Make: Mod Bibs

by Designing Mom Mari Serendipity, my favorite word! It began with some plain cotton knit bibs at the craft store. After doodling through my first attempt, I thought I’d color larger areas with the second – I wanted something with more pow!
First, I soaked the bib in water, pressed out some of the excess, and laid it on a couple layers of newsprint (use the ads that won’t rub ink off onto the bib). I hoped coloring on the wet cloth would be easier and a little softer around the edges . With my fabric markers, I colored large pink puffy clouds all over the bib, with nice clean edges, and some swirly yellow scribbles behind them. Unfortunately, I don't have an image of this step. I walked away, letting it dry before adding anything else – honestly, I think the baby woke up!
Well, bowl me over. When I returned later there was not an original mark left, but instead these gorgeous watercolor blurs of color. Fabulous! The dye migrated so far it was in different locations from the original drawing! (Notice the 2 pink circles at the top of the bib did not bleed – those were drawn with a Sharpie. You have to use fabric markers!).
With these crazy clothes as inspiration, I used the watercolor effect as a background, and came back in with my trusty fine-tip Sharpie to add some wings.
Now I can’t wait to try again with more fabric markers and wet fabric – it’s like magic. One thing to note – the black sharpie drawings did fade a little after washing, make sure you make things nice and dark, and show me your results!