How to Make a Baby Crib Set

Perfect for baby

Maybe you are having a baby or know someone who is having a baby and you want to create something special for the little bundle of joy. A handmade baby crib set will be cherished for years. What family wouldn't want to welcome their beautiful newborn into the world in comfort and style?

Things You'll Need

• For the Fitted Crib Sheet you will need:
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• 70" x 45" cotton fabric
• 4 ft of elastic (cut into four equal parts)
• For the Baby Quilt, you will need:·
• Iron
• Sewing needles
• Rotary cutter
• Rotary ruler
• Cutting mat
• Pins- beaded head
• Needles
• Fabrics in four colors
• Quilt batting
• Spray starch
• Pattern for baby quilt
• For the Baby Crib Bumper, you will need:
• 1 1/2 to 2 yards of fabric
• cotton batting
• ribbon
• plain white printer paper or pattern making paper
• tape
• pins
• ruler or measuring tape
• scissors

Instructions

1. 

   FITTED CRIB SHEET: Sewing machine ready? Let us start with the basic fitted baby crib sheet. You will want to begin by removing a 9" square from each corner the 70" x 45" cotton fabric. Now using your sewing machine, sew the corners. The corners are referred to as the pressure points that need to withstand wear and tear when you take the sheets on and off the mattress so please be sure to sew this twice or three times over. Fold the edges, sew around the crib sheet with a zig zag stitch. Remember this part does not have to be perfect because this portion of the sheet will be tucked under the mattress. find the center of your elastic and sew it to the center of your corner seam. Sewing from the center seam, stretch out the elastic while sewing. Ensure you are still using zig zag seam so there is stretch in your thread Voila! You are now finished with the fitted sheet!

2. 

   BABY QUILT: Pre wash the fabrics separately. Ensure the fabric completely dried and iron it afterwards, adding spray starch to fabric.
   It is time to cut the fabric! Place the fabrics in form of a pile, one over another on the place mat (or a table). Get your ruler, measure and cut 2" x 2" pieces with your rotary cutter. Cut as many pieces as you want in order to cover the size of the quilt you want. Stitch the squares together to form a big square, this is called, "The Block." Sew all the pieces to form the same blocks. You can begin to sew all the blocks to each other until you get the desired size of your quilt. See how easy! Place your batting material above the piecing you just created. The top of your piecing should be facing the mat (or the table) and the stitched side should get along the batting. Place your lining fabric over this.) You will have to stitch all three layers to each other with the help of your handy-dandy sewing machine. For the beginner, stitch around the basic blocks, stitching all over the quilt.
   Bind all the sides together with a piece of the fabric. Now you should be proud because you've just created a quilt for your baby.

3. 

   BABY CRIB BUMPER: Time to create a pattern for your crib bumpers. Measure the crib. You need to know the length of the crib, how long each side is. For your pattern, you will need to add 1/2 longer on each side so however the length or width add 1". the width of the printer paper (8 1/2"). To create the pattern, tape the pattern papers end on end. Trim them to make them the length of the side of the crib plus one inch. If you are making them width wise larger than an 8 1/2" sheet of paper then you will have to make two and tape them together to make the right dimensions. Repeat this step all over again for the width side of the crib. Return to the crib, hold up the pattern papers to the crib, mark where the crib bumper pads ties will be. You need to hold it up to the crib so you know the tie will line up with the bars. Lay your fabric down on flat workspace. You should fold the fabric in half so that the front is facing inwards towards itself. Now lay a sheet of cotton batting over this. The batting can be whatever weight you want. Depending on how thick you wish your bumpers to be. Pin the crib bumpers patterns down over both the fabric and the batting. Use the patterns as your guide to cut the fabrics and batting. Cut two sets for the sides of the crib and two for the ends then pin these back together.
   Cut your ribbon into 8 to 10 inch lengths. Make these the same length, you should have 12 pairs of lengths in ribbon. Pin the ribbons in place where you want them to be sewed. The ribbons need to be laid inside in-between your fabric pieces. Pin one set to the top and one to the bottom where you marked off on the pattern for the ties to be sewn. One inch should stick out from the top and the bottom of your fabric but the rest should be tucked neatly inside. If you want, you can pin the ends in place so they do not accidentally get sewn in place. Sew each piece by stitching around the entire outside of each pattern piece, leaving a 1 to 2 inch opening for turning the fabric inside out. Make sure and stitch 1/2 inch in from the edge to go along with the pattern you made. You had 1 inch extra to each pattern piece. Turn each piece so the fronts are facing outside. Pin the openings shut and hand stitch them. To finish, you need to pin the crib bumpers together and hand stitch them carefully. When you place the bumper pads into the crib have the hand stitched edges facing inwards that way they won't be seen.

Tips & Warnings

• Block quilts are the most basic quilts and most popular.

• Baby research shows that most little ones get attached to a quilt/comforter at about 6 months of age.

• Because baby crib bedding is one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways of livening up the nursery, and with the hundreds of beautiful fabric available, creating baby sets is fun!

• The bumper should fit around the entire crib and tie or snap into place.

• At a minimum the crib bumper should tie to the crib at the top and bottom of each corner and the middle of each long side.

• Organic cotton breathes, maintaining a healthy, balanced temperature. Overheating is therefore, prevented.

• Use a snug-fitting baby crib sheet - there should be no slipping at the corners.

• Never place pillows in the baby crib. They pose a suffocation risk for your baby and a climbing risk for toddlers.

• If you do use a blanket it should be thin and porous. Soft bedding such as comforters can suffocate infants.

• Place your baby so his/her feet touch the lower end of the crib so that he/she can't wriggle under the covers.

• The blanket should come no higher than your baby's chest.

• Remove crib bumpers at five months or when baby starts getting up onto his hands and knees, whichever occurs first.