Tutorial Tuesday: The Crib Rail Protector

When my nephew entered his teething phase he chewed on anything he could get his mouth on, including his expensive crib.  So much so that it looked like it belonged in a dog pound and not a toddler’s room.  I figured that we needed to do something to stop him from relentlessly eating his crib (and to protect my daughter’s crib, before she got her mouth on it).  Cue: the crib rail protector. 

What you’ll need:

The Basics (machine, pins, thread, ruler, scissors)

2 yards of your choice of fabric (though I made mine with only a yard and piece it together to get the right length)

2 yards of your choice of coordinating ribbon

1.5 yards of batting (60 in wide)

First:  Prepare your ribbons, buy cutting 8 pieces 9 inches long. 

Burn the edges of the ribbon quickly with a lighter to seal the end so it doesn’t fray

Cut 2 pieces of fabric 15” x 54”   (If you’re using less than 54” of fabric, I just pieced mine together to make that length, it only took 1 yard completely of fabric)

Cut your batting (depending on how thick yours is to begin with will determine how much you’ll need.  I used 3 layers of   1/4 inch batting.)

Face both fabric pieces right sides together.  Then stack those on top of the batting

Insert your ribbons in between the right sides of fabric.  4 on each side, one 2 inches from each edge and then about ever 16 inches from there on (making sure to match them up for the opposite side.)

Sew around the edge, leaving a few inches open at one of the short ends.  (I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance)  and trim your corners

Flip it inside-out and iron flat, 

(its like birthin' a baby)

top stitch the open side (you could also hand stitch this, but I was going for quick and not worried so much about neat, heck, baby is going to be slobbering all over it)

(finished Product)

Then attach to the crib, make sure you tie the bows tightly so they can’t come loose.

I added a pocket (mostly to cover the seam) for paci storage.

We can NEVER find paci’s in the middle of the night when we need them, so this helps immensely.