Whatever you call it (porta crib, playpen, playard, pack n play, portable baby jail) and however you use it (travel crib, baby containment unit, toy storage), you know it gets dirty. I notice, especially when traveling, that the fabric doesn’t seem that comfy for baby either. When Scarlet was just 12 weeks old we took her cross-country to visit family and she slept in an old travel crib dug up from someone’s garage. The only thing we had to cover the dirty bottom of it was a big fluffy blanket that didn’t seem safe for such a young one, so of course I didn’t sleep the whole week worrying she was going to suffocate. Never again! pack n play sheets for these aren’t readily available, so I thought I’d show you how to make a play yard pack n play sheet. I think it’s super simple, let me know if you give it a try.
DIY pack n play sheet Tutorial
Thispack n play sheetfits my Combi Jazz Play Yard “mattress” which is pretty standard and measures 36″ X 26.5″ (they’re all around 30″x40″), but the pack n play sheet is forgiving so if yours is within the general ballpark this pack n play sheet should work fine.
- Wash, dry and cut your fabric. Add 7 inches to the length and to the width of your mattress, so i cut a piece of fabric 43″ X 33.5″. And a piece of 3/4″ elastic 60″
- Fold it in half lengthwise and then widthwise so it looks like this:On the outside corner, the one with no folds, cut a 3.5″ square through all the layers.
Your item now looks like this:
- Line up the cut edges at one corner and sew them together with right sides facing:
- Along the bottom of your pack n play sheet, fold the fabric 1/4″ to the inside and iron, then 1″ and iron, and pin in place.
Starting next to a corner, sew all the way around with a straight stitch, leaving a hole and backstitching and the beginning and end.
- Thread your piece of 3/4″ elastic through the hole and all the way around. It helps to pin one side of it to an ironing board or some other surface and to use a safety pin to feed it through:
Pull it out and sew both sides together with a stretch stitch or a zig zag stitch.
Close the hole by sewing across the opening with a straight stitch.
You’re done!
It looks like this from the bottom:
And like this from the top:
Place your homemade playpenpack n play sheet on the mattress. Yay!