Zip It Up!

Last week I had the awesome challenge privilege to help my neighbor sew a pillow and pillow case with zipper. It was my second zipper. EVER. And I have to admit that I was a bit nervous terrified that I would disappoint my sweet friend with my total lack of zipper skills. She was pleased with the outcome, which gave me the confidence I needed to complete the pillowcase for Sophia's room that has been waiting for oh, 14 months, to complete. TOTAL SLACKER. But in all fairness, I was intimidated by the zipper and didn't want to mess up the precious fabric I had left to match her crib bedding.

So I took the plunge. Because I only had a small amount of fabric left, I couldn't cut two pieces - even a seam allowance would cost too much! So I folded my material in half and determined I would sew along 3 sides, the longest side holding my precious zipper. I found the pictures from Make It, Love It to be INCREDIBLY helpful! Here are the steps that I want to make sure I NEVER forget:

1. Lay zipper on fabric and mark where it begins and ends.
2. On either end you will use a regular stitch and backstitch, since we will NOT be ripping those seams.
3. Baste stitch (longest straight stitch setting) the center section, since we will be ripping those.
4. Press seam open.
5. Lay zipper face down on the pressed seam on the WRONG side of the fabric. (This will ensure that the zipper is facing the right direction once you turn your fabric.)
6. Tape the zipper in place. (I've tried pins, but taping is PERFECT! Trust me.)
7. Topstitch the zipper. (Sewing on the right side of the fabric ensures a beautiful line for all to see.)
8. Start at the bottom of the zipper, and stitch up toward the actual pull of the zipper.
9. About 2" before you get to the pull, unzip the zipper past the point of where you paused stitching. (This will allow you to continue to stitch a straight line without running over the pull.)
10. Continue stitching until you get just above the end of the zipper teeth but you're still on the zipper fabric. Turn 90* and stitch just until you cross onto the other side of the zipper.
11. STOP!
12. Zip your zipper back up.
13. Go back to the bottom of the zipper, where you started before, but this time, stitch on the other side.
14. Now when it's time to pass the pull, you'll have to use your seam ripper so that you can actually unzip it.
15. Don't worry. Your zipper will stay in place from this point on. You've got your trusty tape AND you're almost done so that fabric will be cooperative.
16. Repeat step 8.

Evolution of a Pressboard Bookshelf

Here's another project I've been working on in Sophia's room. Her bedroom will likely be the best room of the house at this rate! I LOVE BOOKS (not as much as I love saving money, but pretty close). I have a few hundred stashed around the house. Have I read them all? No. Do I plan to? No. Do I love the way they make my house feel like a home? Absolutely.

Here's a before and current shot of the pressboard shelf I've had since I was in high school. I know, I should probably just chuck it, but there's still life in it. Plus, I don't really want to invest in a nice piece of furniture that is going to be LOVED ON BY A CHILD and covered with dents, dings, and broken pieces. I am firm believer that kids should be kids, which means that they must have SOME furniture in their room that is functional and disposable. (The antique rocker that belonged to my grandmother is to be treated with the utmost respect....but I know that at least one more dent will be added to it each year.)
                             
I also am a firm believer that children should have the freedom to live in organized chaos. After teaching for 4 years, I learned that no matter how I put the books on the shelves at the beginning of the day, they would look completely different within 8 hours. Keeping that in mind, I wanted to give Sophia the opportunity to store her books (facing any direction she pleased) in bins (so that I wouldn't lose my senses over books facing the wrong direction). I purchased the bins at Walmart for about $5 each. Then I used stencils from teaching to trace numbers onto Heat N Bond paper, which was then ironed onto fabric remnants from her bird mobile over the crib. In the near future, I'd like to line the back of the shelves with a darker fabric and possibly attach some moulding to the front! (I'd also like to put some pictures in my frames and attach little cloth flowers to her branches in the vase on the shelf, but that will have to wait.)

Dot Mobile

While I was pregnant, I found so many great nursery ideas on Pinterest. I fell in love with two mobiles - the bird and the dot. I knew the bird would be larger so that was slated to hang above the crib, but where to put the dot?

The answer to that question came when I decided on the size of my dots. I LOVE SAVING MONEY, so any cheap or FREE solution would be perfect. I decided to use circles cut with a 1" punch (I had previously purchased) from paint color cards (FREE). I took my striped crib fabric to walmart and got busy searching for color matches. Within a few minutes I had 4 cards of each color.

I punched as many dots as I could from each card and then stacked them back to back (since the reverse side of each color card was white). Then I laid the dots out in patterns to be sewn together with off-white thread. I must confess that I was actually working on this project the night before Sophia joined our family and that the project was finally finished (and hung) when she was a month old.

Stitching the dots together was a bit tricky because I didn't glue the pieces together. (I skipped the adhesive because it gunks up the needle and my trusty machine.) I stitched a few extra strands knowing that I'd mess up on at least one or two.

I tied the ends of each strand to a tiny wreath I found at the Dollar Store and suspended the mobile with fishing line. Sophia loves to watch the dots spin while I change her!

Total Time Spent - 3 hours
Total Cost - $1

 

Crib Bedding Complete

From Drop Box

Here's how my homemade patterns all came together...

Bumpers: After laying out my fabric, I determined the dimensions I would need to use for length (based on inside measurements from the crib itself) and height (based on comments I found online 11" is standard). I cut my striped fabric first and made 8 long panels 27" wide (which includes 1/4" seam allowances). Then I cut 16 strips 1" wide of red fabric I found as a remnant. I was unsuccessful at finding a match for the fabric, so I made do with the 3/4 yard I had. Finally, I cut 8 panels of the brown & white fabric.

Once all of the material was ironed, I stitched the striped panels to the red strips, then the red strips to the brown & white fabric.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Next, I attached ribbons for ties (22" long ribbon, folded in half and stitched folded inside the two right sides of fabric). I sewed the top and sides completly and about 20" in from the ends for the bottom to allow for easy insertion of the bumper pads. I purchased preformed bumper pads from Walmart.com and had them shipped for free to my local Walmart. Overall, the bumpers came out cheaper this way than purchasing them with a coupon at the local sewing store.(I apologize for the lack of photos, I got carried away and left my phone in the other room.)

Mattress Cover: Koala Baby has a WIDE range of colors and patterns to choose from. I went with Ecru in Jersey Knit. So SOFT!

Crib Skirt: I originally had a VERY simple tutorial that I PLANNED to follow, but then ran into some creative snags. First, I wanted to make a cover for the springs mattress support so that the springs wouldn't tear up the bottom of the crib mattress. After constructing that out of some extra outdoor fabric, I decided that I could velcro the crib skirts to that piece rather than velcro-ing directly to the crib mattress support. I figured that the skirts would help the outdoor fabric cover to stay in the right place. We'll see how well that works...

For the skirting, I added red strips to the bottom to match the red strips of fabric in the bumper pads. The hide the raw edge of the red strips, I used Heat & Bond. I wanted to use the same Heat & Bond to hide the raw edge of the yellow fabric, but Heat & Bond doesn't take kindly to heavy, outdoor fabric. Stitch Witchery worked marvelously instead! I then attached 1" pieces of velcro to the skirting. This way, the skirting can be shortened as the crib level is lowered.

Bird Mobile Tutorial

I found a great tutorial for fabric birds and made a fantastic mobile for the nursery! It took me about 2 hours total to make 9 birds.

Step 1. Download the pattern and cut! I love that the pattern uses folded over fabric - any reduction of sewing is great!

From Drop Box

Step 2. Sew body and belly fabrics wrong side out.

From Drop Box

Step 3. Pin and stitch the other side. I used a straight stitch with length 1 on the machine.

From Drop Box

Step 4. Lift the presser foot and continue sewing the beak.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Step 5. Turn right side out and stuff with polyfil.

From Drop Box

Step 6. Use ladder stitch to stitch the tail closed.

From Drop Box

Step 7. Hang the birds using fishing line! The fishing line is light enough that the heating and cooling vent can actually push enough air to spin the mobile (...hence the slightly blurry photo).

From Drop Box

Crib Bedding

I've been searching EVERYWHERE for crib bedding that doesn't look too babyish and have had a terrible time of locating some inspiration. For the last few months, I've been going to All About Fabrics on their once-a-month open-to-the-public sale. This time around I found some fabrics that I absolutely love. (And of course, following Lauren fashion, I purchased them ----- even if they didn't match the room, the fabric is a great price!) Luckily, these matched the room perfectly. I know that you're thinking I should bring paint swatches and carpet samples with me. BUT you can't account for the lighting aspect that CHANGES EVERYTHING. So when I can get my fabrics for $3.50-$4.50 a POUND, I just go ahead and buy what I love! Here's what I'm working on so far.

From Drop Box

A good friend helped me to find fabric patterns that matched well. (I couldn't have done it without her ---- Thanks E!) I've also chosen not to use a pattern. The sewing patterns I purchased cramp my style! So I spent some quality time with paper, pen, and a measuring tape to identify my finished sizes. Then I added in 1/4" seam allowances. For the crib skirt, I am following the basic idea of this no-sew video, except that I will be hemming my skirt. I will also be attaching it to a base fabric that will cover the springs on my crib mattress support rails. (I read on Baby Gizmo that the springs are great, but that they tend to destroy mattresses over time.) As a solution, I grabbed some heavy outdoor fabric and cut a piece that I could use to lay over the springs. This cover will be attached to the frame with velcro so it can easily be replaced, but remains secure when I am changing the mattress bedding. I will then attach the skirt pieces to the cover with velcro and be able to move the skirt pieces up over time as the mattress support is lowered. So far, I've got all my pieces cut. Next I'll be pinning and stitching! I ordered some baby bumper filler and found the best price on Walmart.com with free shipping site-to-store.

Getting Crafty - Closet Dividers

Tonight as I flipped through the pages of my latest American Baby magazine, I came upon quite the inspiring piece...or should I say pieces! I love organizing and closet dividers for the nursery are right up my alley. The featured ones by OreOriginals.com were $12 for five-too pricey for my taste! Good news is that they looked easier than pie to make.

Step 1. Create template on Publisher and print on cardstock.
Step 2. Cut out template and glue to a 12x12" scrapbook page.

From Drop Box

Step 3. Cut out glued templates.

From Drop Box

Step 4. Turn over and repeat.

From Drop Box

Step 5. Label and laminate.

From Drop Box

Steps 1-4 took me a total of 15 minutes. Some of the tricky parts are selecting a paper with a good pattern that can easily be rotated, small scissors work better than large, and a label maker would come in handy.

Nursery Update - Evolution of a Dresser

We have been busy cleaning out the bedroom that will soon transform into Miss S's nursery. We chose Sherwin Williams Creme and painted 2.5 coats. Sadly, the color came out looking more cool than warm, but the cost of the paint outweighs our desire to repaint. We are simply going to work through the problem! I've spent the last few weekends looking for colors that would go well together, a task that is of utmost difficulty for me. We've decided on a garden theme with greens, purples, and pinks. Pinterest has also been a help in our search for design ideas.

Our first purchase was the dresser that we will repaint to use as a changing table. I love the height. The top 3 drawers are also double-deep, which will come in handy for storing lots of diapers. We found the dresser at a consignment shop for $111. Brian has since stripped the piece, and we are waiting for our neighbor to help us even out the drawers (they are a bit tilted from age).

UPDATE: August 2012
We're still working on the nursery :) Sophia surprised us almost a month early, so give us a break! Here's a shot of the changing table now. We ended up using the original hardware because it looked fabulous with the Sage Milkpaint and Brown Glaze! (Note to self, when working with glaze, don't do it outside where the sun can warm the wood. It makes it so difficult for the glaze to spread smoothly and evenly.)

I really love the dot mobile I've got hanging from fishing line just above the changing area. I can give it a blow and it amuses Miss S almost the entire time I'm changing her.