Super Simple Crib Rail Teething Guard Tutorial

Pato and Mono are finally getting teeth, which means everything within reach is fair game for chewing. I came into their room one morning and found them going to town on the rails of their cribs. As I'm hoping the cribs will last for more kids and I don't relish the idea of them chewing on painted wood, I made these teething guards. This is my first tutorial so be kind! :) But feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Materials Needed

• 1/4 yd cute woven fabric of your choice (I used flannel)
• 1 pkg craft batting (see picture below)
• 1/4" wide elastic
• ~10 buttons
• Thread

1) Grab your measuring tape, pencil and paper. You need 4 measurements: the length of the rail you need to cover (A), the distance around the rail (B), the distance between the slats, from the middle of one gap to the middle of the next gap (C), and the distance from the end of the rail to the middle of the first gap (D).

 2) Next, you'll cut your fabric. Most fabric won't be wide enough to cut a single strip for the full length of the crib so you'll have to sew 2 pieces together. Don't forget to add the seam allowance (SA). So for example: my crib rail is 52", my fabric is 30" wide, and my rail is 3.75" around. You'll use a 1/4" SA. So I cut two 4.25" x 30" strips, then cut the second one down to 23" long (added in the SA for the edges and the one piecing seam in the middle). Make sense? 

 3) Place your two strips of fabric right sides together and stitch the short end. Iron the seam flat.

 4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 with your batting.

 5) Place your fabric and batting right sides together and pin in place.

 6) Now we're going to mark the placement for the button loops. You will want a button in the first space, the last space, and every other space in between. Remember the measurements you took above? So first, take measurement D and add 1/4" for the SA (for me, 1 1/2"). Measure from the left side of your strip and mark with a pen. Then repeat this step on the right side. Last, using measurement C x2 (because we're going every other gap, remember?), mark along the entire length of fabric, as shown below.

7) Cut your elastic into 2" pieces, 1 for each mark you made.

8) Time to put it all together! Starting on the side with the marks for the elastic loops, sew a locking stitch. Take a piece of elastic and make a loop. Holding the 2 ends together, slip the loop between the fabric and the batting (see below) until the ends of the elastic are in line with the edge of the fabric. You can hold it in place with your left hand while you continue stitching. Stop about 2" above each mark to slip in the next loop. You can mark where you need to stop by placing pins there if you tend to get on a roll and forget to stop. NOTE: if you're a novice, you can slip the loops in before you start sewing and pin them in place. I hate pinning so I didn't do this. :) 

9) Once you're done sewing the side with the elastic, turn and sew the short end and the other long side. Leave the other short end open for turning. Turn the whole thing right side out. 

10) Use a chopstick to push the corners out.

11) Turn the open end under 1/4" and iron flat.

12) Sew the end closed.

13) Iron the whole piece flat.

14) Last step! Hand stitch each button on directly across from each loop. I went through each button 5 times to make sure the buttons were extra secure. No choking hazard here!

And tada! That's all there is to it. Thanks for following along! Let me know how it works out for you.

Cheers,