Dish towels and tea towels make great material for baby bibs! Absorbent and inexpensive, you will love this easy transformation!
I got these adorable spring dish towels a few years ago and loved them! But the edges are now pretty worn so I was ready to give them new life!
These baby bibs include lace on the neck, binding all around, and ties for a customizable fit. These are vintage inspired and so cute!
Friendly reminder that the baby items you sew from my patterns have not been formally safety tested. 🙂
Check out my other baby sewing tutorials too:
Supplies Needed
- Dish Towel
- 2 yards of double fold bias binding
- 12 inches of lace or ruffle trim
- Matching thread, sewing pins, scissors, etc.
How To Make A Bib From A Towel
Step 1. Download The Free Template
The template for this pattern is available to my email subscribers for free! Download it by signing up below.
Then print it out and measure the test square to make sure it is the right size. This particular pattern still works if it is a little big or small, though!
To assemble the pattern, cut it out on the black outline, then tape it together by aligning the seam whisperer logo.
Step 2. Cut The Towel
My tea towel was able to make two bibs of this size. Your milage may vary.
Iron your towel if needed.
Fold it in half lengthwise. Place the pattern along the fold and cut it out.
Open up the towel to see the basic bib shape. I made this pattern quite large to cover my baby’s whole torso. You can adjust the size/shape if you want.
Step 3. Attach The Lace Trim
On the neckline I thought some lace would look cute! You can omit this step if you wish.
Pin your lace trim along the front side of the neckline. Then, sew it to the bib with a 1/4 or 3/8ths inch seam allowance.
Step 4. Attach The Binding
The binding will be attached in two steps. First, the shoulders and outside curve, then the neckline curve and straps second with a second binding piece.
Flip the bib over to the back side. Open the double fold bias binding, and place the edge of it along the outside curve of the bib, starting at the inner “corner” of the shoulder area, right after the neckline.
Pin it in place, and pin it around the bib if you wish. I prefer to sew it un-pinned.
Place the bib under the presser foot so that the needle is in or barely to the right of the first fold line, and sew the binding all the way around the bib.
Turn the bib over to the right side. Fold the bias binding over the edge to the front, encasing the edge. Pin it in place. If there are areas that are hard to fold over, you can trim a little away from the seam allowance of the towel.
Sew a stop stitch along the inner edge of the bias binding to sew it down.
Here is what it looks like at this point:
Step 5. Sew The Neckline and Straps
The neckline and straps are made from one piece of bias binding.
Cut a length of binding 30 inches long. Find it’s center and mark it with a pin.
Fold the bib in half and find the center of the neckline, mark it with a pin.
Working from the back of the bib again, open the binding and place it on the neckline, aligning the center of the binding to the center of the neckline.
Sew the binding to the neckline the same way you did with the other binding. I liked to sew from the center, down to the other edge, then start at the center again and go the other way to make sure it was even. Stop sewing at the edge of the bib, don’t sew the straps yet.
Step 6. Finishing The Straps
Now flip the bib over to the right side again. Fold the binding over the front of the neckline, hiding the raw edge of the bib and lace inside. Pin it in place well.
To sew it, you’re going to sew the straps and neckline all in one go.
With the bib facing up, place one end of one strap under the needle, and start sewing along the edge to sew both layers together.
When you get to the bib, continue sewing down the edge to sew the neckline down.
After sewing the neckline, sew down the other strap.
Then you are done!
I love how this turned out! It is SO cute and took 10 minutes! Plus I could make two from one towel. I don’t care if it gets dirty, and it is super absorbent. Win, win win!
Here it is tied onto my baby. It fit great. But she was wiggly and I couldn’t get a great picture. You get the idea!
I hope you liked this tutorial, let me know if you have any questions, and thanks so much for reading my blog!
