Tutorial: Crib Sheet

Pardon my absence of posts lately, I just moved and all sewing projects were on hold. It about killed me not to sew for this long - mostly because I am excited to make my own crib bedding for my new baby girl due this Christmas! 

First on my list was a crib sheet. It was SO easy! If you want a special fabric print or custom color, I would suggest making your own. If you just want a basic one color sheet, I hear Wal Mart has those for $4.00 which would be worth your money and time to get. 

Supplies Needed:

2 yards of fabric

2 pieces of 1/4" wide elastic - 23" long each

Steps:

1. Cut your fabric 40-45" x 69" (The 40-45" is open to whatever the width of your fabric is when you purchase it. Your sheet will fit as long as it is within those measurements)

2. Now remove (cut off) an 8"x8" square from each corner.

3. On each cut out corner, fold the cut edges together with the fabric right sides together. 

4. Now serge those together. 

Here is what it should look like (I did a rolled hem because really it doesn't matter to me!):

 *If you would like for your sheet to fit the mattress in a "more snug" fashion, sew a line from the bottom of where the diagonal starts (in the left side of this photo) up to your sewn edge with a more gradual incline. 

5. Place your sheet right side down. Go all around and fold your fabric edge in 3/4", 

then fold it again about a 1/2" and pin. This is to make sure no raw edges are showing so you don't have any fraying when washing your sheet. 

6. Before sewing, make a mark of an inch long 8 1/2" before one corner and 8 1/2" after the next corner on each short side of the sheet. You'll have four marks each and you'll leave these open to insert your elastic.

7. Sew around the perimeter of your folded edge. I only left about a centimeter of folded fabric to secure the fold down as well as leave enough room to thread my elastic through the inside. 

 

8. Insert your elastic into one opening and thread it through to the other opening. I pinned my elastic to a small safety pin to help thread it through. 

9. Once your elastic is threaded through, sew over it diagonally a couple of times and then sew that opening shut. 

You're done! Congratulations!

Tutorial: 5 Step Baby Car Seat Strap Covers

Car seat strap covers are so quick and easy to make! Plus you can make these a custom design by choosing your own fabric. It takes less than an hour to make, so get started! If you use two different fabrics, you've got yourself reversible strap covers. I have used this size of strap covers with my daughter's infant car seat and now with her convertible car seat. 

Steps

1. Cut out two 6"x6" squares of each fabric and two pieces of batting the same size. 

2. Put your fabrics right sides together with the batting on top or bottom (it doesn't matter). Sew these together with a 1/4" seam. Leave a 2" opening to turn inside out. 

3. Cut your corners & turn the square inside out.

4. Pin your opening and sew around the outside of the square still with a 1/4" seam. I started sewing at the beginning of the opening and then went over it again at the end as a form of double stitching/reinforcement. 

5. Cut 2 strips of velcro approximately 5" long. Sew those on one side to each side of the square by sewing around the perimeter of the strips. Here are my two strap covers showing a velcro strip on each side. Excuse the fact that my velcro strips aren't the same color, I ran out of the white velcro with my first strap cover! Who will really see it, right?? As a side tip, I put transparent thread on the top stitch so it wouldn't show on the velcro. White thread would work as well. 

You're all done! Enjoy your cute strap covers!

Quick-Tip: Rounding Corners

I wanted a rounded corner for a project. But how do you get rounded corners that all match? Use a paper plate! I folded all of my corners into the same spot, placed the paper plate down, and took a rotary cutter from one side to the other. You can also just mark this curve and then cut with scissors. That's it! 

Quick-Tip: Preparing Fabric for Cutting

If you are interested in cutting your fabric straight (especially for strips), use this tip to help you do so:

First, fold your fabric in half with the salvage edges together, as well as the already cut edges from the fabric store. Line up the edges that have already been cut and don't worry about the salvage edges. 

 Now fold the fabric again and lay it over the top of your seams so you don't get distracted by it. 

Put your ruler over the fabric and line it up to make sure it is straight on either side. For example, in this picture I lined up the ruler at one inch on the top and half an inch on the bottom. No matter what, you'll want your fabric to be the same length from one side of the ruler to the other to show your fabric is straight. Go ahead and cut!

Sunshine Quilt

I made this quilt for my sister-in-law who lives in California. I thought these colors fit the California lifestyle perfectly. Hopefully I am right! This pattern is called "Sunshine Makes Me Happy" by Donna Kinsey in her book, Strip Happy: Quilting on a Roll. I LOVE every single pattern this book has and have made most all of them! I highly recommend it; especially for beginner sewers. 

Pros of this Pattern:
I've done this pattern multiple times which means I really like it! It's quick and simple (of which I am ALL about).

You can make this with a jelly roll.


Cons of this Pattern:
For a lap quilt size, the backing takes a lot of fabric if you want it to be all the same. I decided to piece mine together so I wouldn't have to spend too much money.

I wish this made a bigger quilt!