6.10.2012

Crib Skirt Tutorial

This afternoon I set to work making the crib skirt for Cobi’s nursery. I am so happy with the way it turned out, and the fabrics I chose! His nursery is going to be so bright, colorful, fun and beautiful. I wanted a nursery HE would love and I can already tell he loves all the color. Since we rent I knew I wanted color to compensate for white walls. His only white piece of furniture is his changing table; otherwise his dresser is navy and white and his crib is grey.
The green chevron crib skirt (with owls, of course!) accents the crib, and nursery, perfectly.
I put together a tutorial for the crib skirt, it was incredible easy. So even if your sewing skills aren’t very advanced, this is an easy and relatively fast tutorial. I used THIS tutorial for inspiration, but I didn’t follow it very closely.

1. I started my project with measuring. In the tutorial I was using, her measurements ended up being completely different than mine, which confused me since every mattress size is the same. I did the same as her, only extending the crib skirt to the sides, but not the back, of the crib. I measured the two sides and the front, and came up with 105” all around.
The height of the mattress support from the floor on my crib is 16.25”.


2. Secondly, I gathered all my supplies. This is what I used, but it can be modified depending on how you do your project:
1 yard of main fabric – I used Premier Prints Home Dec Chartreuse Chevron
1/6 yard of accent fabric – I used Urban Zoologie Owls in Blue/Green
One spool of thread – I used green from Joann Fabrics
Stick-on (no-sew) Velcro
Scissors
Measuring tape
Sewing machine
Iron
Fabri-Tac (if desired)
Rotary Cutter, Cutting mat & ruler



3. Measure your fabric carefully. For the main piece, I cut the fabric at 18” to allow for at least a ¾” hem on the top and bottom. As for the length, I did it in two pieces. Since the total width needed was 105” I would have to cut 52.5” pieces. However, my fabric ended up being 56” wide, so I figured there was no need to cut; I would have extra room for hems on the sides and a little extra leftover to go around the frame, which is totally alright.



4. Cut the fabric to the specifications you need. As a seasoned sew-ist, I know that incorrect measurements and not triple-checking your work can lead to costly and depressing results! I check a million times throughout the project just to be sure everything is being cut straight and at the right measurements.




5. After I cut all the pieces I needed, I ironed each piece. Now, you can do this beforehand (after washing your fabrics), however it’s easier for me to iron the smaller pieces individually. I then ironed down the ends (which will be the centers) of each 56”x18” piece of green chevron in a triangle to create the space for the accent fabric. Of course I made sure to triple-measure it to be sure each side was even and straight. I made my triangles 6.5” in. I ironed them down and pinned them as well.




6. Lay out the main fabrics and measure how big of a piece of accent fabric you will need to fill the space. I cut a 15”x18” piece, ironed it and pinned it to the green fabric. Optional: Oftentimes I have issues with bunching while sewing, so fabri-tac has become my best friend! I put down some glue along the edges of the triangle. If you don’t want to sew the triangle section at all, I’m sure it would be perfectly fine to glue it and not sew it as well.








7. I then sewed the top together so that there were no longer three separate pieces. In this step I also sewed along the triangle to attach the accent fabric to the main pieces.





8. Time for lots of ironing. I pinned ½” in at both ends of the skirt. This is another place I used my fabri-tac and it came in handy. For the top and bottom hems I measured to make sure that the final height would only be 16.25”. I really didn’t want the skirt to drag on the ground at all and with a straight-cut skirt like this one, it’s not as appeasing as if you make a gathered skirt. I ended up doing hems that were just over ¾” on both top and bottom. I pinned about every inch and used fabri-tac every couple inches, but first I ironed down the entire hem.



Optional step: I mitered my corners, but this is not necessary either.




9. Sewing time- sew along the top and bottom hems and the sides.




10. Add Velcro to crib and the backs of the skirt- AND DONE!!

I am so proud of my skirt and love how it turned out! It makes me excited to finish making the rest of the things for Cobi’s nursery. It’s going to look fantastic and be such a fun room. I hope he continues loving it as he grows older.

2 comments:

  1. It looks great! Sorry my measurements confused you; I do think that my crib/mattress is a different size. I actually had to order a special mattress to make sure it fit the crib!

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    1. Oh that's totally alright. I was measuring to doublecheck anyway. It all worked out and wasn't really extra work. Thanks for the inspiration!

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