It’s hard to not love everything that Pottery Barn Kids has to offer. That goes for Pottery Barn in general, but especially the kids stuff. After ordering a blanket from Etsy, I decided that the grey chevron sheet would be the perfect match for baby girl’s nursery. Everything was going well until the website informed me that the sheet wouldn’t ship until January 23, 2013. Sorry guys, but I’m hoping that she’s at least a month old by then!
So I turned to Etsy. The most inexpensive chevron sheet was $30 before shipping. And I wanted at least two. Yikes. Next stop was Google, where I found Carousel Designs. They have beautiful sheets, in the perfect colors and patterns…but also $29 a piece. I don’t care how much money I have available to me, I just cannot spend $30 on one crib sheet!
After pouting for a minute or two, my Mother in Law suggested that I just make the sheets. “It’s can’t be that hard, right?”
Aside from the fact that I had only turned my sewing machine on twice, ever and that I hadn’t actually created anything with it… SURE, WHY NOT? Carousel Designs also sells fabric. I ordered 2 yards of pink and 2 yards of grey. Oh. Man.
I found a bunch of tutorials online (YAY INTERNETS!) but I used this one, because I think it explains the process the best. I did a test run with fabric I got very cheap at Walmart and somehow, it turned out pretty well! It was so easy and it actually fits the crib. A Christmas miracle!
I started out by cutting the fabric down to 69″ x 47″ from 72″ x 54″. The tutorial calls for 67″ x 45″ but I wanted to give myself extra room, especially because I wasn’t going to measure anything but the initial overall size of the fabric! I also cut it with pinking sheers because I do not have a serger and I lack the patience to fold and pin and fold and sew. Lol.
Next was the edge folding. I eyeballed it but figured I’d give myself about an inch. This was so when I pulled the elastic through, it was easy and I didnt have to worry about sewing too close to the edge. Iron the folded over edge on all sides of the sheet. I then cut the 8″ x 8″ squares from the corners. I unfolded the corners for this step. I probably should have cut the corners first and then pressed the edges over. Oh well. Next time! I then went around and sewed the edges I had just cut, in order to make the pockets for the mattress.
Next, I sewed the little elastic pocket I made with the fold-and-iron technique. I used a zig zag stitch for no other reason than to match the pattern of the sheet itself. Lol. The picture above is the seam of a corner (on the left) where it meets the seam of the elastic casing.
After all of the edges are sewn, you have to add the elastic. I used the safety pin technique that’s in the tutorial. It’s easy but tedious. I used 72″ of 1/4 inch elastic, I had used 80″ in my original test sheet and thought it was a little too much and that it could be a tighter. I bought a 3 yd roll at Walmart for $.97. Once the elastic is through, sew the ends of it together and then close the opening in the casing.
You’re done!
The moment of truth: putting it on the mattress. Woo! It fits! Now it just has to be washed and dewrinkled.
2 yards of fabric: $15. ($7.50/yd)
3 yards of 1/4 elastic: $.97.
Total cost: $15.97. Just about 50% less expensive and it takes about an hour. Love!
If I can do it, anyone can. It’s also given me the itch to DIY a lot of other things. The nursery still needs curtains/ valances. Those cannot be too hard. The grey chevron sheet is up next, though.
Pictures are iPhone photos. Sorry (again)!
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