Crib Bedding

I finished the crib bedding today.  Yeehaw!  (I just moved into a rural area so I've got to get used to speaking like the natives, right?)  The crib sheet and skirt are all done and even placed in the crib.  Maybe that shouldn't make me overly proud, but I'll take any accomplishment I can get when I'm as roundly pregnant as I am at the moment.

Picture from sewingreview.pattern.com

I'm extra pleased that they fit into my $0 budget for the nursery.  There's still more I want to make (curtain, diaper stacker, possibly cover a lampshade, etc.) but I'm happy to have the essentials done.  All he really needs is the sheet to sleep on so I'm doing well to also have the skirt done.

For the  bedding pattern I kind of merged the one I used for my daughter (Simplicity 3795) with the one from Amy Butler's book Little Stitches for Little Ones.  (follow the link and if you click on "First Pages" after you click on Look Inside! and continue clicking through you'll find a picture of the set.  Sorry, that's the best I can do for a picture)  From Amy Butler I used the basic measurements for the sheet and crib skirt sizes, as well as using panels rather than large pleats.  From the Simplicity pattern I used width measurements for the three different  fabrics to be used for the crib skirt.  I'm completely skipping out on the bumpers pads because 1) they were more trouble than they're worth last time around, 2) darling as they are, SIDS stats are increased with using them, and 3) my second daughter slept with her face pressed into her crib bumper and we ended up just taking it out of the crib, anyway.

The big challenge with the crib sheet was lack of yardage.  I wanted to use the print with larger animals but there simply wasn't enough yardage (or was it width?).  Instead of deciding which other fabric I wanted to use I just took the measurements for side panels straight from the book and made them from the coordinating yellow fabric.  I thought I was brilliant until I saw that there are companies selling crib sheets this way so parents can avoid putting bumpers in the crib.  Ah, well.

My big surprise came as I was deciding which fabric to use on the crib skirt.  The surprise was the choice to use the printed side of the blue fabric.  I'm not usually a fan of mixing lots of prints, but it just looked a whole lot better to use the printed side.  So I did.

See?  Much better.

The next problem (in my mind) was that I wanted a little more embellishment for the crib skirt.  To me that is the show piece of a bedding set, particularly when bumpers aren't being used.  But embellishment would mean I'd have to spend money.  Dang it.  I decided to bite the bullet and purchase some jumbo rick-rack when I got my little stroke of brilliance.  The darker yellow color I had from leftovers didn't have a lot of yardage, but you don't need a lot to make picots.  I love picots and knew they would make a great addition...especially without needing to purchase anything.

Someday I will learn to take good pictures that all have the same light.

Just a little embellishment can take a project from kinda-cute to darling.  I'm really a fan of the picot trim.  I also like that it feels bolder and more masculine than rick-rack.  But that's just me.  I hated myself for choosing to make picots while I was in the process of cutting, pressing and sewing them.  However, as is my usual, once I got them on the crib skirt I was happy I'd done it.

Finished product being stepped on by daughter #2, aka The Pink Blur

Once I put the crib skirt on the I realized that most of the picots are covered by the bar across the bottom.  Bother.  One would think I might have planned for that.  I blame pregnant brain.  At least it should fix itself when we drop the mattress down to the next height.

I'll clean out under there before baby is born...maybe.

If I feel really ambitious I could make little animals to attach to the crib rails in place of the flowers on the pattern I used before.  I certainly remember making all those flowers.  Oh, so very many flowers.  I think making those was enough to give me arthritis all by itself.  But they were charming and I wasn't sorry.

Overall, this project isn't as scary or irritating when the bumpers are left out.  I highly recommend skipping them for the sake of your sanity.  I have other pictures and things to use for a tutorial if anyone is interested.