Sewing for the Nursery: Crib Rail Covers

I have found myself in a sudden state of panic. I do believe the nesting instinct has kicked in and suddenly I am realizing that there is so much that I have to do to get ready. Have we always lived in such a state of disorganized chaos?! Why am I just noticing this now? So this week I decided it was time to move my son's clothes from the changing table/dresser to his new under the bed dresser drawers and to start washing and moving the baby's clothes into the changing table/dresser. I had the room in a state of complete and utter chaos. I was moving blankets for temporary safe keeping in the crib when I saw this . . . 

How could I have forgotten that my son had been a beaver for a fraction of his babyhood?! Well, for a soon-to-be-mommy-again in her panicked and irrational state of trying to make things perfect, I found myself needing to fix this right now! 

Again, please excuse the messy background in these images. I am mid-transition as I decided this took precedence.

So I grabbed a notebook and my measuring tape and began plotting how I would execute sewing something to cover this. Refinishing the wood was just not an option at this point.

I grabbed some fabric scraps from a crib quilt that I am creating for the crib and started sewing away until I had the right size to match the main front crib rail size I had come up with. 

I then basted this to some batting and backing and did some quick quilting. 

I cut the edges straight and then got some binding on it. I had seen many crib rail covers online with ties on them but I am super paranoid and avoid any excess fabric or string in the crib so I decided I would make my crib rail velcro on between the bars. I took the piece with me to the crib with some pins and used the pins to mark where the velcro should be placed. 

Then it was back to the machine to attach the velcro. Since the velcro will never be exposed (aside from the photos in this post) I didn't bother worrying about whether it matched the project. 

Then it was time to repeat the process for the smaller sides of the crib (yes, those had been chewed on as well . . . gotta love the teething stage). Once again, I pieced some scrap fabrics together until I had the right size and got it quilted up with some batting and backing. 

Again I cut everything straight and attached some binding and headed back to the crib to find where the velcro should go. 

Then it was back to the machine and the velcro was attached. 

And that was it! My crib rail covers were complete. 

Now I just need to make some bedding and the quilt to match!

I also had some great success getting some receiving blankets done this week as well. As much as I love quilting, I know that some receiving blankets will get a lot more use in the first few months of the baby's arrival. I had stumbled across a great tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co. that showed how to make a self-binding receiving blanket out of flannel. 

Can you tell I had a lot of flannel in my stash from when I first started sewing?

Well, I definitely have a lot more to work on! Until next time . . . happy quilting!