Caring and loving parents try to decorate the child's room by any means to give it comfort, beauty and, of course, to please the little owner. They order a carriage bed for a girl, a car bed for a boy. They paint the walls in all the colors of the rainbow and sew curtains with images of their favorite cartoon characters. One way to furnish a nursery is to decorate the bed with a canopy. And the idea to sew a canopy on a crib with your own hands is worthy of applause!
A canopy over a crib is a great way to make your baby's sleep comfortable, safe and fabulous. The dimensions of the canopy for a crib depend one hundred percent on the age of the child. After allyou can decorate the bed with a cloth not only for a newborn, but also for an adult child. This accessory can be bought today in almost any children's store, but there is a risk of not fitting it into an existing interior. But there is good news - the Internet is replete with tips on how to sew a canopy on a crib with your own hands with photos and detailed instructions. Let's see how to do it in detail below.
Why is it needed?
A canopy is a canopy made of fabric over a child's bed, which, first of all, is needed in order to protect the baby from dust, insects, bright sunlight or light rays. For newborns, their functionality expands - the numerous folds of the canopy fabric are designed to hide from prying, often overly curious eyes. And, of course, we must not forget about the aesthetic function, beautiful canopies easily give the interior tenderness and airiness. Different sizes of the canopy for the crib allow you to play with the look of the decoration. To create different images, it is enough to choose different fabric options - tulle, organza, chiffon, cotton. The latter does an excellent job of protecting from the sun's rays.
The history of the canopy
Many years ago, a beautiful fabric cape was the privilege of the children of the padishahs and came to our culture from the East. The standard size of a canopy for a crib in Eastern countries is tens of meters of the most expensive silk and brocade. And even earlier, the prototype of the modern canopy was the skins of animals, which covered the temporary bed of primitivepeople to keep warm. And only when private rooms appeared, the need for a canopy as a means of protection disappeared completely, leaving itself an exclusively aesthetic function.
Advantages and disadvantages of canopies
Like every product, the canopy has its pros and cons. They are usually not critical, but forewarned is forearmed! So let's talk about them.
So, the advantages of the canopy:
- protects from drafts;
- protects against insects;
- protects from cold walls (however, this plus is possible only if the cape is made of dense fabric);
- newborn is not afraid of open space;
- creates a sense of security;
- protects from bright light.
Cons:
- collecting dust;
- needs regular washing;
- high price for expensive and natural fabrics;
- instability provokes an injury risk for a small canopy user.
Features of sewing a canopy for a child
As mentioned above, the size of the canopy for a crib will directly depend on the size of the crib and the age of the child. In addition, we must not forget what material the cape will be sewn from - fabric consumption is of great importance.
- You need to start sewing only after you have chosen the type of attachment and installed it above the bed. It can be a mobile mount in the forma special pin with a ring or hooks screwed into the ceiling. The dimensions of the canopy holder for a crib, as a rule, are from one to one and a half meters. But the older the child, the larger this size will be. Remember that you will need a lot of fabric, because it must cover the entire bed, and sometimes the entire space - from ceiling to floor. After sewing, the entire structure will need to be carefully pulled onto the canopy holder, forming beautiful folds.
- Determine the size of the canopy for the crib.
- The main rule when sewing is to decide on a pattern and prepare it correctly. Those who are familiar with the rules of sewing various products can work on the design on their own, resulting in an original and exclusive thing. For beginners in sewing, we recommend using ready-made patterns and repeating them exactly so as not to spoil the intended result.
- You can sew a cape on the bed both from a whole piece of fabric, and from several parts, sewing them together. The fabric is better to choose thin, flowing, soft.
- It is not recommended to use a heavy tape and any weighting elements as the processing of the edges of the fabric, it is better to overcast the edges of the fabric. But decorate the edge with a thin ribbon using a needle - why not? It looks neat and pretty.
What do you need to sew a canopy?
You will need:
- fabric;
- holder;
- satin ribbon;
- canopy pattern for a crib;
- sewing supplies;
- materials anddecor accessories.
It is more convenient to sew a canopy on a sewing machine, but if you have enough time and patience, you can sew it by hand.
In total, for a cape on a standard size crib, you need from 2.5 to 3 meters of fabric with a standard width of one and a half meters. The holder can be purchased at any children's store or made by yourself - thick wire, round nose pliers and strong hands will help you a lot with this. In order to decorate the upper part of the canopy, you cannot do without a wide strong ribbon - 3.5 meters if you do not form a bow, and plus 0.5 m if you want to decorate the cape with a beautiful bow. For additional decor, you can use fabric flowers, ruffles, sequins, beads - all this abounds in the needlework store.
Choosing fabric for the canopy
The canopy that you hang over the bed of a child or an adult must be sewn from the so-called "breathable" fabric. For sewing children's canopies, tulle and chiffon are most often used. Moreover, the dimensions of the canopy for a crib make it easy to form beautiful folds from these fabrics. In addition, they freely pass air even in the heat. Variants of fabrics for a canopy for a crib, sizes with photos and designs are widely presented on needlewomen forums.
If you are planning to install a bed in the sunny part of the apartment, it makes sense to choose a denser material, such as linen, satin or cotton. That's what the experts say. Some decideseveral tasks at once and sew two canopies - one of dense material for the cold season, and the second of light, breathable and transparent for hot days and nights.
You need to remember that whatever fabric you choose, it must be natural. No synthetics for canopies! It does not pass air well, can create a greenhouse effect and completely deprive the one whose bed it covers of a sound and he althy sleep.
As for the colors - they depend on the gender of the child, the interior of the nursery and the aesthetic preferences of the parents. General recommendations of designers are gentle pastel colors, preferably plain fabrics. Here you can use bright fabrics and accessories for decor.
Canopy Mount
Can be used as a canopy holder:
- hooks in the ceiling;
- special metal structures;
- metal holders;
- hula hoops;
- embroidery hoop;
- curtain rods.
Canopy in ten minutes
How to sew a canopy on a crib with your own hands step by step, we will consider below. For this you will need:
- large hoop (diameter at least 60 cm);
- 3 pairs of standard size curtains in tulle (length 300 cm, width 250 cm) or similar pieces of fabric;
- 5 meters of ribbon 3-5 cm wide;
- hook;
- needle and thread / sewing machine;
- drill, dowel and hook.
Let's start sewing.
- First you need to parsehoop by removing the protective mechanism - we will need it later.
- The next step is to fold the top edge of the curtains 5 cm and sew on a sewing machine. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can use regular needles. We do the same with all six curtains.
- We string the curtains on the hoop and fix them with a protective mechanism.
- Cut the tape into three identical pieces. Their length will depend on how low you want to hang the canopy.
- We fix the tape on the hoop every two curtains in the form of a loop.
- Connect all three loops together, tying them at the top point.
- Use a drill to make a hole in the ceiling and fix the hook.
- Hang the canopy on the hook.
Canopy decoration options
There are an incredible number of ways to make a fabric product not just useful, but refined, original, beautiful. Due to the different sizes of the canopy, different fittings are used on the crib - the more fabric, the heavier elements can be used for decor.
Dropping ribbons, braid, appliqués in the form of toys, wide frills, ruffles, lace - the decoration depends only on the imagination and the availability of resources. You can also combine the canopy with the now popular musical carousel, the baby will surely like this neighborhood.
If time and money allow you, make two canopies. Thus, you can "play" with their design, as well as change capes forbed depending on the time of year, and when you need to put them in order.
