Redoing a bassinet - Afternoon #1

Okay, so I know this is not a quilting project, but it's something I really searched for directions for on other blogs and couldn't really find, and I thought it might be useful for someone else if I took notes on this project and put it out there on the web.

My latest project is to redo a little older Eddie Bauer Rocking Musical Bassinet.  Basically, I bought one used on craigslist and the fabric was all stained and nasty and it didn't wash out so I resigned myself to needing to replace it.  This afternoon I finished the first half of the project and am going to blog on what I have done so far.  Before I get started I guess I should warn you I removed a tag that said this:

So sew at your own risk.

Okay, so this is what I started with:

Cute, but this is a stock photo and the one I have is nasty.  I probably could save the outside skirt and the bottom fabric, but it actually smells bad after a couple washes so I'm just going to do something all new.  To start with I'm going to do the inside liner part where the baby is actually going to lay.  My first step is take the top part of the fabric off, which in this model requires a screw driver.  Huh?  Gee, that makes it really easy to wash and keep clean.  I might have to figure something out to deal with that fact.  So I'm going to cut it off since I'm trashing it anyway.  To cut it off I just cut a slit in the outer layer of fabric of the skirt on both ends right where the bolt feeds through to the frame and all the way to the bottom.  I didn't get a good photo but this really isn't a critical step!  Then I examined the thing and tried to decide how I was going to go about things.  I decided I was going to cheapen things up by sewing just one cover to start, but making the canopy and decorative skirt removable so if I wanted to sew a second piece for the baby to be in I could for a little cheaper.  I also didn't want to have to unbolt it to take it off to wash, but the design currently is that way to keep it secure.  Instead, I'm going to put in 2 separating zippers one on each end which I think should be secure.  Okay, so here's a list of everything I need for this part of the project:

1 yd of a cheap 44" fabric that no one will see - I used muslin

Soft fabric for inside the box - I went with 1 yd of a 60" minky

Fabric for outside of the box and the upper ends inside the box - I found a 60" washable suiting canvas in my price range and needed 1 1/4yds (scratch that, for the next part I ran short of fabric, so start with 1 3/4 yds)

1/4 yd of coordinating fabric to make bias tape or bias tape.

2 15" separating zippers

Lots of 5/8" Velcro

Snaps (only if you want to add a removable canopy)

Alright, let's get started!

Step 1:

Measure the bottom board of the bassinet that the mattress sits on, cut a rectangle of fabric to fit, adding a total of 1" to each side for a seam allowance.  Cut a piece of your muslin to fit.  In the case of my bassinet I cut a 17"x29" rectangle.

Step 2:

Measure the inside depth of the bassinet, again, adding one inch for a seam allowance.  My depth was 10, 11" when adding my 1 inch.  Cut a rectangle of minky for each side of the piece you cut in step 1.  For mine I cut 2 rectangles that were 17"x11" and 2 rectangles that were 29"x11."

Step 3: Pin and sew (with a 1/2" seam) the rectangles from step 2 onto the bottom rectangle that was cut in step 1.  If using a fabric with nap be careful with how you line things up.  Now, you should have a piece that looks like this:

That was easy.  Now it gets a little trickier.  On narrow sides the bassinet is curved and we need to figure out the shape to cut.  What I did was cut on my nasty one that's destined for the garbage.  Basically, I lined up the my skinny side with the bottom of the old one and marked off the height that it came to on the original.  Like this:

Then I took the original and cut out the curved piece on the seams and 1/2" below the line I drew on the original.  I did the cutting from the side that doesn't have the canopy on the original.  Basically, I then used the piece I cut to make a pattern piece.  I laid the piece out on the canvas I was intending the use and marked 1/2" for the seam allowance all the way around the piece.  Then I cut this piece out.  

Anyone else see a problem here?  I actually need this piece to be 17" so it matches up with the width of the minky, right now it's 18" and it's looking stretched out like it's no longer symmetrical.  My solution for this was to fold it in half and cut down the fold line.  Then pick the side that looked like it would fit best around the top hole and trim away some excess so the half piece measures 8.5."  I ended up with a new pattern piece that looks like this:

Now all I have to do is place it on a fold line of my canvas fabric and cut 2 of these out.  One for each end!  Then pin and sew them on until I end up having a piece like this:

Of course, both of the short ends should have this piece added on!  From there it's just sewing up the minky sides together to make a box.  Finally, I feel like I've made some progress!  I can't resist, I'm going to go fit it in the bassinet before I get any further!

Looks like it fits pretty well, now it's time to add a few more things.  First off the bottom board of the bassinet has 4 pieces of Velcro two at the top and two at the bottom so the bottom fabric sticks to it.  I'm not really sure it's unnecessary, since the mattress sits on top holding it down, but I'll add some to mine.  Additionally, on the bottom of the board there are 10 more pieces of Velcro that the fabric has straps of Velcro added on the reach over the edge and hook underneath.  These seam a little more important to keep things from shifting around, so I'll add the straps on.  For the straps I'm going to need 10 6" pieces of Velcro (the soft side) so I cut those and line them up with where the Velcro is on the board.  Then I sew them on in the seam allowance, like this:

After all 10 are attached I also sew on the four little strips that match up to the bottom of the board.   

At this point I have to admit my back is starting to get a bit achy, and I need a break, but before I take one I go over all the seams with an overcast stitch.  Of course I could have done this earlier, but I usually make more mistakes, and it's easier to rip out a straight stitch.  Guess I was lucky today though!  After the overcasting I remember there's one more thing that has to be done to the inner liner.  On the original there are these little plastic inserts that give the ends some support.  They basically go in a pocket from the back side of the lining so I need to add this pocket.  Okay, so the plastic measures 14"x3" so I'm going to make pockets that measure just over 3 inches to thread them into.  So, I cut 2 18"x4" pieces of my cheap muslin (no one is going to see this part!)  Then I'm in the mood to play with my new narrow hem foot so I do a narrow hem along one long side of each of these pieces, and I also do a 1/2" hem to each of the short sides ending up with pieces that look like this:

Now to attach them to the ends.  The goal is to have the long finished edge line up with the bottom edge of the minky.  We are going to sew these on to the back of the minky, so it's time to load a bobbin with some coordinating thread.  Okay, now, I line it up, flip it up and sew the unfinished edge about 3 inches up from the seam between the minky and the bottom panel, maybe a picture will help:

Then flip the pocket back down to the seam line and sew the other long side (with the hem) and one of the short sides.)  Of course do this with both of the end pieces of minky.  When you are done just feed in the plastic inserts, but DO NOT stitch them in as you will want to remove them to wash it.  If desired you could add some more Velcro to close this pocket, in the original that's what was done, but I'm going to skip that step, at least for now!

Okay, time to go fit the lining into the bassinet and see how things are looking:

Now obviously, this is just the lining and the blue painters tape is only there to hold the edges up as I check out the fit, but I really think this is going to be a comfy place to lay!  However, at this point I need to take a break and write this all up so I remember how to do it again.