Project Nursery- Ruffle Valance

Okay, I admit it, I was a bit of a slacker this last week.

So here it the tutorial I promised for last Friday :)

The window was really plain and sad without a curtain, so I decided to remedy that!

*I bought a curtain rod at Walmart

* and I used 46" of fabric

I wanted my finished curtain to be about 92"x 22". My window is only about 45" wide, but I wanted it to gather and be ruffly, so I double the length I needed.

So I took my 46"x44" piece of fabric, and cut it straight down the fold, giving me (2) 46"x22" pieces.

Then I sewed them together. Giving me (1) 92"x22" piece. 

Along the bottom of the valance, I folded over 1/4" and pressed it down.

Then I folded that 1/4 inch down another 1/4 inches and pressed it down as well.

Then I just straight stitched all the way along the bottom to finish the edge. 

I repeated this step along the top of the valance, and both sides as well.

Next, at the top of the valance, I folded down the finished edge 3", and pressed it flat. 

And sewed a straight stitch all the way across the top of the valance, close to the edge.

My curtain rod was about 1" in diameter, so then I moved up from my finished edge about 1.5" and sewed another straight line all the way across the top of the curtain. Making the casing that the rod will fit into. 

 Having that extra 1.5" across the top of the valance made a cute little ruffle!

Here is the finished product!

The nursery is just about finished and I can't wait to show you all the whole thing!

Happy Sewing!

Recovering

My little guy turned 5 this weekend!

and I am still recovering from the 3 day party!

Hopefully I will be back up to par soon...

but until then, here a little bit of what is new in the shop!

Hoo's in the Forest from Riley Blake Design arrived last week!

And the precuts are here too!

Fat Quarter Sets

5x5' Squares

&

10x10" Squares

Hopefully I will be back by the end of the week with another tutorial for

Project Nursery!

Project Nursery-Recovering Canvas Bins

My Changing table has 3 little cubbies, and it just so happened that I had 3 Cream Canvas Bins that I bought at Walmart years ago. 

I decided that cream bins in white cubbies might be a little BLAH!

So here is what I did!

1. I took the cover off the wire frame.  Luckily these covers are removable with velcro all around the top to hold it in place. 

2. Then I used my handy dandy seam ripper to take off the handles and the tag holder. (This is totally optional) I just didn't want to be able to see them through the fabric once the bin was covered. 

3.  Time to Measure & Start Cutting

I measured the canvas cover and came up with this:

Cut 1 Bottom

 1 Front, and 1 Back Piece

and 2 Side Pieces

 My measurements were rough estimates, and they worked out okay.  They were a little small, so you may want to really measure your bins well to make sure you are getting the right dimensions. 

4.  Next I sewed the Bottom Piece, to the Front and Back Pieces. I used 1/4" seam allowance. 

 5.  Then I sewed the 2 side pieces on. I just started with the front seam, moved along to the bottom seam, and then went back up the backside seam.  The corners are a little tricky, but not too bad :)

 6.Once the sides are on, I tried it on the bin. I put my canvas back on the wire frame and then just place my new cover over top. My covers were made with quilting weight cotton, so I wanted to keep the canvas cover to make it sturdier. 

My original plan was to sew it to the canvas cover, but then I realized that was WAY too much work :)

I simply folded down those raw edges along the entire top opening of the bin and glued them to the inside of the canvas liner. ( I used Modge Podge) They are not really washable, but I have had these bins for like 5 years and never needed to wash them before, so I figure I won't really have the need in the next 5 years either. :)

Aren't they cute?

As you can see, I have already filled them with the necessities.

 You can add handles, or embellishments if you want!

The completed Changing Corner

Now all I need is a little bum to change :)

6 Weeks To Go!

What's New

Well,

besides the new look of the blog...

We have gotten in some serious goodies this week!

Appleville by Suzanne Ultman for Robert Kaufman Fabrics

 I am not sure I can accurately describe how adorable the Appleville Scene is!

Also just in from Robert Kaufman Fabrics is

Just Dandy

and these two buddies are also restocked!

 We recieved our first ever Organic Cotton collection this week too!

The Good Life Collection

by Wooster and Prince

for Robert Kaufman

Exquisite!

 Lola's Posies from Riley Blake Designs is here too!

 All this fun fabric in one week...

it was almost more than I could handle :)

And next week is looking good too!

We are set to recieve

Hoo's in the Forest from Riley Blake Designs!



Are you as excited as I am!

There are still a few tweekings to be made here on the new look of the blog, so don't be weary if things keep a changing!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Under Construction

I have decided that it is time for a little makeover!

Not for me....well, I could use one too,

but this makeover is for the blog!

Over the next few days I will making a few changes to the appearance of the blog, and things may be a little bit of mess for awhile, so please bear with me.

Hopefully all the changes will be completed soon, and without any hiccups.

Thanks for your patience!

Project Nursery- Contoured Changing Pad Cover

I really wanted a pink minky cover for my changing table, but guess what....

totally hard to find one!

So I decided to take matters into my own hands, and make one!

I went to Joanns and used a coupon to get this minky fabric for only $5.99/yard.

I grabbed my old cover and started measuring.

Here is what I cut:

2 rectangles 17"x7" (for the sides)

1 rectangle 31"32" (for the main body)

Here are the 2 sides, 17"x7"

Because the pad is contoured, I needed to make a little arch in the end pieces.

I folded the pieces in half,

and measured in about 1.5" at the fold,

and snipped all the way across, making a slant to the end.

When you open it up, it looks like this!

Next,

I laid all my pieces out like this,

and centered the end pieces along the 31" sides of the main body piece.

Then I snipped the main body piece along the arch on the side piece to match.

Now, it was time to break out the pins.
(pins make sewing with minky A LOT easier)

Pin the side pieces to the main body piece, and curve the main body piece up around the ends of the side pieces. 

This way it will form the box look the cover needs.

Sew all the way around, and repeat on the other side.

Now it is time for the elastic, I used 1/4" inch because that is what I had.

You really could use any size you want.

To make the casing for the elastic,

I folded down about 1/2" of the raw edge...

and then folded that down again, another 1/2".

and then sewed right along the edge.

I didn't use pins for this part.  I just turned as I sewed.

It was tricky, and there were LOTS of puckers.

Don't worry about them though, you won't even notice them.

I sewed all the way around the cover and left about a 5" opening so I could feed the elastic through.

I pinned a very large safety pin the elastic and started feeding it through the casing.

I didn't measure the elastic before hand, I just guessed, and then once it was fed through I gently placed it over my changing pad to see how tight I needed it to be and trimmed it from there.

Then I sewed the two ends of the elastic together.

And sewed my 5" opening shut.

Ta dah!

It worked!

I have to tell you, I was actually pretty surprised. Sewing with Minky fabric isn't easy, and I was totally guessing on just about everything!

Here is what the underneath looked like.
Like I said, LOTS of puckers, but they are underneath and no one will ever see them!

Good luck on any project you are working on.

Hopefully this little tutorial makes sense!