DIY Fitted Crib Sheet

If you have a little babe in your life, you probably already know that babies are cute, cuddly, fun…. and gross.  Yes, I said it – babies are gross.  Between all of the adorable snuggles, smiles, coos, and giggles, there is lots of poop, pee, drool, and spit-up.  Because of this, I learned the hard way with my first child that you can never have too many crib sheets!  If you’re a lazy launderer like me, you always want to have extra crib sheets on hand so you’re not running to the washing machine (click here to know what to do when it won’t work properly) every time your little one gets one of those gross things previously mentioned all over the crib sheet (trust me – it happens a lot more than you’d expect)!

So, you can of course buy lots of crib sheets to be prepared if you’d like.  OR – you can make your own from your fabric of choice, which makes them super cute and extra special!

Here’s what you’ll need:

– 2 yards of cotton fabric 44-45″ wide (I got mine from fabric.com and also designed our own and printed through spoonflower)
– 80″ of 1/4″ elastic (can be found on Amazon or at your local fabric store)
– A paper clip or safety pin
– Basic sewing supplies (measuring tape, scissors, etc.)

Step 1:
Lay that large piece of fabric out on a large surface (I use the floor) and cut the length to 68″.  This means you’ll only have about a 4″ strip left, so if it’s easier, you can just measure 4″ and cut there:).  You don’t have to cut width-wise, because you’ll likely use the entire width.  The exception here would be if you purchased a fabric that is wider than 45″ – in that case, you can cut the width, but most of the time your fabrics won’t be wider than that.  Don’t worry about cutting of the selvedge edges, either – you’ll need that part, too!

Step 2:
Fold your fabric in half length-wise, matching up edges carefully.  Then fold it in half width-wise and match edges up carefully.  What you’ll have should look like a large rectangle, with 4 layers of fabric.  Measure and cut an 8″ square from the corner of your fabric (make sure you use the side with no folded edges:).  These will create your pockets that will fit over the corners of your crib mattress!

Step 3:
Unfold your fabric and take one of the corner pieces (where you see that there is a square of fabric missing:).  You are going to close the corner with the right sides of the fabric together.  Sew (or serge) that piece together.  If you don’t have a serger, no worries!  I would simply recommend that you sew it 2-3 times for some extra reinforcement:)  Repeat this step with all of the corners – if you turn it right-side-out you’ll see that you just made your little pockets – yay!

Step 4:
Fold and press (iron on high heat) about 1/4″ all the way around the outside edges of your sheet.  Then, fold over another 1/2″ and press (this will hide any raw edges).  Remember – here you will want to lay your sheet with the right side down, and when you fold over, you are putting the wrong sides together.  You are creating a casing for your elastic!  Once everything is ironed, sew all the way around the sheet along the fold, but be sure to leave about a 1-2″ gap so you can put your elastic in!

Step 5:
Take your safety pin or paper clip and attach it to one end of your elastic.  This step is important – it will make the next step much easier!  If you want to be extra helpful to yourself, you can actually put a safety pin on both ends of the elastic (we didn’t do this, but wish we would have when we accidentally lost the other end inside the sheet – UGH. Took forever to get it back out with no safety pin on it!!

Step 6:
Stick your safety pin in the open gap and begin stringing it through the casing you’ve made.  This step is the most tedious and will take some time.  Just push that safety pin through, bunching up the fabric, then pushing it back.  You’ll get it through!

Step 7:
Once you have your elastic all the way through, safety pin the two ends of the elastic together (this will help you not lose the ends and keep them together).  Then, use your hands to make the bunching around the entire sheet more even.  It might help to even shake it out a little (but I recommend holding on to the safety pin if you do:).

Step 8:
Take of the safety pin, overlap your elastic, and sew it together.  Sew it up and down 3-4 times for some extra reinforcement!

Step 9:
Sew the opening shut.

Step 10:
You just made a fitted crib sheet – go put it on a mattress and feel proud!

 

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