Redoing a bassinet - Day 2 - Adding the outer cover

Okay, so let me start this off by saying I'm not much of a sewer, I'm more into quilting, so sometimes when I start trying to sew something without a pattern I do a lot of trial and error.  For this portion of the project if I were to do it again I would think about the process a bit more and I'm sure I can come up with an easier way, but well, this is what I made work this time.  If you try making this and come up with a better method please comment or send me an email with how you did it!

So, first I'm going to add the small end panels to where the bassinet attaches to the frame on both sides.  Now, I want to be able to easily remove the cover to throw it in the washing machine, so I'm going to put in 2 15" separating zippers.  Now, the first thing I need to know is how long to make these curved panels, to figure out this measurement I put my lining in the bassinet and measured from the bottom of the canvas portion of the lining to where I wanted the fabric to end at the bottom, making sure to factor in enough fabric for a hem.  I used a length of 12."  Now I took the curved pattern piece that I made when making the lining and cut 4 pieces of canvas that had 12" added to the bottom edge.  Like this.  Now, I need to made sure that 2 are the same, and two are mirror images, so cutting folded fabric worked great!  Here's what it looked like to do:

Now to add the zipper.  I know that my long edge is longer than the zipper, so I'm going to have to finish that edge somehow so it looks finished at the bottom.  To do that I double folded over the long straight edge and added a straight stitch, kind of like a hem, to each of the four pieces.  Then I added the separating zipper to this edge, making sure to put the panels together when adding the second half of the zipper to make sure that things lined up.  Here's what I ended up with:

Of course, I actually had two of these panels, one for each end.  Now, I need to account for two more things.  First, I have an inside panel and an outside panel, but I don't have enough room to wrap around the bassinet frame, I'm about 1/2" short, so I cut a couple 1 1/2" strip of canvas fabric and stitched it on the outside edge of the panels (but not the bottom.)  Like this:

Next time, I think I'll be smarter and just make the outer edge bigger when I cut it, but this straight piece being on really makes for a nice fit around the frame, so I'm actually quite happy.

Now, the next thing I need to account for is that on one side I'm going to be adding a removable canopy.   Do do this I want to add a separate cotton flap, and I do that by cutting a 3" strip of fabric and folding it in half lengthwise and iron it.  The on the one of the panels sandwich the strip in between the extra 1 1/2" piece and the original panel.  This is going to give me a place to add velcro at a later date if I find time to make the canopy.  Here's sort of what this looks like:

Now all I have to do is line up the front and back panels and stitch them together, (but only down to where the minky starts on the inner lining) and this is when things started to really head south on this phase of the project.  I put this on and low and behold it's too tight to fit around the frame and zip!  Ahhh!!!  I'm about 4" short!  Talk about poor planning.

I can fix this though.  I could remove the entire zipper and add an additional strip to where the zipper attaches to each side, but that would be a lot of work.  So, instead I just cut the zippers off and add a 3.75" strip in on each side of the zipper.  Then I can sew the zipper back in by the fabric that I removed.  But first I have to remove the stitches from stitching the front and back together. When all is said and done the panels end up looking like this:  Note this is the piece with the added section for the canopy.

Now I can stitch the outside and inside panels together again, again only to the point where the minky starts.  At this point I need to make sure it fits which it does, then I have to add an over stitch to all the seams I put in.  Finally, I need to figure out how to finish off the rough edge on the upper edge.  On one side I did it by using a bias tape from a cotton fabric, on the other I just double folded it over.  I'm not 100% happy with either method since the canvas is so heavy, but it will do the trick.  Here's what both sides look like currently in the bassinet:

Now, we're back to another problem with the poor planning.  Since I had to add all these extra almost 4" strips of fabric I'm short of the canvas material to finish the side panels on the bassinet.  So, it's back to the fabric store for me before I can finish!  I'm short by about 12" but I know I can get more.

After the trip to the fabric store there's really not much left to do.  Just cut 2 pieces that are 12"x28" rectangles, pin and sew them between the two side panels and the top of the interior minky.  Then fit it, do the overcast stitch and add a hem at the bottom.  When all is said and done here's what it looks like in the bassinet:

I know, it looks a little boring at this point.  It's just brown.  But my whole idea here is that by making this one piece a neutral color I can add some more interesting fabric in the canopy, and the bassinet skirt, as well as in the new skirt that I'll make for the table.  Trust me, this will be looking a little more interesting in the near future!