Pinspiration Sunday: DIY Adjustable Crib Bed Skirt

So here's a project I found on Pinterest from the blog  View Along the Way. I thought this was going to be ridiculously easy...and well it is...if you have proper tools and know what you're doing...that's not exactly me and I have this belly to contend with...

So I worked on my kitchen floor with the tools I had and the space I had to do it in. And it went something like this...

Supplies:

Fabric of your choice. As Kelly suggested I used a home decor 54" fabric and used about 2 yards

Measuring tools

Scissors

Fabric marker

Pins

Sewing Machine

Iron

Thread to match your fabric

**Be sure to wash, dry and iron your fabric first**

You'll need to measure your crib to get the exact dimensions you need for your project. Mine Measured 51.5 inches wide (across the front) X 27.5 inches deep X 17 inches high. Now Kelly suggested you add a one inch seam allowance and an additional 2 inches for the height. Therefore, I cutout 1 piece of fabric which measured 52.5 inches X 20 inches. TO make it easier on me I actually folded the fabric and measured with a yardstick 26.25 inches to get the length I needed. 

Next I worked on the 2 side panels. For this, I folded the fabric in half, ironed the fold and worked from there so I had less measuring and cutting. I measured, marked and cut to get 2 pieces that measured 28.5 inches X 20 inches.

This is the fold for the 2 side panels. Just cut along the fold and your pieces are done!

Now it's time to measure for those seams. Working with only a half inch on each side was torturous for my arthritis, but I did it. If I were to ever make something like this again I would allow more seam allowance. I measured and marked along the fabric 1/2 inch. Then I folded a section so the raw edge lined up with my marks and then I folded it over again and pinned. You can iron your edges, but I just went ahead a sewed it as they were.

Once all your edges are sewn it's time to attach Velcro if you have a spring bottom (if you have a fiberboard bottom you can just pin your skirt to that. For pics on a fiberboard bottom, check out Kelly's from View Along the Way). I took 5 pieces roughtly 4 inches long and sewed them as evenly as I could without actually measuring along the top of one of the longest panel (your front). I used 3 pieces on the side panels.

Now it's time to attach them! 

Once secured you can put your mattress on top. To find out how I made the crib sheet see my post HERE

All done with your awesome, one-of-a-kind crib skirt! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: DIY Crib Sheet

So after discovering we were having a baby girl the next thing we had to think about was the nursery. I searched on Pinterest for some bedding ideas and I found a beautiful set that was completely out of our budget. So then I decided to scour the site for DIY tutorials. Now, as I have stated before, I'm not a seamstress but I will try my hand at a project. This tutorial from Pretty Prudent was just up my alley. It's fairly quick and simple especially for a novice like me. So let's get to it. Here's how I made mine which was to fit a standard crib mattress:

Supplies:

at least 2 yards of fabric of your choice will work for a standard crib mattress--I actually bought 3 yards of a baby soft flannel fabric I figured I could make something extra with the leftovers

Thread to match fabric

one yard of elastic (I used 1/2" width and the originally tutorial called for 3/4")

Pins

Iron

washing machine

Start by washing and drying your fabric. This part I usually skip for projects but I really wanted to do this project correctly so I was sure not to skip this first step. This is in case fabric shrinks, you don't want that to happen after you've finished. Once it was dry I ironed the entire piece.

Next cut the fabric to 68 inches long. I used a standard fabric which was about 45" wide so I left that width. 

Then cut an 8 X 8 inch square out of each corner. (Apparently I forgot to take pictures of this, sorry guys). 

Turn the fabric so face side to face side and sew each one of the corners together with a straight stitch.

Next you are going to fold, pin, iron and sew a hem along all four sides with a straight stitch. If you place the pins like mine, you can sew right over them and then take them out later.

Now it's time to sew the elastic into the corners. Cut your yard of elastic into four equal sections which will be 9" long. You are going to pin your elastic to the under side of the crib sheet and stretch it from one end of the elastic to the other. I started by folding my elastic section in half and pinning that in the seam of that crib sheet corner. Then I stretched the elastic out from the corner to one end and pinned it wherever it ended on the crib sheet. Then did it to the other end. You'll have 3 pins holding the elastic, one on each end and one in the middle. The crib fabric will be loose between these pins. Next comes the sewing.

You will need to find which setting is used on your machine. My setting looked very different from the tutorial I followed. I used the stitch for the setting 05. Be sure yours is set correctly for your machine.

 As you sew you are going to pull and stretch the elastic tight across your fabric. Pull both from behind the pressure foot and in front of the machine. Sew the entire length of the elastic. Repeat these steps on the last 3 corners. Your finished corners should look something like this. The fabric will now be attached and gathered.

As you can see it took me awhile to get the hang of this stitch.

Once those corners are finished, so are you! Your crib sheet is ready to be placed on the mattress.

Now step back and enjoy your handy work (I know I did!).

Now I gotta get started on the bed skirt and bumper...wish me luck!

 I hope you guys liked this tutorial. Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!