Bias tape accomplished!

So I decided to tackle Bias tape during this class. I drafted my own pattern for Sam's bib. I think I did a good job. The bias tape I chose was quick narrow, and I should have chosen the larger tape. Well, I really had to work at it and I certainly learned how to apply bias tape.
I pinned and pinned and pinned. I basted and basted and basted. Then I sewed zip zip zip. 3 hours later and I have a new bib!
We had this material when we made diapers 5 years ago, as well as the Velcro. I sewed this using my Singer Esteem and I used my new Walking Foot.
So, what do you think? Will Sam enjoy getting food all over it? I bet Tyler will want his own new bib, just watch!





So, I was right. Tyler wanted me to make one for him as well. I had JUST enough bias tape left to complete a bib for him. I had maybe half an inch left over. Making the second one took much less time, now that I am a "PRO" at bias tape. I unfortunately took a narrow bias tape, a wider one would have been much easier to work with. If it is your first project working with bias tape, I recommend the widest possible tape. It will make it easier. That being said, because it was so narrow, it required a LOT of attention to detail. I am now not afraid of it, I now feel that it is only a pain in the you-know-what and time consuming.

My trick was to PIN-PIN-PIN and then BASTE-BASTE-BASTE. Yes, this did take some time, but it was done properly, and I am sure as my skills improve I will not need to do as much, maybe.

  

As you can see there were a lot of pins. I pinned it on the wrong side first, basted, removed the pins then sewed. I then turned the bias tape over and pinned on the right side, then basted, removed the pins and then sewed it. I had to make sure that while I basted and removed the pins that my sewing thread did not get caught up in the pins sticking out. My fingers got pricked a few times. Oh well, that is all a part of the learning curve. 

Butterick 5510 Infants' Shirt, T-Shirt, Pants and Hat

I chose Butterick's 5510 for Sam's pants and PJ bottoms. There is one piece that is used for the front and bottom. If I used 1.25 meters of fabric I can get a PJ for Tyler and a PJ for Sam. It is super easy and quick. I made the pants with the stripe on it, but omitted the stripe. By luck I placed the pattern on the material in the correct direction, so Sam's haunted houses are in the proper direction. Like he would notice!

It turned out great. It was quick and simple. I like that.

One issue I had was with sewing the elastic for the bottom. The elastic was hard to work with on my machine. But now I know that I should just take out the tray and I will have much more room to work with. I had originally sewed it by hand but it came apart. Once I did it by machine it stayed put.

 The good thing about this pattern is that it can be long and still wearable because of the elastic. The elastic keeps it above the ankle. Always good!
I plan on making the Jeans style pants out of recycled jeans. I have a pair that are too big for me (ok, more than 1 pair) and instead of throwing them away I plan on making Sam a pair of new pants. With Tyler wearing his pants for 2 years in a row we do not have many hand me downs in terms of pants. I can make a lot of pants into shorts or Bermudas!