Tutorial : Crib Rail Protector

The Crib Rail Protector

When my nephew entered his teething phase he chewed on anything he could get his mouth on, including his expensive crib.  So much so that it looked like it belonged in a dog pound and not a toddler’s room.  I figured that we needed to do something to stop him from relentlessly eating his crib (and to protect my daughter’s crib, before she got her mouth on it).  Cue: the crib rail protector. 

What you’ll need:

The Basics (machine, pins, thread, ruler, scissors)

2 yards of your choice of fabric (though I made mine with only a yard and piece it together to get the right length)

2 yards of your choice of coordinating ribbon

1.5 yards of batting (60 in wide)

First:  Prepare your ribbons, buy cutting 8 pieces 9 inches long. 

Burn the edges of the ribbon quickly with a lighter to seal the end so it doesn’t fray

Cut 2 pieces of fabric 15” x 54”   (If you’re using less than 54” of fabric, I just pieced mine together to make that length, it only took 1 yard completely of fabric)

Cut your batting (depending on how thick yours is to begin with will determine how much you’ll need.  I used 3 layers of   1/4 inch batting.)

Face both fabric pieces right sides together.  Then stack those on top of the batting

Insert your ribbons in between the right sides of fabric.  4 on each side, one 2 inches from each edge and then about ever 16 inches from there on (making sure to match them up for the opposite side.)

Sew around the edge, leaving a few inches open at one of the short ends.  (I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance)  and trim your corners

Flip it inside-out and iron flat, 

(its like birthin' a baby)

top stitch the open side (you could also hand stitch this, but I was going for quick and not worried so much about neat, heck, baby is going to be slobbering all over it)

(finished Product)

Then attach to the crib, make sure you tie the bows tightly so they can’t come loose.

I added a pocket (mostly to cover the seam) for paci storage.

We can NEVER find paci’s in the middle of the night when we need them, so this helps immensely. 

Tutorial: Taggy Ball

 You know all those baby birthday parties you go to? When the child gets 10 of  the same. exact. thing?  I hate that.  So I love making personalized gifts and toys for them.  its a one of a kind think and (if they like it enough) they'll cherish it forever.  this is one of those project.  I made this for my nephew for his first birthday party a few years ago, and even now that he's 5 and in kindergarten, they STILL have it. 

 

 

 

For this project you’ll need:

            Sewing basics

            Ribbon (several kinds if possible)

            2 coordinating fat quarters

            Poly-fill

I started by cutting my patter out. (Email me at sewbynightdesigns (at) yahoo (dot) com if you want mine, or print the picture of it at full paper size) or you can make your own using my formula. 

Therefore if your height is 9 inches, you width at the fattest point will be 3 (6 inches high, 2 inches wide, and so on)  make sure your top and bottom is about 1 inch wide (2 half inch seam allowances) 

After you get your pattern right cut out 3 pieces of each fabric, you’ll have 6 pieces total.

Using one of the fabrics, attach a few taggies to each side.  This is where you can get creative (I made loops of ribbon, cutting each ribbon piece 2.5 inches long and folding in half.)    Pin each tag with the cut edges against the outer edge of the fabric, loops towards the middle. 

Start by taking one of each fabric and running a line of stitches along one side with a 1/2 inch seam allowance (I double stitched this to give the seams strength so he couldn’t put out the tags).

This is what it looks like when you open the seams

Continue to add panels alternating fabrics like this

Until you’ve attached all the panels together in a line (don’t finish the circle though).

Editor’s note:  make sure your seams meet on the top and bottom so there won’t be a hole in the ball.  If you don’t, (and make the same mistake I made) just gather all the pieces and run a seam across here:

Flip the ball right sides:

and stuff it (I like poly-fill.  Since it will probably go in the mouth and get wet, the polyester stuffing dries quicker) then hand stitch the final edge closed. 

And there you go! A Fun toy for baby in less than half an hour.

Tutorial: Easy Peasy Burp Cloth Pattern and Tutorial

I have a bunch of tutorials that I published on my old blog, and since rebranding myself to ARK Designs/ Designing Mommy, they've kind of fallen away, so I figured id start pulling on over from that page every now and then until they're all on this blog instead of that one (especially since they're so weird pop ups attached to that one that weren't me and I have no clue how to get rid of them) so without further ado... The Easy Peasy Burp Cloth Pattern!

Like most moms of newborns, it became necessary to protect my clothes from constant burp-ups (kinda like spit-up, but its that gorge of milk that comes back up when burping, usually followed by a giggle and a smile from baby, but a grrrrr from mommy).  I found myself just grabbing anything I could: receiving blankets, towels, or random clothing pieces.  I soon realized I didn’t have any true burp cloths, so I when to making one.  When, in the design phase, I decided I’d like a shoulder contour for maximum protection, this I what design surfaced.  And this is crazy simple.

What you’ll need:
            The basics

            The Pattern

            1/2 yard of terry cloth (or fleece)

            1/2 yard of cotton or flannel of your choice

I started by cutting one of the pattern (one the fold) of each fabric.

Stitch all the way around leaving a 4-5 inch hole on the one side (long straight side)

Notch the curves

Flip and iron

Top-stitch around the edge at 1/2 inch seam allowance

Easy-peasy-done.   I used matching thread to my flannel fabric for the whole thing, it gave the white terry side a pop of color.