DIY crib bedding

When a friend of mine told me she was going to have a baby boy I volunteers to sew her crib bedding for her and it was time consuming, but a lot of fun. Here are some details and lessons learned on the project: 

I started out following this tutorial for the bumpers. After thinking about it, I wasn't crazy about the rounded edges or that each bumper was a separate piece, so I went in a different direction. That tutorial, though, did talk me through the process of sewing my own piping. Custom piping really adds a finished look to the project and was really easy to do! The new mom to be picked out all of the fabric with a little bit of my input.  

I purchased crib bumper pads from JoAnn Fabrics with a coupon. They look like this. Another way to do this would be to recover an existing crib bumper set, which I think would be easier to manage and you could use the previous one as a pattern for the new fabric. I would measure the distance for the bumper ties and sew them on to the outside fabric before assembling the cover. I forgot to do this and had to hand sew the bumper ties on.

For some reason I can't find the exact crib skirt tutorial, but here's one that pretty easy to follow.

Here's the crib bumper set up in my room and after I added the razorback and monogram, cut from my Silhouette machine and applied with fusible interfacing. You might also choose to do this step before you assemble the bumper covers. I wasn't sure where I was going to place it at that time, so I ironed it on later.

Here's the bedding in Caleb's crib!  

 I also sewed a coordinating valence, which turned out super cute. I took the window width + 12 inches {3 inches on either side of window to allow for valence bar, and 6 inches in the middle for the pleat} x 15" long. I sewed the pocket at the top, tacked the pleat, and ironed it down a bit to ensure a crisp pleat. My serger made the crib skirt and valence project go much quicker than if I would have had to hem all sides, but it's definitely possible.  

I would say that this project would be at an intermediate level. The hardest part was measuring out all of the pieces for fabric amounts and cutting. Just give yourself plenty of time so you can work at a leisurely pace and take breaks when you need to. There are so many adorable fabrics out there and this is a great way to personalize your little one's room!

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