diy ikea crib bedding

Being pregnant with twins was exhausting.  Seriously.  Everyone tells you about the joy of bringing two new lives into the world, and how lucky you are to be having a boy AND a girl at once… “You’re all set, lucky you!”  Don’t get me wrong.  I agreed with all of these people, but there was one thing no one ever tells you: growing two human beings inside you for nine (hopefully nine) months is entirely exhausting.

J and I didn’t find out about our double blessing until my 18-week ultrasound.  This means that I spent 18 weeks thinking I just had a really bad case of morning sickness accompanied by a daily migraine.  While I wouldn’t really recommend spending weeks on end glued to the couch, living off of soup and vicodin, and working through entire TV series on Netflix at an alarming rate, I did accomplish one thing: I discovered a new world… the world of Pinterest, where all baby items are handmade, and dinner every night comes from a crock pot.  During this time, I developed grand plans for applique onesies, handmade burp cloths, and hand painted nursery wall art.  Few of these projects panned out when I discovered that my first trimester exhaustion wasn’t going to go away for the remainder of my pregnancy.  But I did manage to complete one project… diy ikea crib bedding.

I made crib sheets using these easy instructions from fern & freckle.  I made two sets, both in a cute owl fabric from Joann.

 If you have an Ikea crib (hey, gotta be economical when buying two of everything!) you should cut your fabric to be 64″ x 39 1/2″ with 6″ squares cut out of each corner.  Even with my limited sewing skills, these sheets were quite simple to make.  Plus, by selecting your own fabric, you get sheets that are much cuter than anything you can get in stores!

Next, on to the crib skirts.  I wish I had a tutorial for you on this one, but I don’t.  Sorry!  These skirts were pretty much hodge-podged together.  I will try to explain what I did.

I cut a rectangle of fabric that matched the dimensions of the bed of the crib, and allowed a 1/2″ seam allowance.  Then I cut three rectangular panels.  Two were long (16 1/2″ x 65 1/4″) for both sides and one was short (16 1/2″ x 28 1/2″) for the foot of the crib.  I didn’t make a fourth panel, since the head of the crib is against the wall.  I sewed the two long panels onto the rectangle first, and allowed for a 3″ pleat.  Then I sewed on the short panel and hemmed the whole thing.

It’s not a professional job, but I don’t think the babies will notice 🙂

My sister also made quilts for the babies in coordinating fabric.  She even appliqued their initials onto the back.  Now, there is a woman whose children will only see hand sewn items for their first years of life.. Love ya sis!