Baby Nest Tutorial by Lorna

I keep seeing this oh-so-cool baby bed on Pinterest! My new little grandson is on the way and it seriously piqued my interest. So, I started looking at all the sites that had this fun little portable bed. Well, come to find out, it is a popular, must-have, in Sweden. That's right. Not here, but in Sweden so most of these sites are written in another language. Considering I am mostly Swedish it really had to be made! So I started trying to plug in these tutorials in
translation sites, but they didn't translate exactly right, so I tried to find anything that had an English tutorial. I found a few and I struggled through the tutorial, kind of making decisions based on my knowledge of sewing. I did and redid several of the steps, thinking all along that I needed to make my own, more explicit tutorial. So I did!

First off, you have to make your own pattern. I'm not a big fan of making my own patterns, although I've done it before. So, following the basic directions I made my pattern just a bit bigger than most of the patterns. They really varied quite a bit depending on the tutorial. And they are all done in cm which I just translated to inches. 

Here is the patterns I finally came up with.

The pattern on the very left is for the batting that inserts into the main body and serves as the floor batting. The center pattern is the top and bottom of the nest. The final pattern to the very right is what I used for the baby sheets as well as the waterproof layer after I cut the length down.

                                                                                                                                                              The final dimensions were 33 1/2 inches down the middle and I added another 7 3/4 inches for the bumper ends. Across horizontally was 27 1/4 inches. I cut it as a rectangle at first and used 2 different bowls as a guide for rounding the corners. The bumpers measured about 7 5/8 inches from side to side and I took that measurement all the way around, marking as I went so I could cut that portion out for the batting and the sheets, adding an inch as you need to stitch the batting, which is how I came up with the first pattern piece below.  

 

   So my daughter Ashley went and bought the fabric she wanted for this little bed and for her  newest little guy that is due so very soon.

 

Such pretty fabric and color combinations. The ladies at the store were all complimenting her on her fabric choices! It's all washed and (mostly) ironed and ready to go.

All of these supplies can be purchased at a fabric and craft store as well as amazon.

You will need:

* 3/4 yard for the top

* 3/4 yard for the bottom.

* Matching thread

* Cording

* Cord stop

* Extra fabric for bias tape or purchased 1" bias tape 

* Extra fabric for little sheets

* Water proof
flannel sheeting  

 

My daughter wanted little sheets to use so she bought fabric for those as well and I used the green for the bias tape. I also used water proof flannel sheeting to use as a barrier between the bed and the sheets.

So now to start the cutting process. You need a top and bottom for the main body of the bed. She wanted the stripes for the top and outside and grey for the inside. It was far easier to cut these pieces on the fold which I did for both.

 Using a 3/8 inch seam allowance, I then stitched them, right sides together, just around the end bumper, where I marked on the pattern for the stitching mark, which is about halfway to the corner and stopped, knotting my thread.  I attempted to iron the seams down like the other tutorials show, but that was a pain and it worked on some areas, and not so great on others.

Now to make the bias tape, which I always do, however you can always purchase this if you don't want to make it. I love making it because it is quick, less expensive and you can match whatever project you need it for, using whatever fabric you want.  I only used a 15" square piece (which I discovered wasn't completely square as you can see) of green fabric. I folded it in a triangle, cut it in half where the fold line is, and stitched it back together, short sides together. I then marked it 1 1/2 inches apart and drew lines with my pencil. With right sides facing, bring the edges together so that the top edge on one side matches the first marked line on the other side. Stitch those seams together.

It should look like this now, basically looking like a tube, stitched but having the markings matched. 

Now cut the fabric in one continuous cut.

Here is what you should have, one long continuous strip. Now I have a handy little gadget that I absolutely cannot get by without! This is a 1 inch bias tape maker. You can find this one here: Dritz bias tape maker. I bought this at my local fabric store but you can get them online as well.

You simply feed your material through and iron as you pull the device over the
material. I love this little guy!

Yeah! Bias tape in the color and fabric I want!

Time to sew this awesome tape on the fabric. As you can see from the finished picture at the beginning of the tutorial, it is sewn on top of the seam where the top and bottom come together of the bed. It starts about halfway around the curve on the inside of the bumper (where the markings are on the pattern I made) and goes all the way around to the other side.

                            Stitch on both sides of the tape as this is used for the cording. 

Tuck your ends under and stitch for a clean finish. Thread your cord through your bias
tape. Trying to do it later is very difficult, as I discovered!

Now to add the batting. Most tutorials call for batting or wadding, which is apparently what it's called in Sweden, but are very sketchy about how much and what size. 

So use this pattern piece below, cut out the pattern for the batting and then cut 5 layers of Warm & Natural batting.

After cutting I stitched the edges together. Stitching them together goes pretty well with a larger stitch length.

I slipped my stitched batting into the bed and pinned around the edges so that I could stitch it into my bed without the batting slipping around. I then stitched with an inch seam all the way around.

This is how it should look after stitching the batting into the bed. Trim the batting that is poking out of the ends all the way back inside so that you can finish the seams.

Now to make the batting that will go into the bumper. This was very confusing on the other tutorials. So what I did was measure all the way around the bed from the top seam where the bias tape is stitched. Then I cut that length of Warm & Natural batting in a rectangle. I then added loose batting and rolled the entire thing up and hand stitched it together.

So this is how it should look after you roll it and pin it together, a long tube of batting. I stuffed it pretty good.

After hand whip-stitching it, I pushed it into the empty bumper area as far as my arm could go and then put my hand and arm in the other side, grabbing the end and pulled it all the way through.

This is how it should look after you pull the batting roll all the way through the bumper. It wasn't as full as I wanted so I just pushed more batting into the batting roll since the ends were open. 

Now you have to close up the openings that you used to insert all the batting. I had enough of the bias tape and used it to finish the edges.

I stitched the edges together first, by hand, and then carefully placed the bias tape over the edges and stitched it on.

Here is your finished project!!

Here are the little sheets I made that fit over the little water proof pads in the bed. We figured that we would make sure that if baby boy has an accident, she isn't trying to wash the entire bed. I used the pattern I used for the flat batting and just cut it down to make little reversible sheets, using two pieces that are sewn right sides together and turned. I then top stitched them. They fit perfectly tucked just under the little bumpers.

You are done! And now there is a little bed that works in the middle of your own bed without fear of rolling on your precious little one or that can be used on the couch or travel with you. I love this idea and am so glad I could figure it out to make for my new little guy! Happy stitching!

Update pix!

This little man was born in late September, adding to this amazing boy household. He has two older twin brothers, who will be three this July. I adore these gorgeous little grandsons!