Blog

Nursery Progress: I sewed something!!

By Dawn Sailors In Crafty, Nursery

First of all, if you’re an avid sewer, you may not understand the excitement of this post. I am not an avid sewer. I have not operated a sewing machine since 8th grade Home Economics. And then under the supervision and tutelage of a seasoned pro.

So despite begging for a sewing machine for my birthday a few years ago, with promises of how I’d sew all the time and make all sorts of things, and save us all kinds of money on projects… this is the first time that has actually happened. Erhem.

But there’s a first time for everything! And yesterday on my day off, I finally made good on that promise. Despite being totally intimidated and not knowing what I was doing at all, I set up my sewing machine, looked up the manual online, found a few YouTube videos to reassure me, and tackled my fear. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony of a girl who isn’t afraid to use power tools being too scared to use a sewing machine for three years. It is what it is.)

But let’s back up a second. Before I actually broke out the sewing machine, I had come up with the notion that I could make my own crib skirt. I knew it would involve sewing, and that was part of what spurred me to tackle it. I had been looking for a semi-easy project to get my sewing feet wet. Something with straight lines, that no one would look too closely at, seemed like the perfect choice. So with a challenge in mind, I headed to JoAnne’s Fabric and picked out a bright citron colored fabric.

Next, I measured my crib and added two inches to each measurement to allow for a seam. And then there was no more procrastinating…

I ironed all the fabric, folded and pinned my seams, and got down to business.

Ok, it wasn’t quite that simple. I’m a little sad to admit that it took me way too long to actually get the machine threaded and running. Like more than an hour. :/  But once I figured it out, it was actually pretty simple. I did a few test runs on scrap fabric, and then dove in. Look, here’s proof!

Now this crib skirt won’t win any awards. I’m ok with that. If anyone is crawling on my nursery floor examining my uneven seams, they deserve to see my beginner skills on display, complete with wobbly seams and a few random threads sticking out here and there.

As for the actual project, all I did was sew three rectangular panels. Easy peasy. One for the front and one for each side (no one sees the back of the crib, so I didn’t worry about making a forth panel).

I’ve been looking for solutions to make an easy adjustable crib skirt this time around. I hated the way Vera’s crib skirt bunched up on the ground as soon as we had to lower her crib down. But I think this time I came up with the perfect solution! Our crib mattress sets on top of a rectangular piece of cardboard. It was a piece of the box the crib came in, and the directions recommended we keep it between the mattress and the metal spring thingy. So it’s always just been there. But now it actually serves a purpose! Once I had my panels ready, I just used tiny thumb tacks to tack the top of them onto the cardboard, under the mattress. Like so:

 

You’ll notice I also didn’t bother to hem the top of the panels, since no one will see those either. :) Laziness at it’s finest.

My plan is that when we are ready to lower the mattress, I’ll just take out the tacks, move the panels up so more of the fabric is hidden under the mattress, and re-tack them so they are nice and straight again. It will be perfect!

As for right now, here is how my homemade crib skirt looks all put together in the room:

 

I’m pretty proud of myself for tackling this project! I think it turned out really well. And for a total cost of less than $10 in fabric. Not too shabby! Doesn’t it look like a real crib skirt made by someone who actually knew what they were doing??

But back to the nursery, I know right now the room is looking a bit boy-ish with the blue walls, gray sheet, and green crib skirt, but I promise it will all come together in the end! I am waiting on a few special accessories and have a few more DIY projects to incorporate too. In fact, I finished another couple of projects yesterday that bring a lot more purple to the space and help tie everything together. Stay tuned for an update on that next week! Until then, have a great weekend!