the top, but I like the way this bib looks with the square tops.
Turn the bib right side out and iron flat. But DO NOT iron the minky side. All those beautiful little dimples will be lost forever!!
Wow your almost done!! Doesn’t it look FABULUSH so far?!!! Ok, so now top stitch all the way around. Start and stop at the opening you left and back tack a little to make sure the seam does not open. Now decide what fastener to use at the top. You can use Velcro or a resin snap. I used a snap on this tutorial.
You can find these resin snaps in most fabric stores and on line. Many shops on etsy sell them.
One good one is:
http://www.simplififabric.com. They are Canadian based and have the most delicious organic cottons. They sell the KAM snaps and the pliers for adding them to your projects. That’s where I got mine from.
Once you have added your fastener and label your all done!
I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial! If any parts are not clear then by all means contact me at http://www.facebook.com/BabyEllieDesigns or drop me an email at: babyelliedesigns@gmail.com. You can check out my Etsy shop for more information on my products at: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BabyEllieDesigns.
Thank you sew much for joining me today! Please feel free to comment and send me pictures of your lovely bibs, I might even feature them on my blog!!
Lots of love n stuff!
Dionne.xoxo
baby ellie designs 