Moses Basket Redo

My expectant daughter and her husband were gifted with a gently used Moses basket and a rocker frame, but the pink and white basket liner didn't suit, so she asked me to make a new liner fit for my soon-to-be grandson.

Moses basket

As shown in an earlier post, I ended up making my own two-sided quilted fabric, as nothing was modern enough for the young couple.  After partially disassembling the existing liner to make a pattern, it was time to be brave and cut into the new fabric.  I used freezer paper to make the pattern, ironed it on the fabric, and cut out both panels at the same time with my rotary cutter and ruler. 

First order of business was to form the slits for the basket handles and attach a binding.  The Kona charcoal fabric I made all the bias binding from was a nice weight, but it needed some beefing up to stand up to the wear and tear from the basket handles. 

A little strip of leftover batting tucked in helped give it some body. 

 

Those slit ends were tricky but I took my time and they came out just fine. 

A decorative "chicken feet" stitch dressed up the finished edge.  Next came stitching the panels together and then applying similar binding to the top edge of the liner. 

This time I used some Stitch Witchery to adhere the batting strip on the bias binding.  While I was messing with all the binding parts, my sister Kathy was making a pattern to cover the cushion for the basket, the basket bottom, and also an extra set of pieces for a secondary cushion I wanted.  It is so nice to have an able assistant in the sewing room!

She had fun writing instructions to me on the freezer paper pieces :)

Dry fit of the liner and bottom piece.  I trimmed the point off the liner ends before adding the binding around the top.  The Kona charcoal bottom piece was then sewn in, with more dry fitting once the cushion cover was made and tested for snugness.  I ended up having to stitch another time around the bottom for a better fit, so as not to leave a gap between the cushion and the side of the basket. 

The bottom/panel seam was finished with a double fold binding.  No one will ever see it, since it will be  underneath the baby against the basket, but I did a good job!

The cushion was a very thin one, and I still need to get a piece of waterproof fabric to slip in the removable cover, so I felt my grandson was in need of additional comfort.  

So I made a "futon" from multiple layers of leftover batting and matching liner fabric, quilting it together as I did for the liner.  I did a simple satin stitch around the edges of the futon.

The original cover had elastic inside the top binding, but my fit was good and I didn't think it was needed.  My goal was to have the liner all finished this past weekend, and I'm glad to say I met that goal. 

QC inspection prior to delivery...

Mini's Paw of Approval sealed the project, and it was delivered to the nursery.  My daughter and her hubby liked it too. Yay!