Liberty of London Baby Bibs!
Joelle was in California recently, visiting her adorable new niece Bobbie Rae. She noticed that Bobbie was using a lot of bibs, and that the most effective were super absorbent. When she came back to New York she had the idea that we should design a bib that was both beautiful and totally useful.
As you might have noticed by now, when we want to make something truly special and beautiful, we often turn to Liberty of London’s Tana Lawn. The lovely detailed prints of Tana Lawn are legendary! Its silky hand is soft enough for a very precious baby gift, but still strong enough to stand up to repeated washings.
To add absorbency we decided to back the bibs with Michael Miller’s 100% Organic Cotton Terry, which is another perennial favorite at Purl Soho. We just love the combination of these two fabrics and we hope you’ll agree that they’ll make perfect baby shower gifts!
These bibs are a breeze to sew, you could easily make a whole set in one afternoon. Create your own by following along with the pattern below!
Materials
- 1/4 yard Liberty of London Tana Lawn,
- a half yard of Michael Miller 100% Organic Cotton Terry (Please Note: This cotton terry is no longer available from Michael Miller. In a pinch, a repurposed terry cloth hand towel will do the trick!)
- 4 large nickel plated snaps
- 100% cotton thread from Gutermann to match the Tana Lawn
- Liberty Baby Bib template.
- A fabric marker, such as blue tailor’s chalk, a water soluble fabric fen or even a regular pencil.
- scissors
- hand sewing needle
If you’d like to make your own version of our Liberty of London Baby Bibs you can find the pattern template right here.
Pattern
Marking
Assemble and cut out the Liberty Bib Template.
Cut of the Liberty of London Tana Lawn into four 9-inch by 13 1/4-inch pieces from. Press these pieces.
Trace the bib template on the wrong side of each of these pieces. It can sometimes be hard to tell which is the wrong side of the Tana Lawn because of it’s ultra saturated printing so be careful in this step.
Make sure to transfer the markings on the upper left hand corner of the template to the fabric. These are the gap markings.
Sewing + Cutting
Pin the Tana lawn to the Terry Cloth right sides together around the perimeter of the markings. (The right side of the Terry Cloth is the fuzzy side.)
Then cut the Terry cloth to be a little bigger than the Tana Lawn piece.
Starting at the bottom gap marking sew the Terry and the Lawn together along the marked line. Stop sewing at top gap marking making sure to leave the 1-inch gap in-between the markings unsewn.
Here is a close-up of the unsewn gap.
Cut the bib shape out roughly 3/8-of an inch from the outside of the sewn edges.
Snip off the corers at the right angles by the neck and snip vertically into the seam allowance in a few places along the neck and bottom curves to make turning the bin easier.
Finishing
Turn the bib right sides out through the gap.
Press the raw edges of the gap inside and press the whole bib flat with the Tana Lawn pulled just over the bottom and side edge and the Terry Cloth pulled just over the neck edge so it’s peaking out a bit at the top. Pin the entire perimeter of the bib in this manner.
Here is a more close up shot of the edges with the Tana Lawn rolled slightly over the bottom edge and the Terry Cloth rolled slightly over the neck edge.
Top stitch along the entire perimeter of the bib with a scant 1/4-inch seam allowance. This will close the gap.
Hand sew the snaps onto the back of the neck as directed on the snap package. Center the snap at each neck flap, a 1/4-inch from the end of the flap.
Repeat these steps for the other three pieces of Tana Lawn and you’ll be all done!
Update 2024: You can explore our current collection of beautiful fabrics and supplies on our page of Sewing Tools + Notions!
Ooh! The perfect combination of form and function, beauty and durability. I them!
… baby boys don't drool and spit up huh … there are so many adorable "boy" prints in liberty … ya'll should think of the boys too!!! … hi paw says gumby!!!
Oh what fun! Two of my closest friends just recently had babies and this will be just perfect.
What an awesome idea and gift it would make.
I love Liberty of London prints…this would be a great way to use up scraps of this expensive fabric…and you'd never throw away these bibs. Is that terry cloth on the flip side? Great idea.
I was coming here to request boy bib prints, but tante sophie beat me to it! Although the blue colorway one can be sort of boyish. My baby boy wears pink diapers leftover from his sister, so why not add some flowery bibs! 🙂
Hi Elaine and Ina,
When we made the kits we specifically picked the blue and red bibs for boys. Clearly neither of you consider them to be boyish enough though, which we are surprised to hear.
We'd love to hear back from you and anyone else interested in commenting about what makes something suitable for baby boys (or not) so we make sure to think about it for future projects.
thanks for your thoughts!
Purl Bee
Anything nautical!
love these colorful bibs!
In my previous carreer designing kids clothing doing the boy's collections was always a challenge. We could generally use blue, green, brown ,black and orange for boys. Red was very iffy. No dots, definatly no flowers, unless they were Hawaiian. Stripes were fine as were checks ,ginghams and plaids. Prints were usually limited to sports themes , trucks & cars , dogs (not cats), monsters, reptiles and bugs.
purliebees … there are a bunch of cute prints for boys … not that i don't like flower prints for boys … but with plenty boy prints to pick from here is the list …
teal rust josephine
grey chris
purple chris
winter thistle
green patrick's
takako navy orange
blue bicycles
pink bicycles (girlie)
red bicycles
… happy days … happy sewing … happy everything … lovingly … ina and gumby!
I think this issue is silly, but other prints “suitable” for boys would be Queue for the Zoo and Oxford. Purl Soho has carried both in the past.
purliebees … i betcha if ya' mixed up the mod' with the expected and made it two different girlie prints and two different boy prints per pack people of all preferences would buy them like hot cakes 'cause you could gift them mix and match … hi paw … says gumby!!!
I wish you had some gender neutral combos! Not all of us are into blue for boys & pinks for girls.
Thank you!
But in any event, this is a great idea. Purl Soho’s projects are always beautifully executed.
These are adorable, and so durable!
Hi Purl Bee!
Since you asked for comments on the kits from parents of young boys, I love the blue for my son Connor (3 months old) and the red as well, especially the one that looks like fans. Neutral combos would be nice as well, as Kimu suggested above.
Jill
yeah, i wish i could be progressive and not think that those are too feminine, but i really wouldn't choose any of those options for my son. would love green patrick's and takako in navy/orange. i know they don't make as nice of a color story, but they would both be boy enough (for me, at least).
you could always change the shape to a bandanna. My grandson looks great in his bandanna dribble bibs
Hi Janine-
Great suggestion! We actually have a bandana bib pattern here that is put together slightly differently: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2012/09/23/mollys-sketchbook-bandana-bibs/
Thanks!
Molly
OH MY! These are cute! Wish my bigs were still littles!!!
I can't wait to make these – being a first time grandma I am on the lookout for anything "baby" – oh baby – I will be making these tommorrow. I love all the colors you used – babies are so sweet, they can were any color.
I've always thought that patterned and multicoloured material is perfect for baby bibs as the inevitable stains won't be so obvious. Great choice of fabrics!
Completely adorable … thank you for inspiring us all …
I made a gazillion bibs when I was pregnant. How lovely that you have these kits to make it easier for everyone to do! I make bibs for friends now, and for boys I make sure the fabric is VERY boyish. I can imagine a print you have, I think by Kokka, that is all little cars…..
LOVE the Liberty used as a bib. I just cut some Liberty that I bought from you guys last weekend, and am determined to make sure I use every last little cut of it. Oh what pretty bibs I could make! Thanks for the inspiration.
I love the bibs and would love the blue ones to make for our first Great-grandchild, however it is not available? Will it be again?
Hi Penny,
Yes it will be, hopefully even this afternoon, please stay tuned! You can also email us at the following link and we'll let you know as soon as we have more kits ready.
thanks so much!
https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/contact
How sweet! I have another idea to enlarge the bibs. These are precious but I can also see them being used for adults in certain situations. Could there, would there, would you be able to adapt the pattern for adults? The fabrics are wonderful and I would be first in line to purchase. Thank you!
This are super easy to make! I just whipped up a bunch in an afternoon- I cut them all out at once, pinned them together, sewed, pressed- just gotta sew on the snaps tonight. Perfect baby shower gifts! Love em! Thank you for this pattern-
I was lucky enough to see Miss Bobbie Rae herself while shopping at the CA Purl warehouse yesterday, and she is sooooo adorable!
I am in love…I think it's the perfect first project to make for my little bun in the oven!
aww… thanks angela!
jen
Oh my! This looks soooo good! Just yesterday I came across a similar idea to prevent the drooling of a little babe and now this! Perfect for my three month old! I love your fabric selections, too! Great idea…I'll have to do this! Thanks!
xo Jules
I adore Liberty fabrics! But never thought they could be used for this kind of projects, haha!
wow, this is such a great idea. I am inspired to complete my first sewing project!
This ais great, I just made a bib
I haven't done any sewing in a very long time and wanted to 'break myself in' with these bibs. Is there a specific type of hand stitch you recommend or is a standard sewing machine stitch preferable?
HI Jessie-
We strongly recommend using your sewing machine's standard straight stitch for this project since it has to be so durable.
Thanks for writing in and let us know if you have any more questions!
Molly
I would use velcro tape for clo
sure.I will make a lot for me first grandson. Thank you.Phyllis
This bib was so fast and easy! Love it. I would make the gap a little larger next time,though. I would NOT use Velcro instead of the snap, as I think a baby's hair would get caught in the Velcro! Thanks for the wonderful pattern. I've made the winter bonnet, and have the pattern for the sun bonnet. So cute and unique!
I really can't help to be in love with your baby bibs and I am very much amazed how you make this lovely bibs. This would be one of the most precious gift that somebody could give for the little ones. The pattern in the making was very easy to follow. Great!
A question… The lady at the fabric store suggested that the terry cloth would "shrink considerably" and suggested zig-zagging & washing beforehand so it wouldn't pucker. Is that something that you did as well?
Hi Rebecca-
We do recommend pre-washing all the fabrics before you sew with them. We didn't zig zag the terry cloth before we washed it but it couldn't hurt if you'd like to be extra safe and reduce any fraying.
Thank you!
Molly
Wow, caught myself in a big pregnancy-brain crafting error today. I mistakenly cut all my bibs out of the tana lawn before sewing… so if I sew them now, I'll lose a 3/8" off the template size.
I'm having my first child and have no experience with babies… anyone out there know whether losing that 3/8" will make my bibs so small as to be unusable? I used some of my favorite prints – of course – isn't that always how it goes when you have a cutting error? I'd hate to have to toss all the fabric I cut into the scrap bin and start again. 🙁 Any advice/fixes would be so very appreciated.
Hi Jen-
So sorry to hear this happened but I think you'll be fine! You could even try sewing them with a 1/4-inch seam allowance to loose less area. If you have any baby clothes yet you could always compare the size against a onesie or something.
Good luck and congratulations on the baby!
Molly
I just adore the bibs, the designs are really cute.
I want to order a bib kit but do not see the directions to do so. I would also like to order the free pattern for the bandana bib.
Hi Mary Ann-
Unfortunately we no longer carry the bib kits- sorry!
The Bandana Bib pattern is available here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2012/09/23/mollys-sketchbook-bandana-bibs/
Thank you!
Molly
I’d like the pattern of the Bib. I like the snap option. Would that catch a child’s hair?
Hi Sandra-
It shouldn’t catch the hair too much, since it’s sewn on and doesn’t have any sharp edges.
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
My daughter will be presenting me with a new grand child in July. Her daughter will be 13 by then so you can see that I have to start over in the baby item department. I have long ago either given away or lost my bib pattern and this one is just perfect. So glad that I was able to find it.
What a cute and easy pattern! The most difficult part is turning it right side out through the 1″ opening. My next one will have a 2″ opening instead. Thanks much for your great website!
I’d like to try making one bib as an experiment. How much Liberty of London fabric and terrycloth would I need?
Hi Jean-
You would need 1/4 yard of each.
Thank you!
Molly
Love your pattern so much, thank you! I have made one bib with my favorite tana lawn along with double gauze as the lining. Would you please be able to suggest something as an alternative to the Michael Miller terry, as it no longer appears to be in stock. Thank you!
Hi Maire,
Great question! There are a few fabrics that would make great substitutes for the Michael Miller terry. I would suggest Organic Sherpa or Speckle Jersey. Either fabric would work well for these cute bibs!
I hope that this helps and happy sewing!
Cassy
I made your darling bibs, but the neck looks so small. Have these been tried on an infant. ?Once snapped the opening is only three inches …I’m afraid of finishing the ten bibs I cut out until I get a reply from you. Thank you Patty Moffett
Hi Patty,
Thanks for writing in! These lovely little bibs have been tried on a number of little ones. That said, some babies have larger necks. You can certainly try making them a touch larger by elongating the part that goes around the neck if your little one. This may involve cutting an additional piece and seaming it to the neck sides to lengthen them without redrafting the template.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Such fun to make a “bouquet” of baby bibs for a dear friend’s new granddaughter! And, there’s plenty of fabric left over from the required 1/4 yard to make a mask or two for your adult friends!
Hi Kathy,
It’s so great to hear that you enjoyed the project! Thanks so much for writing in. And it’s great to hear that the leftovers are going to a good use as well!
Happy Crafting!
Cassandra
Thank you for this amazing bib pattern. It is quite literally the first thing I pinned on Pinterest, ten years ago. We had two kids and I was searching for an easy to make baby bib. It has been my go to bib pattern ever since for my kids and baby shower gifts. I am currently using your pattern to making bibs for our fifth childs Christmas present.