Sunday, November 15, 2009

Baby Doll Bassinet TUTORIAL

'Tis the season. It's a giving season and I am in the spirit, so I decided that I will post this tutorial. Keep in mind, I have never posted a tutorial before. If something doesn't make sense or you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I will reply in the comments and fix the tutorial as best I can. Also, please link back to this post if you are posting your finished project so others can find the tutorial as well. And only use this tutorial for personal use...that would be the right thing to do. I would love to see your finished projects too, so leave links to yours in the comments. I hope they make lots of little girls happy! Enjoy!

Supplies:

You will need two coordinating fabrics. One for the outside and one for the lining. From each fabric you will need to cut-
14" x 5" for the hood
14" x 2" for each strap (2)
21" x 17" for the basket
18" (half a yard) of coordinating lace for the hood.
High loft quilter's batting

* All seam are 1/4 ".

First, I choose to quilt the batting onto the outside fabric to give it a more "moses basket" feel. This is obviously optional, and takes a significant amount of time, but I think it is definitely worth it. And it is easy, just time consuming. Cut your batting to fit each piece of outside fabric. Starting on one corner, sew on the diagonal across the fabric. Repeat sewing parallel stitches every inch. Once you make it across the fabric, rotate the fabric and repeat sewing one inch stitches perpendicular to the newly existing stitches. Do this for the straps and basket portions of fabric before you do anything else.

(These pictures are examples of what it looks like to quilt the fabric and batting, do not quilt the hood before reading the "hood" section first).

FOR THE HOOD:

Take the rectangular piece of fabric for the hood and fold in half. Grab a bowl or something with a curve to trace onto your fabric so you can cut a curve in the hood. It should go from the bottom corner to pretty close to the top. Cut hood. Then quilt 1 inch triangles on the outside fabric with batting. Line up the lace with raw curved edge. Pin. Lay lining fabric over, right side facing. Pin. Sew only the curved part of the hood. Remove pins, turn and press.

FOR THE STRAPS:

With the outside fabric quilted, lay lining fabric on top, right sides together. Pin. Sew along the long sides of straps. Repeat for second strap. Using a chopstick (or something like that) turn straps and press.

FOR THE BASKET:

Once you have the outside quilted cut 4" squares from each corner of both the lining and outside fabric. At this point, I got my girls names embroidered to the quilted fabric (just be sure to have it embroidered correctly so you don't end up with the name upside down- you'll know which way is "up" by reading ahead to next step).

Next, line up cut edges from each corner. Pin. Sew together. (Before you embroider, pin sides so you know where the name is going, then remove pins for the embroider). Pin and sew lining fabric as well.

You should now have one hood, two straps, outside basket and lining basket. You're getting close!

Next, find the center of the top of the outside basket and find the center of the hood. Line those two points up and pin the hood on the basket, upside down, so raw edges line up and matching fabrics are facing one another. Where the hood ends, right next to it, pin one side of the strap with right sides facing. Leave about 4" then pin the other side of the strap to basket with right sides facing. Repeat on the other side with other strap.

Finally, turn lining fabric inside out. Pin onto basket being sure to line up those 4" seams as best as possible. Starting at the bottom (not where the hood is) start sewing around basket. Leave about a 4" hole at the end to turn basket through. Turn basket. Because I am lazy and avoid hand sewing at all costs, I then pin the hole, press and sew a stitch around the entire basket part again being sure to catch and close the hole. Also, sew a stitch around the curved part of the hood to finish it off.

Lastly, I decided to sew "in the ditch" of those 4" seams on the corner so that the lining would stay put a little better. If my seams didn't line up perfectly, I pinned them so they were perfect (as possible) and sewed in the ditch of the outside fabric. It's okay if it's a little off on the inside since you can't see it very well, but it's important to keep the seam on the outside as hidden as possible. Does that make sense? You'll know what I mean when you get there and actually have your finished bassinet in hand...I hope. Let me know if this part isn't clear.

And viola! You are now the proud owner of a very cute, hand made, storable baby bassinet. Congratulations! I hope the little princess in you life loves it
Disclaimer: This is intended for dolls, not real babies. I shouldn't even have to write that, but we all know there are some not-so-smart people out there.

50 comments:

Powers Fam said...

The bassinet is super cute!!! I never thought about making my own quilted fabric before. Thanks for the tutorial.

Tasha said...

Thank you! You really are so nice to share it. I really hope to make this for my neice for her birthday. It is in february and I just cannot wait to make one. Yours turned out beautiful. Your girls are going to be thrilled this christmas season. You did a fabulous job with the tutorial! It is so detailed. Thank you!!

Layne Bushell said...

Gonna make these! Very cute indeed! If i'm going to make 2, can I get away with using 1 yard of each fabric? I just want to make sure. Actually I think I could do 2 FQ per fabric. Is that cutting it too close?

Thanks for sharing your ideas. You are a talent!

Cathy said...

Wow, Jamie, these are darling! Great job. Thanks for the tutorial, I would like to try my hand at this some day soon. Have you decided to post a tutorial for the tulle skirt? I keep checking back, hoping to find it!

Sara said...

I really love your baby bassinet. Thank you for posting a tutorial. You have so many great ideas and for those dummies like me it really helps. I like how the embroidered names gives it a personal touch for each girl.

Cathy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

So fun, now I'm going to have to make it, in multiples. I got your phone call the other day, sorry I forgot you call you back, we are headed out of town for thankgiving so let's get together after the weekend for the baby carrier.

Becky N. said...

Hi! I found you after I Googled how to sew a toy bassinet. Thank you for posting your tutorial! I wasn't sure how to go about making one for my daughter, but this is perfect! She'll be so excited!

Kari Sweeten said...

My sister showed me this tutorial today and I LOVE IT!! I'll be featuring on Ucreate!

Barbieann said...

very very cute. Thanks for the tutorial, I will look forward to making one for my grand-daughters!

Jennifer @ No Place Life Home said...

This is perfect! I can't wait to make one for my dd's birthday.

Chiemi said...

Oh my goodness how cute!! I wish I had found this before Christmas. This tutorial is definitely getting tucked away for next Christmas. Thank you!

Vickie E said...

very cute!!

Unknown said...

Saw your tutorial on UCreate, and I have to say, I LOVE it!! I'm going to make one for each of my daughters, and one for my niece. Thank you so much!

ificould said...

What a cute project! My sister and I have recently started a new blog featuring tutorials, recipes, and ideas from some of our favorite sites. We featured your tutorial for the baby bassinet... here's a link if you want to check it out: http://ificould-ificould.blogspot.com/2010/02/baby-bassinet.html. If you like what you see, please grab my button. If you follow this link http://ificould-ificould.blogspot.com/p/featured-sites.html it will take you to a page where you can grab a button saying you were featured on if i could...
Thanks for helping us get our blog started!!
Missy

Katie Lewis said...

This is lovely! Thank you for sharing!

Heather said...

Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing!! can't wait to make own for my daughter.

visit my blog for tons of free tutorials: http://callmecraftymomma.blogspot.com/

Aunt Suzi Quilts said...

This is so cute! Thanks for sharing this idea. I've been wanting to get one for my girls, but buying 3 would break the bank, so now I'll just make one. Thank you again. And I think I will just HAVE to follow you now.

Anonymous said...

This is so cute, my kids (even the boys!) would just love one like this.
thanks so much for the great project, and do drop by my blog as well, especially on Sundays (thru Tues) for an international blog linking party! @creativejewishmom.com
all the best! Sara

Holly in FL said...

Hello! I'm hoping to make two of these for twin girls in my church. I'm wondering if you can give me the dimensions on the bottom of the basket? I want to make sure this won't be too big for the dolls I'm making.

Thanks!
~Holly

Hannah {Bonne Nouvelle} said...

Thank you for sharing this! I have been looking all over the web to find a soft baby bed for my 2 year old to carry around. This is perfect! I pinned here. http://pinterest.com/pin/54395107968904614/
Anyhow, before I begin, I have a question. Is the fabric inside the bassinet loose at all? Would you recommend quilting that section too? or at least lining it with interfacing to make it a bit stiffer? Just wondering. I want this to last through washes and ware. Thanks! If you could leave a comment back on my blog, or email me, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!

Stephanie said...

I just made this today for my neice as a Christmas present and it came out so cute. I added a little pillow and blanket. Thank you so much for this tutorial!

Stitching Grandma said...

I made three of these for my triplet granddaughters! I used a stiff fleece for the bottom and handles and they had lots of oomph! The girls love, love, love them and they have held up through washes, dragging around, etc. I'd like to send you a picture I took, but don't know how to do that here. If you tell me I'll forward on the picture. Thank you so much for sharing! P.S. I also made matching quilts for their babies!

Unknown said...

Could anyone possibly tell me what size doll fits best in this? xx

SayKey said...

Thanks for sharing this. I have made two and my little girl just loves it.

Tracy - It fits our "baby stella" doll perfectly, but you could easily make the pieces larger for a bigger doll.

Lisa Barrios said...

Thank you so much for sharing!I will have to give it a try for my grandbaby.

Anna said...

Super cute baby doll bed.

Neonatal Intensive Care Equipments said...

Thanks for the information... I really love your blog posts... specially those on Anaesthesia machine

meggiecat said...

Thank you so much. The baby carrier is just what I was looking for.

Corrine said...

OMG i love this i need to make this for my niece she is obsessed with baby dolls

Alê Alê Artes said...

I loved it.
It seems so easy to do.
My daughter will love it too.

I invite you to meet my blog.
http://alealeartes.blogspot.com

Sherrie said...

Starting mine today. Making my grand daughter a quilt and the scraps will make her doll baby a perfect little matching basket. Thanks for the thorough directions!

Bernadette van Haaster said...

Thank you so much for sharing!I will have to give it a try for our granddaughter.
I invite you to see it on my blog.

http://poppenvrienden.blogspot.nl

Unknown said...

What size is this?

nesporado said...

What size doll does thiswork for, will it fit American Doll

Jayashree Muralidharan said...

Just awesome. I love it

Anonymous said...

This is the super cute bassinet and I never thought to make this my own.it's really admirable. Best Baby Bassinet Review

Scottish Granny said...

really liked this It turned out really well and fits Build a Bear. Got three more to make before Christmas! I missed out the quilting but added some heavy interfacing in the base to give it structure. Very quick and easy to make. I wish I was more computer literate so I could post a photo!

Unknown said...

Great tutorial! I am making cloth dolls for craft fairs and Operation Shoebox and these would be perfect. Thank you for posting this.









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Maria Lone said...

Greetings Jamie, I am a little more wordless thinking that in what way I can valued your amazing work. Needless to say babies' comfort is our prime concern and the bassinet is the integral part of the comfort surely. In fact, I was pretty busy with finding some good ideas even for buying decision on the google search. There are numerous content on that issue and already traveled some related site like https://wisemamma.com/best-baby-bassinet-guide/. But i wanted to get more ideas about the best bassinet to ensue my baby's highest comfort. So, I scrolled my mouse pointer and fortunately I caught sight of this wonderful blog site. I welcomed your first tutorial effort. This is definitely a qualitative homemade one I do believe after going through the whole procedures.The supplies and other essentials with steps you wrote down here are incredibly incomparable which inspiring me to take an effort by my own. Love it really dear.

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My Baby Need said...

Your blog is too informative about baby carry cot and nicely presents all the information with images. baby carry cot is a very popular thing for parents it helps to sleep kids safely and your post guides us to select the best product.

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Thanks for sharing this informative and useful article.
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Unknown said...

No doubt, it's very nice baby bassinet.