Custom Crib Sheets

So here I was. 20 weeks pregnant and finally conquering the monumental task of registering for baby stuff. I am pretty sure I stared at the walls of Babies R Us for at least 30 minutes just trying to figure out which direction I should head to first. To say it was overwhelming would be the understatement of the century. Thankfully I brought my sister along who also knew nothing about baby stuff. But luckily she wasn't gun shy and just started clicking every item on the wall that she thought I could use. Even though she really knew nothing about brands or safety reviews on certain child products, she was a total savior.

About an hour and 30 minutes from when we walked into the front door we finally hit the bedding section. It was a wall about 2 1/2 stories high filled to the brim with baby girl and baby boy bedding. There were dozens upon dozens of choices and as I stared at each one with narrowed eyes I couldn't find a single bed sheet, blanket, crib skirt or comforter that I liked. Not only did I dislike most of the designs, but I honestly couldn't even find a single one that I thought I might be able to live with. The very thought of having to stare at teddy bears, kittens, rainbows, or sheep for some odd reason disturbed my inner designer and I couldn't stomach it. I decided to completely forgo this section of Babies R Us and move-on to greener pastures.

My disappointment wavered once I realized that I could just find something awesome online. I mean she was going to be sleeping in a pack and play for the first half a dozen months of her life so there was no real rush. Right? Well no real rush turned into her being over 8 months old and still I hadn't found a single bedding set that I could enjoy. I mean don't get me wrong there are some really AWESOME designer bedding sets out there for $300-$500 dollars, but as I will refer to one of my prior statements I was on a tight budget. And there was no way I was gonna spend more on bedding for a 2'x4' mattress then I would for my cal king (not that my little booger isn't worth it, but come on people that price point is just not practical).

I had previously tossed around the idea of just making her bedding myself. But then I thought I was just adding to my laundry list of DIY projects and that at some point if I ever wanted her to actually sleep in her crib, something was gonna have to give. Needless to say I found an AMAZING tutorial on Pinterest that shows you how to make a custom crib sheet and its incredibly easy. Even if this is your first time using a sewing machine I feel pretty confident that you could pull it off with little to no problems.

So here is my original pin. The example she gave was using a red sort of gingham print and although her specific fabric choice didn't really sing to my soul, I knew the sky was the limit for what different fabrics I could use.

So I went out the day after I finished painting her vintage yellow jenny lind and spent an afternoon perusing my local fabric stores. I ended up coming home with just 2 different fabrics knowing that I would want to peruse etsy and probably amy butler's line of fabrics as well before I committed to making a dozen custom sheets.

So here are my 2 original fabric choices. I purchased them both from Adams Avenue Fabric Store in Normal Heights, San Diego. I believe they were both $4.99 a yard (not bad) and I got 1 3/4 of a yard each (refer to the original tutorial for exacts).

This one had such amazing and vibrant colors. It sort of has an urban/japanese feel which I didn't think was going to go with rest of her room, but I took a chance.

This one I fell in love with immediately. I realize it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I was going for an overall vintage/urban anthropologie design for her room and I knew it was gonna work perfectly. 

So as I said before the tutorial was super easy to follow and darn near perfect in her directions. The only thing I would recommend is to make sure you cut your fabric as accurately as possible. If the cuts aren't pretty exact then you will end up running short on your hem allowance and if you don't have enough of a hem allowance then the elastic won't fit properly. I didn't cut my pieces all that accurately, but I was able to correct that with some sewing tricks, but if your a beginner don't take that risk. And the total cost for both sheets including the elastic came in under $18. Obviously this can be a lot cheaper if you find inexpensive fabric.

So here is my final project...

TA DA!

click to enlarge

I pinned it. I made it. And I loved it!

Now I just have to conquer the task of making her bumpers and a crib skirt. Those are both a lot more time intensive so hopefully I will have a lazy Saturday rolling around here soon. But not to worry because next up is a DIY Custom Knife Block for your Kitchen!