#this batting only needs to be quilted every 10 inches I did not need to make the petals this small it took so long lol

[tj-crochets]

Coral floral baby quilt is done!! It’s still not easy to see in photographs, but you can kiiiinda see the flower I used to quilt it in the photo of the backing?

[biayahlife]

Quilting Diaries: Star Gazing

If you follow our Instagram account, you may have seen a photo of a quilting project recently. I’ve finally finished it, and now I get to share the process with you! I’ve been super excited about quilting since I completed my first project last year. I’ve started an EPP project, and I’m still enjoying that. I want to keep building my quilting skills, and I honestly find the process (mostly) relaxing. My first quilting project was really simple – it consisted of sewing strips of fabric together, cutting those groups to size, and then putting them back together. Everything is on the straight of grain, no bias seams, no strange shapes. It’s a super foundational quilting skill. I wanted to make another quilt that would still be a fairly beginner level, but would help me build my quilting skills. After some Internet searching, I came across the Star Gazing quilt pattern by Soft Day Quilts. It’s a low-cost pattern available for instant download from the Soft Day Quilts Etsy store.

Star Gazing is a very straightforward pattern completely composed of half-square triangle (HST) blocks. The HST is another foundational quilting skill. It’s a bit more advanced because seams are sewn on the bias, and stitching accuracy is very important. If your stitches aren’t accurate, the points don’t line up. In this pattern, the HST blocks are large, so the quilt top itself comes together really quickly. The outlined fabric requirements are accurate, and don’t make for much waste. The pattern is really easy to follow, and I would absolutely recommend this pattern to anyone who wants a good beginner quilt pattern.

The “Magic Half Square Triangle” Method

The pattern creator suggests using the “magic half square triangle” method, and she outlines it in the pattern. I’d never made HSTs before, so I decided to try this method. A HST is basically a square comprised of two right triangles. It’s a pretty block on its own, and is used to build a lot of other designs. There are so many methods out there for building the block, but the reason so many people like this method is because you get 8 HSTs out of a single large block. The basics are that you cut two large squares of fabric, lay them right sides together, and draw diagonal lines from corner to corner. Using a quarter inch seam allowance, you stitch a seam to left and right of each line. After that, you make four cuts: one on each of diagonal lines, one running from the top center to the bottom center, and one running from the left center to the right center. You press the seams open, and you have 8 HSTs. If you want more detailed information, complete with diagrams, feel free to check out this article.

I’m not entirely sure that this was the best method for me to use the first time I made HSTs. I chose this pattern because the HSTs used to build the quilt measure 8” square. That makes the quilt come together quickly, but in order to get an 8” square using this method, the initial cuts made 17.75” squares. My cutting mat is only 24” x 18”. I had a difficult time measuring these squares. It was just as difficult to cut them apart, and frankly, bias seams stretch. I ended up having to trim every single block I made. That took a lot of time, and frankly was frustrating. I’m pretty sure that this had less to do with the method and more to do with the fact that my cutting mat is smaller and I had difficulty making accurate cuts in the beginning.

Construction Process

The hardest part of this quilt was building the HSTs. Since this was my first time making HSTs, it ended up being a time consuming process. Once all the HSTs were completed, the building of the quilt top was straightforward and was completed quickly. I really loved the end result. Of note: The original pattern calls for an accent colour. I chose not to do that.

Once the quilt top was completed, I spent some time deciding how I wanted to baste the quilt sandwich. The quilt top, batting, and backing when stacked together and ready for quilting is commonly called the “quilt sandwich,” and basting in quilting refers to any method one uses to hold the layers of the quilt sandwich together. There are a couple of basting methods common to quilting:

Pinning: The layers of the quilt sandwich are held together with pins, typically safety pins. There are some specialty quilting safety pins that have a bend in them to make it easier to push through the three layers.

Spray: There are washable, spray adhesives that can be used to hold all three layers together.

Stitching: A long, temporary stitch is run through the fabrics to hold all three layers together.

In my first quilt, I didn’t want to bother with basting anything. I wanted to get through the process, and the piece was small. It proved problematic later, so this time I wanted to baste the quilt well. I chose to stitch my layers into place because I didn’t feel like buying safety pins and I don’t like using spray adhesive unless I absolutely have to. It’s sticky and messy. Besides, I have a lot of leftover threads from old projects, and I’m pretty sure I’ve had the pink thread that I used for about 10 years now.

While I was looking at various videos about quilt construction and basting, I stumbled across the idea of quilting with a small cross stitch while watching a video about basting by the Fat Quarter Shop and Jen Kingwell. I am still fascinated by the idea of hand quilting, but I’m intimidated. The method Jen Kingwill shows in the video was interesting to me because it felt accessible. The Star Gazing quilt is a fairly small quilt, so I decided to try this method. We found a pretty golden yellow quilting thread and thought it would look like small pricks of starlight all over the quilt. I’m quite pleased with it over all. It did take longer than I thought it would, but was much less time consuming than more traditional forms of hand quilting. Once that was done, I was able to complete the binding – still my favourite part! I’m really pleased with this quilt over all. It’s just the right size for curling up with a good book or mobile game.

What I learned:

I liked the “magic half square triangle” method. It’s pretty efficient. Next time I want to use this method, I’ll make sure that I can easily cut out the large squares on my cutting mat. I also did end up purchasing square quilt rulers with a coupon at our local craft store. These were really nice because they have the 45-degree line marked on them. It made the trimming MUCH less terrible, and showed me what bits of my stitching needed some additional work. Since bias seams stretch, I did notice that not all my diagonals were perfectly straight. Again, I think that had a lot to do with the size of the initial squares. I’m pretty sure I would prefer to make more squares than less. Sure, it’s more seaming, but I think I could have been able to be more accurate. These small inaccuracies made it so that I had a difficult time aligning points, but hey, it’s meant to be used. I’m embracing the mistakes because life is too short to sweat the small things. I’ve learned a lot, and I’ll get to apply that to the next project.

Basting is incredibly important! While it’s a time sink – it took me several hours to work out a basting method that worked for me. It made the quilting process much easier. I had confidence that my layers wouldn’t move around, even when I put the quilt in a hoop for quilting. I think that maybe next time I will knot the ends of my basting threads, even though its not necessary. Some of the tails got in the way while I was quilting. I did end up having to snip a lot of threads, so I don’t have long lengths of thread that I can reuse.

Hand quilting is absolutely accessible to me! I’m very excited about this. If you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know that I am intimidated by hand quilting. It’s so beautiful and just felt like something I couldn’t do. While this wasn’t traditional hand quilting, the needle technique is the same, and I feel more confident in trying more hand quilting in the future.

My biggest take away from this project is that I’m not sweating the small stuff. This quilt is FAR from perfect. I’ve continued to research various construction and technique tips and tricks while this quilt has been in my project queue. There are legitimate mistakes in this quilt. I could have spent hours, days, or weeks trying to correct them, but that would be counterproductive. This isn’t a project meant for display. The intent was to create an afghan sized quilt that could be used regularly. I achieved that goal. I’m not looking for perfection, and I’m pleased with the quilt I produced.

[cwl190]

Week 6

Amy Tan's "Pixel by Pixel":

“You take the ideas you rely on for survival, and discard what weighs you down” (32).

“...when I had a feeling like sadness, I couldn’t find a word that meant everything that I felt inside of me. I always felt that words were inadequate, that I’d never been able to express myself- ever. Even now, it’s so hard to express what I think and feel, the totality of what I’ve seen. But this loneliness is the impetus for writing, because language is the best means we have to connect” (33).

Michael Chabon's "To Infinity and Beyond"

“I saw the rotted dust and bones that had once deliciously been Beatriz Viterbo; I saw the circulation of my own dark blood; I saw the coupling of love and the modification of death; I saw the Aleph from every point and angle, and in the Aleph I saw the earth and in the earth the Aleph and in the Aleph the earth; I saw my own face and my own bowels; I saw your face; and I felt dizzy and wept, for my eyes had seen that secret and conjectured object whose name is common to all men but which no man has looked upon- the unimaginable universe. I felt infinite wonder, infinite pity” (78).

Angela Flournoy's "A Place to Call My Own"

“Readers come to the book with all sorts of back-grounds, and they don’t need me to communicate how they should feel about a character. They don’t need me to suggest a character should be excused for his actions because of X, Y, and Z. They’ll make their own decisions” (182-183).

PIXEL BY PIXEL: 

Some of the microscopic pixels that made Gonzeles’s, Parameswaran, Orringer’s and Wilson’s characters stand out to me was probably their thought process. You can get a good handle on what the character’s personality is based on how they react to a situation, such as the narrator wanting to view his wife under a microscope and the tiger being unaware of the carnage he’s unleashing until he kills the child and his zookeeper. Or Orringer’s main character being fixated on the tooth among all the other pressing problems which highlights that she is just a child. These little details are important because they are aspects of their flaws and also give us a wider picture of their personality traits.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND:

I think Parameswaran narrating with a tiger is so useful because of the tiger’s own motivations versus the failed result of those motivations.

“What had I done? I had to find help for him if it was the last thing I did. I turned and ran out of the people door- I had never been outside of the people door before, but I didn’t even think twice about running outside of it” (13).

Here, we see that the tiger wants to find someone to take care of Kitch, but in the eyes of people, they see a threat that is trying to escape the cage after brutally murdering someone. You feel bad because the tiger has no ill intent and yet it will get misconstrued by everyone else around him due to the species (??) barrier. We can see the tiger’s impulsive decision when trying to help humans always blows up in his face but it doesn’t make us hate him. Maybe we feel pity and uneasiness but the fact that he is an animal makes us regard him with a more merciful moral lense.

EVERYTHING I MEANT TO SAY: 

Most of the stories we’ve read and discussed did not make me feel good in any way. Maybe it’s the premise or the characters or the ending, but I feel like we start out at a low point already, and then it gets worse, and at best we are back at the same point at which we started. There’s not really a comfort to be found while reading these stories, but if I had to choose one text in this class that made me feel more comfortable with reading than the others, it has to be “grand stand-in”. I can’t tell if it’s the science fiction set-up, the dialogue, the first person point of view or the character herself, but it just felt like a writing style I was more familiar with than any of the other texts I had read so far. The exchange the main character has with the arranger just read very satisfyingly to me:

“You hate them, don’t you?” he says.

“Yes.”

“You’re going to make them love you, aren’t you?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say. “Yes I am.” (10)

It’s effective and it works well in establishing her. She doesn’t even say much, but the simplicity in their exchange is so effectively telling of what the main character is like. Just from that we can tell the narrator does a morally ambiguous job, but she has her own set of morals that she strongly commits to that is strongly contradictive to what her customers expect of her. And even so, the narrator takes a lot of pride in her work. Despite her own personal feelings, performing exceptionally is at the forefront of her mind. I didn’t really connect with that feeling of spite, but it’s something I feel like I’ve seen before, but done in a way that shows exactly the type of person the main character is and handles her job.

A PLACE TO CALL MY OWN: 

I think you need to treat your characters like people. I found that it’s a lot easier to get a feel of your characters through character sheets where you have to write about how they respond to given situations, or even their favorite foods. It might not seem as though it’ll be effective to your plot, but to me any inch of familiarity can get me a better understanding of who my characters are. The way they react to situations is more telling of their personality rather than describing them to the audience. However, at the same time, I find the more I explore aspects about my character, I end up being able to rationalize everything about them and that just makes them more uncertain to me. I feel like that kind of over analyzation can be applicable to real life. You don’t need to know everything about another person, and if you feel the need to you’ll just end up growing obssessed with the idea of them and not the person themselves. There’s a balance you need to strike so you don’t end up retconning them the further along you get with your story.

CONNECT THE DOTS—HORROCKS: 

Caitlin Horrock’s “It Looks Like This” contains usage of a lot of the advice that Perry gave us. Percy states in “Get a Job” that:

“It is a job that frames and sets into motion every element of your story or essay or poem- and it is your job to do the required research that will bring the language and tasks and schedule and perspective of your characters’ work to life. Google can do only so much for you. The library can only do so much for you. You need to write from the trenches” (145). 

Horrock does this especially well in her own writing:

“...this quilt, with the crooked angles and the lazy handstitching, was machine-pieced out of salvaged, distressed, printed cottons, on a 1886 Singer treadle, filled with flat, all-cotton batting, and quilted with a size 7/9 needle using unwaxed thread. The pattern (Log Cabin: Barn Raising) was popular in northern Ohio from 1865-1895, and if I told you that’s when this quilt was made, you’d have to know a fair bit about quilts to be able to prove me wrong” (22).

I have no idea what’s going on here. I don’t even know what a treadle is. My knowledge of sewing extends as far as a home economics class I took in elementary school, but from what I read from this text, even when the narrator points out her work’s shortcomings, I can tell that she definitely knows what she’s talking about. I really like that she sounds so self-assured here because although she didn’t finish school, you can tell she’s very knowledgeable about quilting. These specifics are exactly what Percy expects to make the character’s occupancy believable. The audience doesn’t really have to know what the meaning behind the phrases the narrator was using, and Horrock is well aware of it in the last sentence of the quote. You’d have to be an experienced seamstress or have a wealth of knowledge about quilting to be able to overturn the information she’s feeding us, because any average person would not be able to discern whether or not it’s real or not. The general, ignorant public would usually just accept it as fact.

CONNECT THE DOTS—WANG: Write a response that connects the dots between any of the craft essays we have read and Weike Wang’s story “Omakase.”

Amy Tan states, “I’ve found that the way to capture the truth of a character- and beyond that, to reflect the truth of how I feel- is to write microscopically. To focus on all the tiny details that, to-gether, make sense of a character. Each person’s perspective is absolutely unique; my job is to unearth all the specific events and associations that form an individual consciousness. It’s not enough to show how someone behaves in a single moment- I want to provide the whole history and context that informs each action” (33).

I think Tan’s viewpoint really shines through “Omakase” because the way in which the woman responds to the chef when he brings up that his manager was Chinese may seem defensive, but to her it appeared as a jab at her ethnicity. She seems very passive, but throughout the story we see her pick apart and analyze every action and every interaction between the people around her. Through her long, winding monologues we can see her own inner conflict about her suspicions her boyfriend had yellow fever, questioning why her friends thought that she got lucky for finding someone white, all her ambivalence. It’s established that she’s an overthinker, so in the moment it makes perfect sense for her to speak up to the chef. 

[wickedhandy1]

DIY Upholstered Bench

Upholstered benches are such a practical piece of furniture around the house. They are just one of those pieces that can be put just about anywhere to add a little style and functionality to your home. But who wants to spend hundreds of dollars on a bench that may not be your exact style or size you want? Not me! Hence, this super easy DIY Upholstered hairpin bench project.

This project really couldn’t be any simpler. It only takes 2 days to complete (mainly due to the drying of both the stain and polyurethane) and is so simple that anyone can do it in no time at all. This post will show you how to make a bench that you can customize to your specific style with minimal cost and tools.

Materials:

2″x12″x4′ Pine Boards

Hairpin Legs

Rags

Tack Cloth

Marker (I use a fine tip sharpie)

Minwax One Step Polyurethane

Minwax Coffee Gel Stain

Upholstery Fabric (at least 18″ x 54″)

1/2″ Thick Quilt Batting (45″ x 60″)

1″ Thick Project Foam (24″ x 72″)

Spray Adhesive

Kraft Paper

Tools:

Drill

Drill Bits

Table Saw or Circular Saw

Sander

Sand Paper

Ruler

Utility Knife

Staple Gun With Staples

Painter’s Pyramids Applicable Safety Equipment

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links for products that can be purchased to complete this project. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no additional cost to you. Your purchase helps support this website.

To start this project you are going to need buy a 12″ x 2″ x 4′ board. If your hardware store only sells in 8′, you can just cut the bench to length (or even make 2 benches)! Next you want to sand down the wood until it’s smooth to the touch. I did this with my rotary hand sander, starting with 60 grit sand paper, then 150 grit, then 220 grit. I normally don’t go all the way up to 220 grit sand paper but I wanted this to be extra smooth since it’s a piece of furniture people will be using. Now, this is going to be the most time consuming and boring part of the project so just be patient with it (listening to music helps make this a little more fun). For the edges I rounded them over with a sander instead of a round over router bit to give it a more hand made look, imperfect look.

Once the sanding is done, wipe down the board with a tack cloth to get all the sawdust off. This is the point where you get to be creative and make the bench in your style. You can leave the wood plain, stain it, or paint it to get the look you want. It’s important to have your fabric picked out at this point so the finish you use on the bench goes with it. For my fabric, I picked a navy blue and white stripe that goes great with the dark color of Minwax Coffee Gel Stain. Plus, I love the deep brown color and it matches the industrial feel of the rest of my furniture. Whatever method you use, just make sure to follow the product’s instructions and to speed up the process you can use painter’s pyramids to finish both sides at the same time.

Unfinished Board

Coffee Gel Stain

Polyurethane Finish

Once your finish of choice has fully dried, it’s time to put a protective coat on it so it can withstand heavy use. I recommend using polyurethane (Minwax One Coat Polyurethane is my absolute favorite) for this because it will provide protection to the wood better than other sealants and literally only one coat is needed. Polyurethane will dry clear but still provide a hard protective coat over the wood.

Once that dries, it’s time to install the legs. All you will need for this is a ruler, drill, drill bits, tape, and a sharpie marker. Start by determining where you would like the legs to be placed. I picked 3/4″ from the corner. Using the sharpie, mark where all the screws will be. Now, wrap a small piece of tape around your drill bit a little shorter than the length of the screws. This will help you drill to the appropriate length without going too deep. Now simply install the screws.

Mark Screw Locations with Sharpie

Pre-drill The Holes

Install Hairpin Legs

Pre-marking the Drill Bit with Tape Will Make Sure You Are Drilling to the Right Depth without Guessing.

Depending on what your workspace looks like, you can make the upholstered top while your bench is drying or wait until afterwards. For this part a lot of it is personal preference on how you want the bench to look. For me, I wanted the fabric to line up closely with the dimensions of the bench but if you want overlap or not you can modify these dimensions to suit your personal tastes. What you will needs for the upholstered top is your fabric of choice, quilt batting, project foam, spray adhesive, staple gun, OSB board, and a retractable knife or other sharp cutting tool to trim the foam. Make sure with your fabric that you iron it out before adding it to the top so you don’t have creases in your bench top.

To start you will need to cut down a piece of OSB board. I like using this because it’s very inexpensive and while it doesn’t look great, no one will ever know! I cut my board 1/2″ less than my bench top, so 10 3/4″ x 47 1/4″. This will allow 1/2″ for the batting and fabric before it starts to overlap the wood top. Once you cut this down, it’s time to start putting everything together. I would recommend using something to cover your workspace like kraft paper so you don’t accidentally ruin it with the spray adhesive.

So the next step is to lay down your OSB board and spray it down with your adhesive. Quickly line up the edge of your project foam with the board and press down, making sure it adheres to the board. Carefully trim the excess foam because you will have enough to add another layer, giving you a nice comfortable bench top. Simply spray foam with adhesive, line up with the edge, press down and trim excess. A more practical route is to buy 2″ project foam to complete this step and if you have it I would recommend it, unfortunately it wasn’t available at my store when I was doing this project. That’s it!

Full View Single Layer of Foam

Up Close Single Layer

Double Layer Foam Top

Now it’s time to at the quilt batting. The point of this is not only to add a little more cushion, but to help soften the edges of the furniture so it’s not clunky looking. It will also wrap around the OSB board, helping not only to hide where the OSB and foam come together but also give a little protection to the fabric so it’s not rubbing against the rough sides of the wood. For this project you will have enough to add a double layer to the top of the foam and also a large wrap around piece that will smooth everything out.

Folded Double Piece of Batting on Top

Trimmed Down Batting

So cut your batting so that you have two pieces, one for the top layer and one to wrap around. The top section should be 21 1/2″ wide and 47 1/4″ long. For the second piece don’t trim it down until the end. Add adhesive to the top layer of project foam and press batting down after lining it up with the edges. Then spray batting foam with adhesive and fold over top piece, giving it a double layer.

Next we are going to wrap the whole top with the left over quilt batting. To do this you want to lay the batting flat on your workspace table, smoothing it out as best you can. This is important because if there are bubble or wrinkles in your batting, then your fabric is going to show it.

Now gently pull the batting tight against the OSB and secure with staple gun. You want to staple often and uniformly to get a nice clean end result. I stapled about 2 inches deep and 2 inches apart. For the corners you may want to spend a little time playing with different folding techniques to get a feel for it. I wrapped it under, then over to get a smooth rounded corner. Once it is stapled in place, trim excess batting off. Almost done!

Staples To Secure Batting

Fold Corners

Trim Excess Batting

Wrapped in Batting

At this point I got rid of my kraft paper and cleaned the top of my workbench. This is important because you are now applying the fabric and I didn’t want to risk anything getting stained or dirty. Once that is done you are going to repeat the same method as you did for the batting. Lay your fabric flat and put your top foam side down on the fabric. You want to take great care in lining up your fabric if you have a pattern like lines so it’s even on the top. When stapling, instead of stapling in a line, I would do the two ends, then one in the middle, then work my way in between the staples. I did this to help reduce any unnecessary pulling in the fabric. Since my fabric is striped, I also drew a line on my OSB to make sure I was securing the fabric evenly so I wouldn’t get wavy lines in my fabric. Once your fabric is all secured just trim off the excess and get ready to secure it to the bench.

This step is very simple. On the bottom of the bench you want to pre-drill your holes so the top is completely secured. I did this 5″ in and 4″ in at the corners, then 2″ in and every 12″ length wise. I then secured the top with #9 2 1/2″ screws. Make sure to line up the upholstered top well before drilling so the top is nice and uniform with the bench.

That’s it! Can you believe it? I know, it’s so simple but so many people just go to the store and spend big money for the same thing! But you have a leg up on them because you saved a TON of money and have something you are 100% satisfied with!

Disclaimer: Please make sure with all your projects that you have read your equipment’s safety manual and are following the recommended safety precautions. We are not responsible for the results of your DIY projects as results can vary based on your skill level, quality of materials, and age of your equipment.

source https://wickedhandy.net/diy-upholstered-bench/

[yesterdaysdreams]

Padded Crib Rail Cover DIY

Life with a baby is full of lots of wonderful moments and seasons, but there are definitely difficult moments and events along the way that you have to deal with and adjust to as they come up. Teething is one of those challenges that we are dealing with now at our house. For a baby that’s pushing through five teeth at once (!!!), Lola is still such a good-natured baby overall. But she is chewing on everything and I realized that also includes her crib this past week, too. Ugh! Not all babies do that but it’s relatively common, so I knew that you can buy/make a rail cover to both protect the crib from the baby and give the baby something softer and safer to chomp on as needed. I also wanted something that was relatively sleek looking and I think that what I came up with is the perfect solution for my problem!Supplies: –cotton flannel fabric (enough to cut 2 10″ wide strips for each side of the crib you want to cover)* –cotton batting (enough to cut a 10″ wide strip for each side of the crib you want to cover)* -1″ wide grosgrain ribbon (I like grosgrain ribbon for baby items because it’s super strong) -plastic snaps and snap setter meant for baby items (that one is the brand I recommend and I used size 20 snaps) Snaps are optional as buttons or just extra ribbon can also be used. -fabric scissors and pins -lighter –no-sew velcro tape –cutting mat, ruler, and rotary cutter (optional but so helpful and on our must-have craft tool list)

*Organic fabric would be ideal since Baby may have it in their mouth.So this is what her crib looks like (it’s sold out from Land of Nod but this is a similar one). I love the simplicity of the design, so I chose to make a white rail that would blend in a bit more. But I see a lot of decorative fabric crib rails out there, so do whatever works best for your crib and nursery design!

It also looks like a lot people have crib rails on just the front or back rail, or only on select sides if their baby can only reach certain areas (or just prefers to gnaw on one particular spot). But since Lola was chewing on the side rails, I decided to go all the way around the top to cover everything. If you just want to make a version for part of your crib or just the front and back rails, adjust your measurements and you’ll make smaller sections with the same steps instead of one long one like I did.

To find the length for my cover, I started by measuring all the way around the outside of the crib rail and then added 1″ (for the 1/2″ seam allowance all the way around) and another 3″ so there would be some overlap where the ends meet (so 172″ + 1″ + 3″ = 176″). To find the width of the cover, I measured how wide a strip would need to be to cover the front and back rails and still hang down about 1″ below the rail. That number plus 1″ for the 1/2″ seam allowance was my width (9″ + 1″ = 10″). So, since it’s not that easy to show a 176″ long piece of fabric for each step, I made a mini version so you can see more easily what to do! Start by pre-washing your fabrics so it will shrink up all that it wants to before you make your project. Cut out two flannel strips that are the correct length and width for your crib rail. Then cut a piece of cotton batting the same size and place the batting on top of your two layers of flannel. If you’re doing one long piece like me, you can either buy enough yards of flannel to cut your full length out in one long strip or you can sew together a few shorter pieces to get to your final length. The cotton batting can be in sections as well and you can just place them next to each other on top of the flannel if you want since they are going on the inside. You don’t have to sew them together into one long piece.

Once your three layers are cut, pin them together and sew all the way around the outside with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a  4-5″ opening so you can turn your fabric right side out. Clip the four-corner excess with scissors so there’s less bulk when you turn it around. Turn your fabric strip right side out and press flat with an iron. Sew all the way around the edge with a 1/4″ seam allowance (that will help your fabric lay flat and close that opening you left to turn your fabric through). To also help keep the three layers of fabric in place, you’ll sew across the fabric in a few places to quilt it a bit. I divided my long strip into eight even sections and ran a line down at each section mark. You can do as many or as few of these lines as you want (they can also be decorative the more you do!), but I would do one at least every 2′ of fabric.

Ok, enough with the mini version, let’s move to the real thing! After quilting a few sections, I draped my long strip over the crib rail (with the overlapping ends positioned in the middle of the back rail where I wanted them to end up) and lightly pinned the cover in place so I could start to make some fit adjustments. You’ll want to drape it upside down for this part if you have a pattern or color on one side, but since both of my sides are white, either one could be the top or bottom.

Now it’s time to fit it to the corner sections of the rail cover if you made your cover one long piece. I gathered the extra corner fabric and pinned it until it fit more snugly in each corner (I pulled it away from the crib a bit in the pic above so you could see better). Once you have the excess of all four corners pinned, sew down that line and either trim the excess off (I would suggest a re-fitting with the right side up before trimming though) or leave it and it will just make that corner a bit more padded.See? Fits pretty well in the corner once I turned it around and I didn’t even have to trim the excess—just tucked it to one side and you don’t even notice it. It’s really starting to look like a crib rail now, huh? Ok, next decide how many straps you want to use to keep your cover in place (this will probably depend on how many vertical slats you have and their placement, etc.). I’ve seen rail covers that just use snaps to attach the front to the back (one snap attached to each side of the cover so they snap together through a slat opening) and while honestly I think that’s a totally fine way to go, I just decided to use a strong ribbon as a strap instead so that I could put all the snaps on the outside of the cover just to be extra safe.

Take your grosgrain ribbon and cut as many pieces of ribbon as you want straps and cut them a few inches longer than you think you’ll need. Use a lighter to seal one end of the ribbon (just hold the cut end 1″ or so above the flame and it will melt a bit, which keeps it from fraying) and pin that side of the ribbon on the inside of the rail cover at each spot where you want a strap to be. I don’t have any straps on the side rails since there are no openings there, but you’ll want to have some there if yours isn’t a solid panel. To keep the side sections from moving, I just placed a strap location right next to each corner to help keep that section down.

Take your cover off and fold each ribbon down 1/2″ towards the cover and pin it 1″ from the bottom of the cover. Sew in place about 1/4″ from the top so you get both layers of the ribbon fold.

You can also just sew it in place without folding the top in, but I thought the fold helped it look a bit more finished, so that’s up to you.Put the cover back on the crib and decide how tight you want your ribbon straps to be and where you want your snap location on the outside of your cover (lower on the fabric will help keep the cover in place better). To make it easier, you can use one strap location to figure it out and then use those measurements as a guide for all the other straps once you take it off again. Just fold your ribbon and pin it to mark how high you want the ribbon top to be and use the awl (sharp-pointy-metal-stick-thing that comes with your snap setter) to poke through the ribbon and front side of the cover to mark where both sides of your snap should go.Take off the cover again (I know, I know, there’s a lot of on and off with this DIY!) and make note of your guide strap measurements so you can make all the other ones the same. I cut each ribbon to be 3 1/2″ long (use a lighter to seal each of those cut ends too), folded down each ribbon 1″, and then added a snap about 1/2″ from the top of the fold. I set the corresponding side of the snap on the front of the cover 2cm from the bottom edge. Once I had those measurements, I just did the same for each strap section so they were all uniform. Before I took the cover off again to finish the straps, I also marked where the cover ends overlapped and then used this to keep those pieces together.Put your cover back on for the last time (finally!) and snap all your straps in place! Congrats! You’ve got a crib rail! It looks great and I love that I can throw it in the wash as needed as well! The flannel with the batting in the middle is super soft and I like that the simple design doesn’t distract from the cool parts of the crib.

Now, when it comes to the strap sections of this project, I know that different Moms have different feelings on what they consider safest for Baby. So you can also just use a ribbon strip on each side and tie them together through the slat, or you could try velcro on the inside of the cover at the openings (may not be quite as strong depending on how big the sections of velcro are though), or you could secure a button where the snap is on the strap and put a corresponding button hole on the outside of the cover (where I placed the other end of the snap) and do it that way instead. Whichever way you decide to do it, just make sure all your pieces are secure and properly attached!

So now that we have the cover on her crib, I definitely sleep better at night knowing she can now chew away at the top of it if she wants to. I’ll probably be lifting up the cover frequently in the beginning just to check and make sure I don’t need to secure another spot she found her way into, but overall I think we have a pretty great setup now. Hope this DIY helps make teething a little easier in your house!

xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

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