Chappell's Birthday Bib

Today I had a problemo.

With Chappellina's birthday only hours away {yikes!}, I still had no birthday bib for my birthday girl.

Since online shopping was no longer an option,

I was beginning to think I'd be forced to pay an arm & a leg at one of the touristy children's boutiques in town...

Time to get crafty.

This brings me to problemo numero dos.

While I really do enjoy the perks of living in such an incredible area, there are, however, pitfalls. There's no sewing or fabric store around. I think the closest one is in Ft. Walton.

Where does one go when truly desperate?

Walmart... booyah!

Well actually, that's not exactly true. I tried Michael's first.

But they don't have fabric. Or cute appliques.

So on to the mart!

Same problem at Walmart. Not much in the way of selection.

Time to make do.

I grabbed some fuzzy white fabric, claiming (I think) to be fleece. Felt more like terry cloth to me. Who knows.

Have I mentioned I'm quite the novice in the sewing arena?

I found some green and pink felt, rick rack and practically ran out of there. Ick. I still feel dirty. What is it about that place??

I zipped on home and began to ponder... how in the H E double hockey sticks could I make this work?

Once I got home, I pulled out one of Chappy's bibs. Since I wanted it to be a little bit bigger than the bib in hand, I drew an outline about two inches bigger onto the fabric.

I cut out two identical pieces, pinned them and sewed them together inside out.

Now... what to put on this thing? I knew I wanted a cupcake, but how would I possibly do that?

Started paging through Real Simple magazine for inspiration and found...

a Duncan Hines ad. Perfect Size.

I cut the cupcake into two pieces: top and bottom.

I then traced the cupcake pieces onto green and pink felt.

Cut out the pieces. Pinned the pieces.

Next, I sewed the cupcake bottom on to the bib.

Added some rick rack to make the bottom look like the wrinkled paper...

Sewed on the top...

I glued Chappellina's name to the top of the cupcake with fabric glue.

Wow. Did I just do a step-by-step craft post? I think I did. Weird.

For the record, I'm almost certain that this garment will not survive Chappy's birthday.

It's white, which is probably plain stupid. Colored icing's going to ravage the thing.

Also, fabric glue doesn't sound like a sure bet through the spin cycle.

BUT, the important thing is:

It was fun to make, and someday I hope it will make my daughter feel good to look back and see that her mom made something just for her.

:)