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!

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.

Baby Safari Animals

So Mr. KatieKwilts is in grad school and one day he asked me to take our 2 year old downstairs while he took an online quiz for a few hours.  I got down there and DS just wanted to play trains and wanted nothing to do with me so I wondered back into my fabric stash to see what kind of trouble I might be able to get into.  I had 2 yards of this cute baby blue safari animal fabric that I bought a while back on a really good sale but had no plans one what I was going to do with it.  So, I set out on a mission to make a quilt using the 2 yards of fabric as the backing, batting, and a border and to make the postage stamp interior out of scraps of fabric that I had left from various projects.  It took some time, but as you can see the results are great.  There's all sorts of little children's characters mixed in and delightful prints.  Plus, the only thing that I didn't have in my stash was the quilting threads, the orange inner border and the batting so I didn't have to spend a bunch of time with a screaming 2 year old at the fabric store!  Bonus!  I absolutely love doing these postage stamp quilts, and they turn out fantastic, the only problem is my scrap collection is starting to get a little picked over.  It's still in pretty good shape, but I've been going through the scraps lately!

Go Bulldogs!

Wow, I've been a quilting fool lately!  The Greater Atlanta Shop Hop just finished up and while I didn't win any drawings, I did get a really cute pattern and an idea for a quilt for a recent graduate.  I just couldn't resist putting this quilt together and I can't wait until she graduates in a month or so and I can give it to her.  I think she's going to love it.  Okay, so I'm not really a UGA fan given that I didn't exactly grow up in Georgia, but I still found this quilt a blast to make and I'm sure it will get used occasionally on game day.

Postage Stamp Crazy!

Wow, what happened to the fall?  Or Christmas for that matter?  Things got a little hectic on my sewing machine this fall, I decided to make Christmas presents!  Wow, what an undertaking.  Then, I decided to back up my sewing machine and catch up on scrapbooking, well, after a month of that I'm still not caught up!  I did manage to get a really nice lap quilt done for my grandfather for Christmas though.  As a packer fan and living in Wisconsin I know he will get lots of use out of it at the nursing home!  This was my second postage stamp quilt and while they are A LOT of work I just love putting them together.  So, I've posted pictures of my grandfather's quilt on etsy.com and am offering it as a custom quilt option.  Let me know if you are interested in one!

Mission to Mars

Finished my first fall quilt!  Turned out really nice, I'm so excited for it to find a new home.  This quilt would be perfect for a little boys room.  Come to think about it, if it doesn't find a nice new home maybe I'll just redecorate my little guys room!

Summer is drawing to an end...

The days are getting shorter, and the sun a little less intense.  In short the ATL is cooling off a bit so I think it's time to get back into quilting.  Over the summer I completed one major project for a baby a friend of mine is having.  It was a postage stamp quilt!  It turned out awesome but in my haste to have it ready for the baby shower I neglected to take pictures.  Thankfully, someone else did and here it is:

The border is princesses and castles and goes all the way around the quilt.  The thing was I used Minky on the back.  It looked awesome and will be so soft and snugly for the baby, but I had to wash all the sweat out of it when I was done!  Working with that quilt in June in Atlanta was not a good idea.  Good thing the baby won't come until fall because that quilt is going to keep her WARM!  After creating that I did a couple projects around the house, not much of anything and dreamed of the temperature dropping so I could stand to quilt again.  Well, it finally has and man, have I an awesome quilt in the works!