Baby sheets:

I've been on the hunt for baby sheets for a while now -- ever since we bought M's mattress in January. The problem is, I could never find anything I liked. Well, nothing for what I wanted to pay, anyway. So, instead of driving myself crazy over what to do, I just decided to make them.

I had done a lot of research on chemical off-gassing from fabric so I knew I wanted to go the organic route. But have you ever priced yards of organic cotton? Pricey. Luckily, I found a few that were on sale and was able to use some coupons, so that helped bring the price down to something that made sense for our budget.

My fabric arrived on our doorstep on Friday, so this weekend, I picked up some elastic and got to work. It only took about an hour. Here's what I did:

I pre-washed my fabric to reduce shrinking and lightly ironed it to get any wrinkles out. Then I laid it out, measured, and cut it into a 45" x 69" rectangle. 

Then I cut an 8" x 8" square out of each corner (if you fold the fabric in half length-wise and do this, it's easier -- just make sure you don't cut the fold).

Then I pinned and sewed the cut corners together using an enclosed french seam to reinforce the corners and give it a nice, finished look.

After that, all that was left was to create a channel for the elastic. So, I made a 3/8" double-folded hem around the bottom, pressed it, and sewed as close to the edge as possible. Then I ran 2 yards of my 1/4" elastic through the channel I just made, sewed the ends of the elastic together using a zig-zag stitch for extra hold, and sewed up the small opening to completely enclose the elastic. That's it. Done.

We took the mattress out of its box (where it anxiously waits until moving day) and slipped it on to test the fit. It's perfect -- nice and taut. 

I found it surprisingly easy and can't wait to make the others! The prints are so cute, I can't wait to see them in the space. Have you ever tackled a crib sheet? Do you have a favorite source for organic cotton? My current faves are Fabricworm and Hawthorne Threads.