Published 06/01/2014
Phew! Just in time! After 8 hours of cutting, pinning, basting, and sewing, I finished the baby bumpers just before the birth of my first niece/nephew! (My sister is keeping the gender and name a surprise. Hence the yellow and gray baby room colors!)
My sister searched for crib bumpers online and in stores, but the bumpers she found and liked were around $200. So (of course), she comes running to me for my services! My sisters and I all have artistic talents, so we usually barter between one another. With this particular sister, she is a talented painter and photographer and therefore in exchange for these bumpers, she offered to do the next photo shoot (which will likely be some of my new bridal pieces). However, I surely got the short end of the stick here. These bumpers took me 8 hours to create!
My sister supplied the fabric, piping, batting/foam, and pattern. This was very helpful! I’ve come to realize that the initial designing of a product/garment with customers can take longer than the actual time it takes to sew the final piece.
She spent around $50 on materials: 4 packages of bias piping (Four packages wasn’t enough, so I only added piping to the outer edge of the bumpers), 3 yards of upholstery fabric, one package of 1” foam batting, and a pattern.
(Above is the Hobby Lobby receipt sans the address.)
My sister bought a pattern for me to follow, but it was worthless. It’s kind of pointless to even buy a pattern for this project anyways. The commercial pattern instructed the reader to make bumpers by using one large piece of fabric and folding it over (right sides together) and stitching along the ends. This seems easy- right? Well, I don’t think this pattern would’ve worked so well with 1” foam and thick fabric! So instead I made the bumpers without a pattern and made them the same way as outdoor chair cushions.
After creating my sister’s bumpers, my mom showed me the bumpers my Babcha made when my sister was a baby. I noticed that my Babcha made the bumpers with one piece of fabric (with one seam at the bottom and sides). My Babcha also used foam, but I think the one large piece of fabric worked well for her because it wasn’t as thick as my sister’s foam and the fabric was a thin cotton.
After creating my sister’s bumpers, my mom showed me the bumpers my Babcha made when my sister was a baby. I noticed that my Babcha made the bumpers with one piece of fabric (with one seam at the bottom and sides). My Babcha also used foam, but I think the one large piece of fabric worked well for her because it wasn’t as thick as my sister’s foam and the fabric was a thin cotton.
I had to measure and cut very carefully and used lots of pins while sewing because if any rectangle was just a little off it would throw off the entire piece! This project took a lot of time for something that first appeared to be so simple & quick to make. Overall, I was happy with the results and glad the baby didn’t come before I finished!
Here are more photos of the baby’s room!
