Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Pack n' Play Sheet Tutorial

It's time for another tutorial! This one is for a pack n' play crib sheet... such a simple thing, yet immensely practical and valuable to anyone with a baby. They are surprisingly easy to make... once you get the hang of it and know what you're doing, you'll be whipping these puppies out in 15 minutes*! I think these things are all made in a standard size (38" x 26"), but you'll have to measure your pack n' play mat to make sure. Deep breath and here we go...

*Disclaimer: In order to accomplish this in 15 minutes, use the "snip and rip" method to cut your pieces and also use a serger. If you don't have a serger, then you can use an overlock stitch on your sewing machine.

Materials:

1 1/2 yards cotton, pre-washed

Seam Allowance: 1/4 inch (serged or overlock stitch)

Instructions:

Step One: Quite the long materials list, eh? That's why I love this pattern... you don't have to mess with elastic! Ok, it is important to pre-wash your fabric. Otherwise, when your baby poos, pees and spits up on his/her nice new sheet and you go to wash it, it will SHRINK. It would be an utter waste of your 15 minutes. On the other hand, you don't want to sew your sheet too big, because nobody wants a saggy sheet... particularly the American Baby Association. So, do whatever tweaking you need to do in order to get your sheet fitting perfectly snug :)

Cut out your pieces. My preferred fast, and accurate way is the snip and rip method (see video for demonstration in my Ruffle Apron Tutorial). Rip out the large 49"x26.5" piece first. Then rip out two 29"x5.5" pieces for the side panels. I set my pack n' play mat in the back so you can see for comparison.

Step Two: Take your two side panels and serge along one of the long sides on each. The serged end of the side panel will face inward on the back side of your sheet.

Step Three: Line up the tail ends of the side panels and pin them to one short end of your sheet body right sides together. Make sure the serged sides of the side panels face inward. The ends of the side panels are just hanging down, unfinished.

Here is the serged end. It's hard to see the wrong and right sides of the this particular fabric, so I apologize. Make sure to sew everything "right sides" together.

Step Four: Pull the unfinished tail ends of the side panels until they meet with the opposite end of the sheet body that you just serged... this will cause the end to fold in order for those side panels to reach the opposite end. Now pin the side panel ends in place and serge down that side like you did the other side.

Now measure the length to make sure it is 38 inches. Take it in if you need to.

Step Five: Center the side panels. This should create about a 5-inch fold on each side. Pin along the long sides and serge.

Once again, measure to ensure that the width is 26 inches. If not, adjust accordingly.

Step Six: Sike! There is no step six... you're finished! Now turn the sheet right-side out and slip it over you mat. This is the reversed side:

And here is my happy, chubby baby with a ridiculously huge and frilly headband testing it out:


This one's for you, Jacqui
(cute baby not included)

20 comments:

  1. Could Tess be any cuter??? Oh my goodness, I wanna squeeze her! :) The outfit kills me.

    nice work on the sheet. I might have to bust one of these out for our pack n' play. Been using it a bit lately babysitting a 8 week old.

    You do beautiful work.

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  2. Love the darling chubby girl! Great tutorial. I always want a sheet for my pack-n-play but only think of it when we are visiting someone and I actually set it up. All those pesky warnings run through my head as I try to tuck a flat sheet in around the pad. Hate those pesky warnings!
    Thanks for all your inspiring creations. I found your blog through Made by Rae and have been enjoying your work very much!

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  3. Great idea, thanks for the tutorial. I really love your blog.

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  4. Tess is sooo cute! Your tutorial is great too although I probably won't sew since I have a sister who does all that stuff. ;)

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  5. I love it thank you so much! I am so lucky to have awesome friends.

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  6. Very cute. I love the head band and super cute flower you made.

    Also unbelievable Star Wars quilt. I will have to show Phil. That is way too awesome, and tons of work I am sure.

    Great job.

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  7. This is great! I love how I don't need to spend extra money on elastic! Thanks!

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  8. That is fantastic! My husband surprised me with an overlocker for my birthday and I'm taking a course to learn how to use it...this is the perfect project for me to start with (and, coincidently, I have a baby shower in 2 weeks' time...). Thank you!

    By the way, did you make the headband? It's gorgeous. I want one in adult size! ;-)

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  9. I love this! You find the cutest fabrics, I need to get better at picking that out...
    I just found your blog so be ready for some blog stalking!

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  10. Thanks for the tutorial. It was simple and elastic-free (which saved headache!)

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  11. Love this! Thank you so much for posting! It really is so simple, yet I wouldn't have figured it out on my own. I made one today in under 30 minutes start to finish and I just love it! Thanks again!

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  12. Thanks for the DIY. With your clear instructions, I was done in 15 mins. It took me longer to pick out the fabric than it did to make it.

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  13. Thanks for the pattern, it was doable even for a novice sewer like me, and I think they turned out great. I'm so thankful it didn't need an elastic, and it was much simpler than the pattern I would have come up with on my own.

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  14. Thanks for this pattern! After I read through it a couple of times, and the "ah-ha" moment arrived, it was easy and fit our pack-n-play better than the ones I purchased in the store!!!

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  15. Thank you so much for this pattern! It fits our pack n' play perfectly and sewed up so quickly. Such a great way to use old sheets!

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  16. At first this pattern looked very doable, but you were right, the fabric did not show well, the right and wrong side of fabric. I really could not see what step you were doing. So long story short, in the end you have pockets on the back side of the sheet, that the mattress tucks into. I see the measurement of the side panel, I do not see the measurement of the fold over piece on each edge of the large fabric piece. Is it 10 inches? Thanks for any help you can give.

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  17. @anonymous - In the end, the backside is surrounded on all four sides with about 5" that the mattress tucks into. Before sewing the long sides to the main front sheet, you will need to center the long skinny panels so the main front folds over on itself 5" on each side. I hope this helps!

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  18. I made it! It took me well over 2 hours, but I am actually horrible at sewing and this is the first project I have ever completed! (also I was taking care of 3 kids and a puppy)
    I had a lot of trouble with understanding when and where to serge the short ends of the big piece, because it shows it in the pictures, but there aren't any instructions that I saw.
    Now that I've made one I think I could safely tackle it in 15 minutes!
    Also, I have a Graco Pack n Play and this is a little big and I made it 2 inches shorter by accident. Just an FYI for anyone who has a Graco to measure it first!

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  19. Oh this is awesome! I just bought a pack n play and the sheets are so expensive but looked like they could be made fairly easily. I found this tutorial and it couldn't be more simple to make your own!

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  20. Thank you so much! I bought an odd sized P&P, and am so happy I found your tutorial so I can make perfectly fitted sheets. :)

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