Save for Later

I just realized this is my first post about the nursery! I only briefly mentioned it in an earlier post. So let me bring you up to speed on where we are now and at the end I’ll do a final room post so you can see it altogether.

My vision for the nursery started with this image. I loved the combination of colors and that they weren’t too babyish. Kumquat’s nursery still has to function as a guest room so I didn’t want it too be covered in animals or trucks or bugs or anything like that. Those patterns are cute and fine and all, just not me. You can check out my Pinterest board to see how I’ve gone about pulling ideas together.

My goal is to do this room on a budget so I created a spreadsheet (yes, a spreadsheet with formulas) to track the projects I am working on myself. That way I can keep an eye on what I am spending for fabric and supplies for each thing. It’s way cool. And when I compare it with what I would have spent had I bought it outright….let’s just say I jump for joy. Who needs an entire crib bedding set anyway? And for $300+? Heck no.

To start at the beginning, the guest room had a full bed, headboard, bedside table, bookcase and desk. The bed was the only thing that stayed. The headboard went to Goodwill, the bookcase and desk went into the office for me and the bedside table is in limbo. We were incredibly blessed that the Ikea dresser and rocking chair were gifts as well as the crib. That was huge for our budget! We bought the mattress and cover ourselves.

Last Friday morning my sister, Jessica came over and spent some time with me rearranging and organizing the room and closet. She was a huge help because she has a good eye for organizing and we came up with a plan for the room layout that really works. It felt like wall to wall furniture before.

Oh, here are a few photos of James assembling the dresser and rocker.

Now that the room is in order, I am able to focus on sewing projects. Here is my list:

• Crib skirt
• Throw pillows (instead of a bumper, easy to remove)
• Footstool/pouf for the rocking chair
• Nursing Cover
• Reversible Sling
• Hamper – something that hangs since we don’t have a lot of floor space
• Quilt – small one
• Wall Art

I’ve already bought a majority of the supplies needed for these projects or have things on hand already that I’ll put to use in the room. Another way to save money!

I can mark one item off my list – the crib skirt! I actually shied away from working on this because I thought it would be the most labor intensive but it wasn’t. Oh my goodness, so easy!

I found the aqua chevron material at BabyBedding.com for $7.50 a yard and bought 3 yards. I bought that much thinking I was going with this one skirt tutorial, until I stumbled upon another that was much easier. You definitely need to check out the video tutorial from Sherry on Young House Love. I pretty much followed her instructions except I sewed my hems instead of using the hem tape. I also cheated a bit and did mini-skirts for the crib ends since there aren’t rails, it’s solid. I also only skirted one long side instead of both because the crib is pushed against the wall.

Start by measuring your crib to get the dimensions for your material. Add at least an inch for seam allowance on all sides. I originally thought I’d only do my skirt length to match the lowest mattress setting but then James made a good point. With my ‘cheats’ I have plenty of fabric to do the full length and it’ll provide coverage for the storage space under the bed.

Once you have your dimensions, cut your fabric to size. Press the seam allowances (I do a rolled hem) and stitch (or stick) in place. Instead of a hem along the top, I just did a zig zag stitch so the extra inch there would wrap over the metal base.You could also use a serger if you have one.

We placed about 6, 1-2″ pieces of velcro along the metal base and attached the long skirt. As the mattress is lowered over time, we just have to pull the crib skirt up under the mattress. I think the mattress would hold it in place fairly well but we can always add another row of velcro to secure it in place if needed.

Here you can see that the ends of the crib are solid so making a mini-skirt was James’ idea. The velcro on this piece is attached just an inch above the base on the inside. The two pieces for the ends were really only about 5″ tall. These will never have to move or change even if the mattress does.

And here you can see a finished side with the mattress in place. This same tutorial could be used if you wanted a fancier skirt too….a center pleat, ruffles, two tier….anything!

You can see all my pillow forms in this shot, waiting to be covered. I only registered for white crib sheets because I want all the pattern to be in the pillows and skirt and what I put on the wall. I’ll also add white curtains and use some of the extra chevron material to embellish the tops.

So of the 3 yards of chevron material I ordered, I probably used about a yard. Maybe a little over.

• Fabric used: ~$10
• Velcro: $6
• Total for an awesome crib skirt: $16

The time investment was a little over 2 hours, including installation which James helped with (my belly gets in the way). In my hunt for this fabric, I came across a lot of chevron skirts that ranged from $80 to $100. I’d say this DIY was worth it. I am also stoked that I have plenty of material left over to use in other areas of the room.

My instructions for this project are pretty rough so be sure to watch Sherry’s video for better guidelines. You can always email or comment here too if you want to attempt this and have questions. I am happy to help!

This got me really excited to do more sewing so I am looking forward to my next projects….a nursing cover and reversible sling. Coming soon!

Tags: Baby, budget, chevron, crib, DIY, nursery, pillows, skirt

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Baby, Decorating, Home, Sewing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.