Sewing Tutorial: Fitted Bassinet Sheet

What you need:
Fabric
Complimentary or Contrasting Thread
Sewing Machine
Needle
Elastic
Measuring Tape
Safety Pin
Pins
Iron

  
Difficulty:
Easy

Time:
About an hour

First, select your fabric. You can buy new material or use second hand, depending on what you like and how lucky you get if you're thrifting. If you have a nice sheet that you don't use anymore, you can also cut this up and make about four sheets with it, usually with some to spare. I've used flannelette for mine but plain cotton works beautifully too. You might want to measure your bassinet mattress before you go shopping to see exactly how much you will need, but I took the lazy approach and estimated when I was in the store; the excess has been used to make reusable wipes.

Wash and dry the fabric first up if it's new to allow for any shrinkage - you don't want to make the sheet to size only to find out it shrinks too small after it's first cleaning session. You can then iron the fabric to make it nice and flat and easy to use.

Now, to get the fabric size that you need, you can do this one of two ways. If you want to know the size you need before you go shopping, you'll need to do some measuring. Find out the length and the width of your mattress first of all. Then, measure the depth of the mattress, add this twice (once for each side) to the above numbers. Finally, add at least 10cm to each side of this (20cm all up) to allow for the seams and cloth that will gather underneath the mattress. So if your mattress is 90cm long x 45cm wide x 5cm deep, then the size you need would be:
Length 90cm + 10cm + 20cm = 120cm
Width 45cm + 10cm + 20cm = 75cm

If you already have your fabric, you can lay down the mattress and add the depth of the mattress plus 10cm to it. In the case of the measurements above, you would need to measure out 15cm on each side of the mattress to get the right size.
*Note* You can add more than 10cm for seams and gathering if you like, depending on how much you would like it to gather underneath. 

To get the corners curved, I simply marked out a few points using the ruler and drew a curve free hand. Once the sewing is all completed, you won't notice if you've done a slightly dodgy job with this!

Lightly trace around this shape using chalk and cut it to size. 

Fold over approximately 1cm of fabric all the way around the edge and iron it flat. You can mark the distance with chalk but I did this by eye. You can pin the areas where there are little folds to ensure that the sewing goes easier there, and it's worth noting that I iron around the seam in the same direction that the sewing machine will go around it. This is so that the folds are all going in the same direction and will be easy for the machine to run over them - if you iron in the opposite direction, it will be a bit of a pain to sew over each one, as they will try to fold back the other way. Thenzig zag stitch to finish it off. 
*Note* This step is optional. I like to have the sheet double hemmed to make it look nice and neat and 'finished', but you can leave it out if you want to save time or if you're worried your fabric won't be big enough and you don't have that cm to spare. 

Fold over another 1.5 - 2 cms all the way around and iron flat. Again - you can mark the distance with chalk, but I did it freehand.

The important thing to remember here is that you will need to fit your elastic in the gap that is left after you sew a seam, so if you've bought wider elastic then you may need to make a wider seam. You can pin the little folds in the corners again, which I definitely recommend for this seam as it will be the one that you see once the product is finished - may as well make it nice!

Sew around the seam with a straight stitch, nice and close to the edge (furthest from the fold) leaving an unsewn gap big enough for you to slip the elastic into later - about 5cms is plenty. Optional: Go around again with a zig zag stitch, to reinforce it and to cover up any dodgy sewing (which is bountiful in my sheet!) again making sure you leave the gap to put the elastic through. 

The amount of elastic you need can depend on how much excess fabric you added to your measurements at the beginning, and how tightly you would like the sheet to fit. As a rule of thumb, I measure out the elastic to be as long as the longest length of fabric. Mark this length with a pen, but do not cut it. Feed elastic through the gap that you've left with a safety pin. When you get to the other side, pin the safety pin securely to the hem of the fabric and stretch the other end of the elastic until your mark comes out. Pin the marked end of the elastic to the other end of the elastic using a new safety pin. The first time I made one of these I tried to use the same safety pin for both ends, and of course, because the elastic was taught, it slipped straight off the safety pin and I was stuck trying to fish it out from my hem without the safety pin to help me - let my mistake be a lesson to you!

Now you can test out the sheet on your mattress; if you need to tighten it or loosen it out more, do this now by simply feeding more of the elastic through or pulling more out. This is why it's important not to cut your elastic prematurely - it's easy to adjust the length to make it perfect for your mattress. 

Once you have the elastic length that you want, hand sew the ends together securely. Once your elastic has been firmly sewn together, you can trim the excess off. I found it helpful here to safety pin the elastic to the hem on each side so that it was nice and slack in the middle - it's much harder to handle when the elastic is stretching taut. I've tried to show this in the photo below:

Once this is done, remove your safety pins and sew the opening of the hem closed using the same stitches that you used before (remembering, I used a straight stitch then went over it with a zig zag stitch). Trim all of your threads and move the cloth around the elastic so that it's gathered evenly all the way around.

HAPPY DAYS!

Please let me know if you have any feedback on this tutorial, or if you need any clarification on what I've written!

Our Pregnancy Announcement

When we were ready to tell the world about the little person swimming in my belly, we knew we wanted to do it differently. Many friends of mine had either sent out a group SMS, posted a Facebook status, or put up a photo of their ultrasound. That just wasn't for us. First of all, having a baby is that LAST thing everyone expected us to do, so I was after something with some shock value! Second of all, we really want to try to instill as much creativity and humour in our child as we can, and why not get started before bub is even born?

We ran through a number of ideas before we decided to create a movie poster. We had come to fondly nickname the little one "The Thingy", and there was something of a horror movie feel about it - "The Thingy is coming!!!" was a bit of a catch cry for us in the early days! So, based on a few conversations with the people we had already told (and had absolutely sworn to secrecy!) we came up with a few lolz to sum up how we felt about everything at the time, and get the message across in a very box office fashion. Here's what we came up with:

Interestingly enough, some people took a minute to get the message - one friend, upon seeing the poster and being told it was our big news, exclaimed "Wow! You guys are in a movie??!". So, we sent it out to our friends and extended family with a little handwritten note explaining what we were up to and how excited we were. We worked through a long list of people that we wanted to tell in person, only sending letters to a few people a week and making them promise not to say a word to anyone. The best part was receiving a few new phone calls each week to say 'congratulations', instead of being bombarded with them all on the one evening!

Once we were exhausted with writing and posting letters (that kept us busy up until 20 weeks!) we finally did the big Facebook reveal and uploaded the picture to both of our pages. I definitely recommend this approach for everyone - it's great to know our 'thingy' poster has made it onto the fridges of our loved ones everywhere, and the poster is proudly displayed in our little one's room, ready and waiting for it's arrival!

Sewing Tutorial: Reusable Wipes and Burp Cloths

I've decided to use cloth nappies and reusable wipes when my little Thingy is born, but I have to be honest, I'm worried about giving it all up when things become too hard. When I asked my Mum if she used disposable wipes when I was a baby, she laughed. "Wipes? We used to call them face washers. I'm pretty sure they hadn't even invented disposable wipes then!". 

I'm really sold on how environmentally friendly and affordable it will be, but will I feel the same when I'm too sleep deprived to face ANOTHER load of washing? Really, only time will tell, but one thing I've decided to do to make it a little bit easier (and cuter!) is to make my own adorable wipes to reuse, instead of the plain white squares that you see on the market. I've also run up some burp cloths, which are basically the same but about double the length. Of course, you can adjust the measurements to make any size or shape that you like!

What you need: 
'Wipe' material of your choice (I've used towels, but you could also use flannelette, bamboo, microfibre, any other nice absorbent fabric)
'Decorative' material of your choice (this is just for looks, so any easy to handle material will do. Alternatively, you can use another absorbent material on this side in a different pattern to make your wipes handy on both sides!)
Complementary or contrasting thread
Sewing Machine
Pins
Measuring Tape
Chopstick, retractable pen or fat knitting needle

Difficulty:
Easy

Time:
Less than an hour per cloth

First, decide on the size you want for each of the cloths. The sizes I've used are as follows:

Burp Cloths
Material cut out - 42 x 21 cms or 16 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (approx)
Finished product - 40 x 19 cms or 15 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (approx)

Wipes
Material cut out - 21 cms x 21cms or 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (approx)
Finished Product - 19cms x 19cms or 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (approx)

*A note on materials* I've used a number of different materials, and get the impression that it is good to experiment a little to find out what works best for you and your bub. I've mostly used new towels on one side with a decorative cotton fabric on the other. I've also used flannelette on one side with new toweling on the other, and, for some extra eco-friendly ones, I've used an old towel (still in good condition, except for a hole that had been ripped in it) on one side with cut up cotton dress material on the other. You can also try things like microfiber, hemp or bamboo, but I've found those difficult to buy in my area and I'm too impatient to buy them online. If you're unsure which way to go, ask around your friends who have used cloth wipes, or have a look on some online forums or Facebook pages. My experience with other Mums is that they are more than happy to offer friendly advice, so don't be afraid to ask for it!

I would recommend washing and ironing your fabric BEFORE you begin - especially if you are using different materials for each side - to ensure they don't shrink to different sizes after their first use. Measure and cut the sizes that you need. If you have a specific wipes case or box that you would like them to fit into, then all you need to do is add approximately 2cm (or 1 inch) to the size that you want. When you're sewing, measure out 1cm (or 1/2 inch) seams around the edge, and you'll end up with the size that you need. 

On the wrong side of the 'decorative' fabric, measure and mark a 1cm (less than 1/2 inch) border around the entire piece of fabric. I do this on the decorative fabric rather than the wipe fabric simply because it will be easier to do. You may not need to measure and mark this section out, but as I'm a bit of a beginner seamstress, I find this helps a lot to keep my stitches nice and neat. 

Mark a section about 10cms (4 inches) wide for you to leave unstitched to turn the fabric inside out. I usually mark the beginning and end of this section clearly so that I can see it coming while I'm sewing.

Pin the wrong side of the decorative fabric to the wrong side of your wipe fabric. 

Start sewing at one end of the gap you will be leaving. Make sure to back stitch so that it doesn't unravel when you turn the fabric inside out. I use a nice small stitch for this part (the second smallest that my machine offers) to help the cloths survive the many washes that they will no doubt go through. 

Sew all around the edges of your fabric, along the lines you have marked. When you reach the other end of the gap you're leaving, be sure to back stitch again to make it nice and secure. 

*Tip* to make the corners nice and sharp, when you reach the end of a line, wind the sewing needle so that it's all the way in the fabric before you lift the pedal to turn the fabric to the new angle. Look how neat mine are! And I'm pretty terrible at corners!

Take out your pins, and then turn the cloth completely inside out through the hole that you've left. 

Using a blunt, pointed object (such as a chopstick or a fat knitting needle), poke the corners so they are neatly pointed out. Once you've sewn closed the gap, this will be near impossible to do!

To close up the hole that you've left, you can either slip stitch it by hand, or if you're lazy like me, you can sew a neat line with your machine close to the edge of the fabric. It all depends on how well finished you would like the product to look, and how much time you have handy. I don't mind that you can see where I've closed it up, but if I were giving to someone as a gift, I would probably take the extra time to hand stitch the edge closed. 

Using some chalk, mark a guideline of approximately 1.5 cms (just over 1/2 and inch). Again, this might not be necessary if you have a good eye for sewing, but I find it handy to keep me on track. 

Sew around the edges again using your chalk marks as a guide. I've used a larger stitch than before as it doesn't need to be as hardy; it's not for reinforcing the edges, just to give the wipes a more 'finished' look. I find that using a larger stitch hides the fact that my straight sewing lines aren't always exactly straight - but that will depend on how good you are on the machine! You can either do sharp corners again by ensuring the needle is all the way in before turning the fabric around, or if you're a more advanced sewer, you can sew curved edges. 

All done! Easy as that! 

Here's a pic of the reusable wipes that I've made - I have no idea what my favourite is, I love them all!

If you've made your own wipes and have any feedback on my design, I would love to hear from you. In the future I think I'll experiment with a few different materials to test their absorbency and how gentle they are. 

Update

Here's some that I made with one side flannel and one side towelling, and I also plan to make some that are double flannel - I'm told this is best for getting into nooks and crannies!