Sweet Little Bug

Several weeks ago, I was invited to meet up with some of my grad school friends who I don't see very often. The last time we'd gotten together as a group was back at Bee's wedding in January. At that time, one of the girls was about 7 months pregnant. Thankful for facebook, I knew that she had successfully delivered a very happy and healthy little daughter a short time after the wedding! Our group gathering was set up so that the rest of us could meet this little darling! 

I had been invited to a baby shower in honor of this new mama back in January as well. It was a great time, and I happily made a tied fleece quilt and handed it over to the mom-to-be. As the date of this gathering approached, though, I decided I wanted to bring something else when I met the baby for the first time. 

I stumbled upon a kit at JoAnn's, where Martha Stewart had prepared a bib, with instructions and supplies for embroidery. Check! My needle punch project reminded me that embroidery can be kind of fun. Plus, the design on the pattern was relatively simple, so I wasn't terribly worried about getting it done in time. 

Here's the bib to start with. The blue ink will wash away once it's been washed, so there isn't going to be any pre-washing. I unwrapped the brand-new provided embroidery needle (Martha thinks of everything, doesn't she?), snipped some thread off the thread card and got to work! 

After just a few hours of sustained effort - spread across a few days - this was the finished product. Just as I'd hoped! 

The one little snag I encountered was the back side of the embroidery. I'd done embroidery projects before, so I was aware that the back side usually doesn't look nice at all. In fact, it seems to me that it's usually a bit of a mess. I was surprised that Martha also markets kits for onesies and hats, where there's embroidery on the outside and the back of the embroidery is against the baby's skin. Yikes. 

This photo just gives you a little idea about the messiness on the backside. I didn't do as well as I could have keeping these threads organized and short. The kit actually included a second bib, and I did much better when I stitched that one! 

Even though the back of the bib won't be touching the baby's skin, unless Mom and Dad decide to use it, to feed her while she's not wearing a shirt, I was still a little nervous about leaving it. I was worried that something would become snagged in the thread, or it would become snagged in something else, and the whole thing would wind up ruined. 

So, I discussed the matter with my mom, who is an excellent reference for all things sewing. I'd done a little research on the internet about the use of "fusible webbing" to hold things together. When I described what I'd read, she didn't quite know what I was talking about. But, she had another idea and used iron-on interfacing as you can see in this picture and the one above it. She also made some suggestions about how to make the next one look better, and it did, so it was a success all around! 

The next day, I packed it up in the tiniest little bag and we were off. This sweet little bug and I went to meet the sweetest little bug!