DIY Changing Pad Cover

As my less-than-clever title suggests, this is a story about a changing pad and it’s desire…umm, my desire…for it to be covered.   The existing plastic doesn’t scream warm and cozy to me and the thought of four little warm buns repeatedly being shocked by it’s chill at every diaper change is haunting and insensitive so I set out to change that.  When searching the web for a good tutorial on how to make my own cover, I came across this one at Prudent Baby.  It seemed like the one with the greatest detail for someone like me who’s a little freakish at the thought of sewing from scratch.  It was also the simplest I could find.  I followed the tutorial word-for-word for the most part (opting to not use two different fabrics), but made a few adjustments and added an extra couple of steps at the end to get the custom changing pad cover of my day dreams.  I’ll lay it all out for ya in case you’re in the market to give some baby buns a warm landing spot as well.  Oh, I forgot to mention the best part of this whole undertaking - you’re making a changing pad cover out of ONE piece of fabric!  No sewing lots of different pieces and sections together which can get overwhelming and way too involved, especially since if you’re making this, chances are you’ve got a babe or two (or three, four, five…) of your own that’s vying for attention too.

So, first things first – fabric.  You’ll need a little under a yard of 54” wide fabric, a 48 x 32 inch piece to be exact.  I used an 84” long, Target curtain panel I found at Dirt Cheap for $3.  I only used half so the plan is to make a spare cover with the other half lest one get stained with excrement…which we all know never happens…  Also, make sure you wash your fabric beforehand…unwashed might mean shrinkage later along with a few choice words.  Second, this tutorial is for a standard, contoured changing pad measuring 34” x 16”.  We own this one.  Third, this is what you’ll need:

To start, cut a 48” x 32” piece of fabric.  I used a plastic quilting square I picked up at JoAnn’s to get straight edges and perfect corners.

Once you have your 48” x 32” piece, fold it in half length-wise with the right sides facing each other and then in half width-wise.  Draw an 7.5” x 7.5” square on the corner where there are no folds.  (I followed Prudent Baby’s instructions and drew an 8” x 8” square however, now that the cover is finished, I’ve realized I could use an extra half inch at each corner, so next time I’m going with a 7.5 inch square.) 
Again, my quilting square comes in handy.

Next, cut out the square making sure you cut through all four layers of fabric.

When you unfold your fabric, it should now look like this:

Now, sew the two sides of each square cut-out together, making sure the right sides are facing each other.

After you’ve sewn your square sides together, you’re former piece o’ fabric will look like this:
Got it so far?  Good!  Let’s move on!

Next up, fold over the bottom, raw edge of your future cover one inch and iron it down. 

And then fold it over one inch again, ironing and pinning in place this time.
 
  The elastic will run through this seam. 

Once you’re done ironing and pinning, sew your hem, keeping as close to the folded side as you can and making sure to leave a couple of inches unhemmed where you’ll insert the elastic.  Also, make sure you backstitch at each end of your hem to make sure it doesn’t come undone!

Now, grab your elastic and cut a 52 inch piece.  (Prudent Baby instructs to cut a 36 inch piece, but I found that my cover was way too tight, pressing and pulling on the corners of my changing pad.  So, after a few indignant huffs and puffs, I pulled out my seam ripper and veered from her path.)   Thread it through your new hem by pinning one end to your cover and sticking a safety pin through the other end. 

Simply guide the safety pin end through your seam, sew the two elastic ends together, and stitch up the hole you left for the elastic.  (Never mind that mine is as crooked as Pisa’s tower.  It does the job.) 

(At this point, I thought I was done.  But after putting the cover over the pad, it was a little too loose and a lot too frumpy in some areas than I liked.  So, I customized it.)

Next, put your newly sewn cover over your pad inside-out and gather the loose fabric near the ends, pinning it in place right over the contoured edges like so:

Make sure you do this to both ends.

To make my life easier, I drew a line across my pins along which to sew. 

Take your cover back off and, while it’s still inside out, sew a straight stitch along the pin line, making sure to backstitch at each end.
(You can cut the excess fabric off with a pinking shears, but I found that it’s not at all noticeable after you put your cover on.)

After all is said and done, your cover should now look like this:

Now go ahead and change some diapers in style!
  

 

 

Whew!  Talk about a lot of pictures!  All in all, this project took me about an hour and a half to complete and that’s with correcting the inadequacies mentioned above.  I promise you it’s easier than it looks and much more budget-friendly (and way more chic) than buying a cover!  This cover cost me $5 to make - $2 for elastic and $3 for the curtain panel I used half of.  The twins’ bums will never again be subjected to a cold mat while I clean up their acts and I will be forever smug in the fact that I won’t have an ugly plastic pad ruining my decor vibe.

.           .           .

If you take on a changing pad of your own using this tutorial, let me know how it turns out!  I’d love to see your “buttiful” creations!  Ha!  Butt seriously, post pictures on Bean In Love’s facebook page or leave a link in the comments section below! 

Have a great weekend everyone!