bumper pads...done! (with tutorial)

 the first part of the nursery bedding is done:  the bumper pads!

below you will find a quick tutorial on how i made them and some pictures.

i'll be honest, i cheated and bought pre-cut batting specifically sized for the crib bumper.  i am so glad i did.  i even got the batting on sale for 50% off, so i only spent about $13 for all of the batting.  instructions come with the batting, but i did not follow them since i wanted to tweak the pattern a bit. 

1.  i cut 2 pieces of my main fabric 27" x 11 3/4" and 2 pieces 53" x 11 3/4" for the bumpers.

2.  i cut 20 pieces of coordinating fabric 2" x 20" for the ties.

cut to be "tied"

3.  i cut 2 pieces of coordinating fabric 2" x 54" and 2 pieces 2" x 28" for the piping.  i only added piping to the top edge since it probably wouldn't show on the other edges anyway.

piping cord and fabric

4.  i did the piping first, by wrapping the piping with the fabric and sewing right next to the cord with a zipper foot.  further instructions for piping here.

5.  i did the ties next, by pressing 1/4" to the wrong side on all edges.  then i folded in half and edge stitched all the way around.

all of the ties completed!

6.  i pinned the piping to the right side top edge of my main fabric, with edges together.  i sewed it to the main piece using 3/8" seams.

7.  i folded the ties in half lengthwise and pinned them to the corners (above the seam allowances on the bottom and within seam allowances on the sides) on the right side of each main piece.  on the longer pad pieces, i also sewed a tie to the top and bottom at the 26 1/2" mark (middle.)  i pinned all of the ties so they would not get caught in the stitching.

8.  i then pinned the main pieces, right sides together.  i stitched the tops first where the piping was, and used the stitches already in place as my guide, using a zipper foot.  i continued to stitch all the way around, leaving a 8-10" hole in the bottom edge to slide the batting in place.

9.  i trimmed each corner and leftover piping away.

10.  i turned the covers to the right sides out and slid the batting into the covers.  i then pressed the seam allowances down in the open edges and stitched the edges closed.

congrats, you are done with your bumper pads!

when kate saw them, she exclaimed, "ooooh!  my brother will love them!  they're sooo cute!"  and then she kissed one of the pads.  ha!