Bed Rail Recover

Shortly after my oldest daughter's 2nd birthday, we moved her into her big girl bed. We bought the longest bed rail we could find - not just so she wouldn't roll out, but also to serve as a deterrent to getting out of bed. Don't get me wrong - she can still get in and out - but she knows when the rail goes up, it's sleepy time.

My problem came as a result of when the rail is down. Annelise's bed is so low that the rail doesn't hang straight down - it hangs at an angle where it hits the floor. So of course my daughter uses it as a ladder to climb into her bed. And after about 6 months of that kind of treatment, the top seam of the rail cover completely came undone. (She also kicks it before she falls asleep. I'm sure that had quite a bit to do with it, too.)

I found some white twill fabric at Hobby Lobby. I wanted a sturdy fabric that would hold up to Annelise, and possibly last long enough to use with Caroline in a few years. I thought about getting a coordinating color for her room, but went with plain white so it will go with Caroline's room later.

I laid out the fabric and traced the existing cover with the top seam at the fold of the twill. I cut the fabric about 1/2" outside the traced line. I thought about using velcro to fasten the bottom around the rail frame. But then I realized the zipper on the old cover was still in perfect shape. So I picked out the old zipper and reused it.

Here's a close-up of the new top corner. I started the side seam right where the frame started to curve down.

I also tried to solved the "ladder" issue. I gave Annelise a little window to put her foot in when climbing in. I cut out a 4"x6" hole on the inside and stitched bias tape around the raw edges.

And here's the new cover in place on Annelise's bed.

Here she is using the foot hole. Love that cheesy grin!!!

There she goes. Nap time!

And here is the reason I haven't A) posted lately, and B) had any time to make something to post about!

Our sweet little Caroline is 6 months old. She's crawling and pulling up to stand already (yikes!), and is completely a momma's girl. I'm thankful that she and her sister nap together most of the afternoon, but by the time I get them down for naps, I'm worn out from chasing them all morning. Whew! Together they keep me hopping.

I have lots of craft plans - a ton of things collected on Pinterest - I'm just looking for the time to get it done. One of the next things I'll be working on - Halloween costumes! I've completely sewn Annelise's first 2 costumes, but this year I'm going to combine some homemade items with store-bought things. Stay tuned...

Happy crafting,
Julie

Linking up here:
Sundae Scoop (I Heart Naptime)
Mop It Up Mondays (I Should Be Mopping the Floor )