My DIY Crib Bedding

Attention professional sewers!!  Don't judge.  This was actually my very first time ever sitting down at a sewing machine.  I know - why did I think I could tackle something like crib bumpers and a 6 layered ruffle crib skirt if I'd never sewn before??  Because that's how I roll - I just kind of jump on these tasks and go with it (much to my husband's constant amusement...)  Anyhoo -

So I knew I couldn't tackle this without some guidance, especially given the fact that I don't own a sewing machine ;)  so I enlisted a sweet lady here in our hometown who sews for a living and has an in-home sewing studio.  She agreed to give me sewing lessons, during which time we would make Tessa's baby bedding.  So every Sunday (and some Saturday) afternoons, when the boys laid down for naps and daddy was occupied with his Playstation 3, I went to her studio for lessons.

First came the cutting.  Oh my goodness.  I would never have guessed how much time we would spend just simply cutting the fabric - bumper pieces, bumper ties, ruffles, cording....  we spent at least two afternoons just cutting the fabric into sections and strips.  My second surprise was the amount of ironing I would be doing.  Holy moly!  We pressed seam after seam.  Finally, on about my 2nd or 3rd lesson, I got to sit down at the sewing machine.  I'll admit, it was VERY intimidating at first.  I constantly felt like I was about to make a major boo boo.  I went VERY SLOWLY at first.  I think this is when my teacher probably realized just what a project she had taken on ;)  But after a few sessions, and more and more time in the hot seat, I did become more comfortable.

Eventually, the fabric started to actually form pieces that looked very similar to crib bedding -

A couple more sessions later  (and a lots of time stuffing 15" foam into an opening the size of my fist), we had our bumpers!

After the bumpers were finished, we tackled my favorite part of the whole bedding - the ruffled crib skirt.  Now although this is my favorite part of the bedding, this was my LEAST favorite part of sewing the bedding.  Whew!  Those ruffles wore me out!  The sewing, scrunching, pinning and sewing again.... by the end of those two days, I could have seriously done without seeing another ruffle for a WHILE.  After day one - our bed skirt looked like this -

Doesn't look like much, but after another day dedicated to ruffles, we had ourselves a crib skirt -

I couldn't wait to run home and put it on the crib, but the crib was disassembled until last weekend.  After Brandon got the room painted, we put the crib together, and put our girl's bedding on.  So here it is, my first ever sewing project, Tessa's hand-made crib bedding:

(excuse the poorly-tied bows - I had a few "helpers during this photo op)

Now I realize the bed would look better if it were in a girly antique white, but "you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit!"  So we'll just stick with the expresso colored crib just as it was when we bought it for the Willster :)    

There will be another nursery post eventually, when we get a little closer to the finish line.  I still have curtains and wall decor to finalize, but I wanted to share my project with you.  Be sure and let me know what you think :))