Valance

There was more fabric leftover from the crib bedding than I anticipated.  Woohoo; bonus valance!  I liked the crib skirt so well that I decided I would use the same design for a valance.  There were just a couple of modifications I wanted to make.

Finished valance

First off was making the valance shorter and wider to get the look I wanted in the window.  I kept the orange strip at the same length as the bed skirt.  The animal print and the blue both got a couple of inches knocked off.   Then I had to accommodate the window width.  It's just under 48 inches wide.  I also thought I'd try smaller picots.  I'm not sure which one I prefer, but it doesn't matter because it's already made.  :)

The other, bigger problem was what to do with the valance in terms of how to use it with the plastic valance that came with our blinds.  A curtain rod would either cut off view of the plastic valance or not fit underneath it. Then I remembered that the plastic valance is, in fact, made with plastic (brilliant, no?).  A little hot glue would stick the fabric on well and not cause damage when I'm ready to take it down. Double score!

Marking center on both plastic and fabric valances

Once I put it up on the window it was clear that I had overlooked one very important part: lining.  It was really noticeable when I put it up and the light was shining through the seam allowances.  There are plenty of them because I was using remnants as much as possible, rather than cutting into the larger bits of fabric.  I had no desire to take down what I'd already glued on and decided to just glue the lining on to the valance.  Besides, hand stitching it on would have taken more time than I was willing to spend.  That plan would have worked well if I hadn't run out of glue sticks.  I have two glue guns, a standard size and a mini size.  I was only able to find the mini gun and the standard sticks.  The rest is somewhere in the pile of packed boxes in the basement.  Of course.  I did find some self-stick Velcro strips and felt pretty clever for using that to attach the lining to the back.  At least, I felt clever until it became apparent that the adhesive was designed to be just strong enough to hold the Velcro in place until it can be stitched down, which I hadn't planned to do.  In the end I hand stitched the lining while watching TV.  Is it just me, or does it seem like all my best laid plans for this nursery keep falling through?

The Hubs holding up the valance because I'm not ready to snap it back in place just yet.  He's a good helper.

Sorry for the flash on the picture.  I just really wanted to get this posted.  The seams still show up on the orange when using a flash.  Interesting.  Anyhow, next up in the great nursery transformation is a bit more color. :)  I have the feeling I'm going to love this.