Today's Naptime Project

My little guy loves to chew on everything, including the crib rail as most kids do. In the store they have all sorts of protective covers you can put on the crib rail to protect it but none of them are very "decor friendly". I had seen some of the fabric ones online but just couldn't bring myself to paying for one knowing that I could probably make one. So I found a tutorial on the Baby Rabies site (interesting name for a website; very curious to know why they chose it). But you don't have to go to their site though because I'll explain all I did right here!

First I measured the length on the crib rail so I could get the right amount of fabric. My crib rail was about 50" and I wanted it to be about 9" or so wide. I picked out a solid colored cotton fabric for the outer piece and some quilted fabric for some padding and the underside. I cut the solid piece 52" by 11" adding 2" (one inch on each side) for folding over. I cut the quilted piece exactly 50" by 9". Using an iron I pressed the folded over edges of the solid color fabric and pinned them down to the quilted fabric.

Next I had to prep the sewing machine.....my least favorite thing for sure because I always seem to screw the steps up and jam the sewing machine. I had the manual out and followed it step by step and thankfully I was successful. Now it's time to sew.

To keep my stitching straight I just kept the foot running right along the right edge of the fabric. The thing I hate most about my machine is that the foot pedal is very touchy and it is hard to get the machine going without it taking off really fast. Every time I have to stop the machine this process starts all over. SO I decided to try to remove pins as I went along without stopping! I only poked myself about 8 times and drew blood once (thankfully I didn't get blood on the fabric). After sewing all the sides I added ribbon for tying (this could have been done before and just sewn right in but I did it separate because of my lack of planning and sewing skills). After it was all sewn up I cut off any extra strings and folded it in half and ironed it to make it easier to tie on the crib rail. Here's the finished product:

I only did one side since the other side is against the wall and Josh really hasn't started chewing on that side. If he does somehow chew on the other side I've got enough leftover fabric to make another side. Or I may use the leftover solid fabric to make some curtains for his room. I'll be sure to post when I make those curtains! Wishing you many blessings....Leslie.