How to Make An Adult Bib Out of A Pillowcase

I work in an senior adult care center and our clients sometimes can make a little mess during meals. They all have very nice clothes and it is a shame when they get stains on them when it could be prevented with a simple cover bib. We use Adult Bibs and they love them. They love the different styles, colors, and prints to choose from each meal time. They even have their favorites! Unfortunately we are constantly having to wash them everyday and it wears them out pretty fast. I have a ton of pillowcases lying around in my scrap fabric and decided to use them up making some new ones for them!

First of all, I would like to point out that the King Size pillowcases work the best due to the length. Regular ones also work, but they will be shorter in length.

You will need:
1 Pillowcase (king size is preferred but regular will do)
Scissors
Thread
Sewing Machine
Velcro
Iron (not necessary but it makes it neater and easier)

1. Take your pillowcase and fold it in half lengthwise. Square it up and cut off the ends on each side. You want to end up with just a folded piece of material. Cut as little off as possible by cutting near the seams. You want as much length as you can get!

2. I pinned a pattern piece that I had sketched out myself onto taped pieces of paper.  I don't have it available for download but it is fairly easy to make one. If you don't want to mess with a pattern piece, you can also sketch one onto the fabric itself with a fabric marker.  Just be sure to line it up to the fold for the main piece of the bib. You can click and zoom into my picture to see the correct placement.  Also, when cutting out the bib, be sure to cut enough around the pattern to give you seam allowance. I always cut at least 1/2 inch to give me plenty of seam allowance. Remember that a pillowcase folded in half will give you the front and back of the bib, so you only have to cut once.

3. Unfold what you just cut out and put right sides together.

4. Starting at the bottom and going down the side, sew all around the bib stopping at the opposite side from where you began. DO NOT sew the bottom hem!! You will need to be able to turn your fabric out the right way and need an opening.

I usually use pinking shears to cut out the neck area for smoother seams when it is turned correctly, but you could also use regular scissors to snip as close to the seam as possible. Turn the bib right side out and be sure to get the corners as pointed as you can by pushing them out with either a chop stick or your scissor tips. (be careful not to cut your corners!)

5. Iron your bib. Fold the bottom hem inwards to create a clean edged bottom and iron it in place.  You can also pin it if you want, but the iron will get it to stay fairly easy for this part.

6. Sew the bottom hem as close to the edge as you can. I use my presser foot as a guide when sewing because I find it easier to keep a straight line this way. Keep sewing all around the bib until you get to where you started and be sure to back stitch a little bit so your hem will hold.

7. Grab your velcro and put one side of it on the neck strap. Flip the other neck strap over, line it up with the other and add your second piece. The velcro I used is durable and stays attached with just an iron and a few hours. I also stitch by hand the center or edges just in case. It is up to you and/or the velcro you use. You could even use snaps or buttons. Your preference.

8. Iron the entire thing and viola! Now you have a bib for your adult senior to protect their clothes from accidents during meal time!

Keychain Chapstick Holder Tutorial

I am always trying to find my chap stick in my purse.  I end up digging around for minutes only to give up and decide to look later. I use to have the same problem with my keys until I got a hook fob to attach them to my purse straps. That is when it hit me to make some sort of pouch for the chap stick that could be on my key ring!

Now I just started to sew with a sewing machine. I am in no way an expert at sewing. I don't even know the proper terms, stitches, or process of making things with a sewing machine. So this tutorial is completely from a beginners perspective! I did take bits an pieces from multiple searches online on the steps and adapting them to what I wanted and needed.  There are plenty of other "professional" sewing tutorials for this project out there, but I thought I would share how I did it.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Fabric scrap (cut to 10in x 4in)

Key Ring

Thread

Sewing machine

Chapstick

STEP ONE:

First you are going to find a scrap of fabric that you want to use and cut it into a strip. Mine measured approximately 10 in tall by 4 in wide. 

Iron it nice and pretty!

STEP TWO:

Fold the strip in half lengthwise with right sides of the fabric together.

Sew the strip down the unfolded side to make a tube like strip.

(there goes that fancy and totally beginner sewing term talk)

Turn the fabric inside out to where the front of your fabric is now showing.

STEP THREE:

Take one end of your strip/tube and fold it a quarter of an inch 2 times. Iron it down flat and then sew a straight line to hold it in place.

It should look like this:

STEP FOUR:

Flip it over and do the same thing to the opposite end - turning, ironing and sewing the straight line to hold it in place. I only flipped it once on this end because the raw edge won't be showing. Folding it once or twice is up to you.

Now it should look like this:

STEP FIVE:

Take the last end you folded and fold it to the center of your strip.Pin it down if you need to for sewing.

STEP SIX:

Sew the folded section around the edges so that it creates a pocket. 

DON'T sew the center that creates the pocket though. 

STEP SEVEN:

Take your key ring and thread it through the top folded hem.

TAH DAH!!!

Now your chap stick holder is ready to be attached to your key ring! If you don't want to weigh your key ring down with it, you can also attach it to your purse strap. 

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! 

No Sew T-Shirt Infinity Scarf

After cruising around Pinterest for hours the other night, I kept coming across tutorials for Infinity Scarves made out of T-Shirts.  I decided to give one a try and combined the steps from several tutorials into one that worked for me.

You are going to need a T-Shirt and a pair of scissors.

I used one from Fruit of the Loom. It is recommended that you use at least a size Large. This one is an Extra Large.

Lay your shirt out flat on a large surface. (I used the living room floor)

Cut the hem off the shirt. Cut right above the sewn hem. KEEP the hem you just cut off because you will need it later in the tutorial. Set it aside for now.

Cut the top of the shirt off right below the bottom of the arms. Try to cut as straight as possible, but small flaws won't matter much. Set the top part aside as we won't be needing it.

Cut slits along one side of the T-Shirt. I eyeballed it and cut them about one inch apart and about 2 inches deep. There is no set amount you are suppose to cut, but try to at least have 15 or more.

After you made the small cuts, you are going to go back and finish cutting them the rest of the way. Just be sure that you STOP cutting at least 1/2 inch from the top.  You need to keep them linked together by a small amount.

Take each one of the cut strips and test your strength! While holding the top of the strips, take each one at the bottom and pull as hard as you can and hold it for a few seconds.  You want each strip to start getting the rolled look to it as shown in the picture above.  Also try and keep them all the same length.

After you are done, bunch the top together where the chain link is still connected. Make sure all of the loops are still separated and lay on the flat surface.

Take your discarded hem from earlier and tie it around that chain link section into a knot.  This secures it all in an orderly fashion.

Cut off the extra hem leaving enough to tuck back under the knot.  I used the end of my scissors to make sure it was under there tightly so the ends wouldn't come out. 

ALL DONE!  Now you have your own T-Shirt Infinity Scarf made in about 10 minutes with no sewing involved.