When Maja learned to roll over from her back to her stomach, we felt that the Babynest wasn't the best sleeping option for her anymore. I still wanted her crib to feel as cuddly and cozy as it did with the babynest in it, and from that desire the braided crib bumper was born.
I had seen these all over Pinterest and really wanted to make one myself. So here is how I made it if you've been looking for a similar project.
I won't write that this is a "quick and easy" pattern even though I usually aim to share such. On the contrary, this is a rather tedious and patience-testing project, but the end result is something to be really proud of!
So even though this braided crib bumper may lead to some gray hairs, I can highly recommend making one! 😍
Queue a few episodes of your favorite podcasts and block off a few hours of alone time – you will not regret it afterwards!
Do you want the pattern as a PDF instead?
YOU NEED:
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Fabric. I used a woven fabric that can be torn instead of cut, but any fabric will work.
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Fibre filling, approx. 2-3kg.
HOW TO:
01. Measure the circumference of your crib.
02. First we will sew three very long "sausages". (Sorry for calling them sausages, I know it's kinda gross 🤪) You need one piece of fabric per sausage that is 22 cm wide and much longer than the circumference of the crib. You can join pieces of fabric together to get the length you need.
The reason you need to make them too long is because I haven't come up with a formula for how long the sausages need to be for different cribs. The length needed in the end also depends a lot on how much you fill them and how tightly you braid
(Reference: Our crib is 330 cm in circumference. I made my sausages 550 cm long. In the end, the sausages needed to be pretty much exactly 4 meters long.)
03. Fold the fabric along the long side and sew right sides together with a 1 cm (3/8") seam allowance as shown in the picture. I left two openings to make it easier to fill. Exactly where the openings are left doesn't really matter. Repeat for all three sausages.
04. Turn the sausages inside out through one of the openings. Pro tip: Press the seam allowances at all openings to make step 06 easier.
05. Fill with fibre filling. I used about 1 kg of filling per (550cm long) sausage.
06. Sew the middle openings together with invisible stitches (ladder stitches). NOTE! The ends should still be open.
07. Fold in approx. 1-2 cm of fabric at the end of each sausage. Sew two ends together like shown in the picture with invisible stitches .
08. Sew the third sausage in the middle of the joint between the first two sausages so that together they form a T. Sew with invisible stitches .
Tip: It is easier to sew if you first draw out exactly where the sausage will sit. Place it where it should sit and draw around with a friction pen.
09 . Braid. Try to make the braid as even as possible. It is a bit tricky at the beginning with such long sausages to braid, but it gets easier!
10. Place the long braid in your crib and mark how long it needs to be. Remember to mark all sausages.
11. Cut the sausages a few cm longer than the markings.
12. Fold in about 1-2 cm of fabric at the end of each sausage and first sew the two outermost sausages together in the same way you did in step 07. (It won't be your prettiest hand sewing, but that's okay! No one will notice, I promise! <3)
13. Then sew the last sausage in exactly the same way as you did in step 08. It is again easiest to first mark where it should sit with a friction pen.
Voila!
Good luck with your bumper project, and don't forget to tag me at @BySandramaria if you upload pictures on social media!
