HOW TO: FRENCH TOAST EMBROIDERED BABY BIB

Today’s tute comes from Nellie.

I love embroidery but haven’t ever posted an embroidery project, so when Nellie offered this cute French Toastie bib project, I couldn’t resist. She also includes some very clear diagrams to teach you the various stitches used.

One of my favourite friends is having her first baby in the next couple of months, (Maud, if your reading this – Spoiler Alert!!). I love her to bits, so I wanted to hand embroider her some baby bibs as a gift. Both the parents are French, but the newbie will be a little Aussie, so I thought one bib should have a picture of French toast and the other should have a toast triangle with Vegemite!

Today, I will show you how to transfer the French Toast template to fabric, then how to fill it in using Back Stitch, French Knots and Long and Short stitch. You can then apply a similar method to the Vegemite design.

You will need:

• 1 plain bib (prewashed)
• Dressmaker’s carbon paper (if your bib is a flat fabric) or tissue paper (if your fabric is fluffy like terry toweling)
• Embroidery hoop
• Embroidery needle
• Embroider floss in colours: 975 (warm brown), 310 (black), Blanc (white) and 437 (camel)

How to Embroider a Baby Bib

1. Check that the size of the French Toast design is right for your bib, if not, resize it using a photocopier.

2. The template and position it on the bib. If your bib is made from a flat material like cotton, transfer the design using dress maker’s carbon paper. BUT if your bib is made from terry towelling, this method just won’t work! You’ll need to trace the template onto tissue paper then tack it to the bib around the design. If your tissue paper is a little thin, use two layers.

3. Optional – Put the bib into an embroidery hoop.

4. Following the stitch guide on the template, outline the design with Back Stitch (please scroll down for Back Stitch instructions) shorten your stitch as you go around curves. Please note: Embroidery floss is formed from six floss strands, you only need three for this project. A length of floss, split it in two groups of three then load your needle with one of the groups.

5. If you’ve used it, peel off the tissue paper and remove the tacking.

6. Again, following the template guide, fill in the remaining areas with Long and Short Stitch (please scroll down for Long and Short Stitch instructions).

7. Add two little French Knot pupils in the toasts eyeballs and some Back Stitch in two of the toast corners (please scroll down for French Knot instructions).

8. Neaten all loose threads at the back of the bib.

9. Take a photo of your handy work for the archives.

Following the curve of your design, create a row of alternating short and long length stitches (the ‘short’ stitch should be approx half of the ‘long’). For the following rows, use only one stitch length and start at the entry point of the stitch above (your stitches will appear long and short, but don’t be fooled!). Repeat until the area is full.