nesting

With only a couple weeks until my due date I have found myself starting (and finishing!) lots of projects around here.  I needed a bumper pad for the baby's crib and just was not finding anything I really liked in the stores so I decided to make my own.

I did some searching on pinterest for patterns and decided I liked the look of this bumper that use 2" foam instead of batting.  Here is a great tutorial on how to put it all together as one piece and use a zipper at one end so you can take the foam out to wash the fabric... I will say, I spend well over an hour putting the foam into the fabric bumper case, so I don't know how frequently I will be taking it all out to wash it...  I think we'll spot clean unless it really needs a thorough washing!

After I decided on the style of bumper I made some adjustments to the original measurements as some of them didn't seem quite right to me and I also did not want it quite as tall as the original measurements called for.  (I will include my measurements and some notes at the bottom of this post for anyone who is interested.)

Then I headed to the fabric store for some inspiration!  I already had the grey chevron sheet and was thinking I was going to do all grey with just a splash of color for the piping and ties but in the end decided on the turquoise feather/chevron pattern and charcoal with turquoise stars.  One thing that factored into my fabric choice was the direction of the pattern on the fabric.  I needed 55"w cuts of fabric for the long sides and did not want seems in those pieces, so I needed the pattern to run the length of fabric instead of the width, or not be directional at all, like the stars.

In the end, I am supper pleased with how it turned out.  I think one of my favorite things is that I know it will hold its form and not mash down like the last bumper pad I made (13+ years ago when Regan was born!)

Here are my measurements and notes:

Foam: 

- One sheet of foam 2"x 24" x 72"

Cut two pieces 50.5" x 10"

Cut two pieces 23" x 10"

*I ordered my foam on Amazon because it was cheaper than going to Joann's.  Also, it cut easily with a serrated kitchen knife. 

Fabric:

- Two yards each of 2 contrasting fabrics for main body of the bumper (see note above about direction of the pattern.  If you are using fabric where the pattern runs the width of the fabric you will need more than 2 yard or each fabric and 60"w fabric to have no seams in the long sides of the bumper)

Cut two in each fabric 55" x 12.75"

Cut two in each fabric 27.5" x 12.75"

*you should have a total of 8 pieces, 4 of each size.

- One yard for piping

*You can find lots of tutorials online for piping and cutting on the bias online, these are just ones I have referenced in the past.

- One yard 44"w fabric for ties (I used 40"w fabric so my ties are a little short, 44"w fabric would have been better)

Cut 16 pieces 22" x 4"

Misc:

- One 12" zipper

- 4.5 yards of cord for piping

*Everything was sewn with a 3/8" seam allowance except the ends of the ties which I used a 1/4" seam allowance on.