Soooo, now that we're having one more little guy, I decided to re-do the basket. Here's what it looks like now...
I decided to do it in pieces to make it more manageable. First, the skirt. (Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the process. I was too excited to complete it and I was a little nervous as to just how it would turn out.)
Materials:
about 1 yard of any fabric of your choice
6 yards of 1/2 inch double fold binding tape to match your fabric
3 yards of 1/4 inch elastic
1/4 inch wide ribbon
1. Measure the circumference of the basket.
2. Take that measure and multiply times at least 1.5. Take a yard of 45" fabric of your choice (I used a cheap cotton.) and cut enough 10" wide strips to equal your new length.
3. Sew the pieces together on the short ends using a french seam, or serger if you have one, so that you have one very long 10" wide strip.
4. Fold over 4" along a long side and iron all the way across. You'll use this crease later as a guide to sew on the elastic.
5. Bind both raw edges.
6. Sew elastic along the inside of the crease, stretching as you go to create a ruffle.
7. Fold the skirt over the elastic and tack on an approximately 8-10 inch piece of ribbon on one end.
8. Wrap the skirt around the basket to check the length. I ended up using exactly 3 yards of finished ruffle for my 84 inch circumference basket. (I know because I didn't buy enough binding for the whole length, but it ended up just right!)
9. Sew together the ends, again using the french seam. And you're done! If your elastic is tight enough it should sit in place just fine. If you want, you can add lengths of ribbon at what ever intervals suit you to tie it on.
Next, the bonnet...
Materials:
I used enough of my extra ruffle from the skirt to cover the arch of the bonnet, cut a couple inches short so the elastic will stretch and hold it in place.
Add: Another 12" or so of your fabric
A length of elastic for around the back
More binding. I used just a little over another 3 yards.
3 lengths of 1/4" wide ribbon for ties
1. Sew the wider side of your existing ruffle to your extra fabric, again using a french seam.
2. Hang the ruffle in place over the arch and cut the hanging fabric where you want the bonnet to end. I cut mine around the middle of the top ruffle on the skirt.
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| Here's a good shot of the bonnet in process. You can see where I sewed the ruffle to the rest of the fabric right before I cut off the extra. |
4. Sew a length of 1/4" ribbon on at both sides where the bonnet will be tied on and in the center top where the elastic runs.
5. Bind the rough edges all the way around. Then tie on your finished piece.
Now the hard part is done. Congratulations! Next, let's make a bumper.
Materials:
About 3/4 yd of minky dot or another soft fabric of your choice times 2. (I made mine reversible using the minky on one side and fabric from the old cover on the other.)
Plus: 3/4 yd. batting
about 2 yds of 1/4 in. satin ribbon for ties
1. I kept using my outside measurement to do the bumper. This perfectly allowed for seam allowances. Take your measurement and divide by 4. Then measure your height from the mattress to where you want the top of your bumper. Mine came out to 4 rectangles that were 21"x8" each.
2. Lay one rectangle on your batting and cut out 4 rectangles of batting to match.
3. Cut out 8 approximately 10" pieces of ribbon. Fold them in half and pin at the half way mark along the long sides at the top and bottom of one of the fabrics.
4. Layer the fabric with the wrong sides together and batting on the bottom. Using the sandwich method, sew with a 1/2" seam allowance around 3 sides, leaving room on a short side to turn in right side out. Make sure while you're sewing that the ribbons are inside the sandwich and out of the seam.
5. After turning, top-stitch all the way around again with a half inch seam and turning in your opening. (I ended up whip stitching the opening too)
6. Lay the 4 finished rectangles end to end, overlapping by about 1/2". Cut 4 more 10" lengths of ribbon and sandwich them in the overlaps. Then tack them together by hand. (My machine couldn't handle the thickness.)
7. Put the bumper in the basket and double check your length. Cut off some if needed, then sew together the ends of the whole thing the same way as step 6.
8. Tie your finished bumper to the basket.
The last piece is optional but I think it adds so much to the overall look and functionality, especially if you plan to spend any time using the basket outside with your baby. It's the netting that can be pulled over the top.
Materials:
About a yard of a soft, gauzy, transparent material.
An 8"x45" (Depending on the width of your netting fabric) of the fabric used for the rest of the skirt.
A yard and a half of 1/2" double fold binding tape to match
A yard of 1/4" satin ribbon
1. Make sure you have enough length to go from the top of the bonnet to hang over the foot of the basket.
2. Take your 8" strip of fabric, fold in half length wise and iron all the way along. (We're making a wide binding for the top of the net.)
3. Again with the 8" strip, fold each long side up to the fold and iron. Making a double fold binding.
4. Sew the wide binding what will be the top of the netting.
5. Use your 1/2" binding to bind the bottom.
6. String your 1/4" satin ribbon through the wide binding at the top and tighten it like a draw string, knotting it and leaving ends long enough to tie it to the basket.
7. Tie the netting on the top of the bonnet, underneath the cover.
8. Wait patiently for your beautiful new baby to put in your gorgeous one of a kind bassinet.
And just because I can, here's a couple more pictures of my "helper".
This post has been included in: Teach me Tuesday and The Homestead Barnhop
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