Wanna take a little tour?

A friend of mine has the cutest little boy... who has the cutest room!  When they moved into a new house a little while ago I got to help out with a few of the details in this room-- so fun.  My friend happens to be an awesome photographer and snapped a few pictures of her son's room for me to share!

(my friend is not only great when it comes to photography-- but she's pretty crafty too-- check out that mobile she made-- isn't it so awesome?)

I offered my sewing assistance and used my tutorial on how to make your own fitted crib sheet to make up two different sheets in some fantastic fabric my friend purchased.  Loving the preppy prints!

The bedroom has a really fun layout-- there's a little nook off to one side that is just the right size for the crib.  My friend found these dark navy drapes at Ikea and put them up on the window (great for blocking out light during sleeping hours) and I suggested picking up a second pair to separate the space from the rest of the room.  It turns the area into a cozy tent-like sleeping space-- I love it!  I also thought the moravian star light I used in my bedroom would be perfect above the crib-- and it is!

A view of the other side of the room... loving the fun details...

I'm always a fan of keeping crib bedding simple-- instead of using crib skirts, bumper pads, and all the other "stuff"-- I like the way a fun and interesting crib sheet looks on its own.

Hope you enjoyed this little room tour!

DIY: Make your own fitted crib sheet

A while back I shared a project I finished up for Eme's room... remember operation granny glam?  Well I've had a few people ask how I made the fitted crib sheet for her room.  Instead of ineffectively attempting to describe the process in 100 word or less, drawing random diagrams on useless scraps of paper, and totally confusing many of my friends... I thought I'd do up another little tutorial for you all!

This project was born out of desperation.  After months of searching high and low for a cute crib sheet... and I mean really cute... I couldn't find anything I loved.  When that happens, I start to turn into my mom and say to myself... I can totally make it myself!  A total "Jan" moment.  As I mentioned before, I found a twin sheet set at Zellers in an awesome bold granny-ish floral pattern.  It's so fun.  I plan to use the pillow case and full size fitted sheet on her bed one day when she grows up, but I'm not really a fan of flat sheets for kids beds.  Instead of letting it go to waste... why not make something out of it?

Here's what you'll need to sew your own fitted crib sheet:

• fabric suitable for a sheet-- I had lots of leftover material after using the twin sized flat sheet (enough to make up a few throw pillows with the scraps) or two-ish yards of fabric (exact amounts will be determined by the size of your crib mattress)
• 5 feet of 3/8" elastic
• A large safety pin
• A sewing machine (obviously)

Now... what to do:

Step 1-- measure before you cut.

Most mattresses will be the same width and length... they may differ slightly in height.  It's time to pull out your tape measure (if you're at our house... pull out one of our many tape measures... we practically have one in every drawer) and figure out the dimensions of your mattress.

These were my measurements:

 width-- 28"

 length-- 52"

 height-- 5"

Step 2-- calculate.

Now that you have the measurements, it's time to figure out how big to cut the rectangle you'll need to construct the sheet!  Here's how to figure out the dimensions of the rectangle you'll need to cut...

Width of rectangle= width + height (x2) + 6 inches for seam allowance (you'll need about 3" per side)

Length of rectangle= length + height (x2) + 6 inches for seam allowance

Check out those mad math skills!  As my sister would say... I'm not as dumb as I look (love you Trish :)

So that means my rectangle needed to be 44" wide by 68" long.  Because I was cutting up a ready made sheet... I didn't need to worry about having enough material.  But if you plan on purchasing new fabric to make up your crib sheet you'll have to make sure the fabric will be WIDE enough.  Most quilting fabric comes 44" wide-- this would have worked for my mattress, but if yours is higher than mine you could run into trouble.  I would recommend using fabric that comes extra wide or cutting down a ready made sheet for your project.  If the width is close (like an inch close) you should still be okay.  I might incorporate a bit of the salvage edge into my rectangle to make it go a bit further.

Step 3-- cut it out!

Once you've cut out the rectangle, you'll need to cut a square out of each corner to turn your flat rectangle into a box with sides that fit your mattress!

The size of the box will once again depend on the height of your mattress.  Here's how to figure out the size:

Height of mattress + half of seam allowance-- this means that the size of my box was 5" + 3" = 8"

Now, cut a square out of each of the four corners of your rectangle.  When you're finished, your fabric should look something like this:

If it doesn't look like this... whoops.  Either you did something wrong or I'm a terrible tutor :)

Step 4-- sew your corners!

Fold together the two sides of the each corner's square-- right sides together.  If you have a serger (lucky you!) serge the sides together.  If you don't, stitch the sides together leaving a 3/8" seam allowance and then zig zag the crap out of the edge to prevent it from fraying or coming apart.  Once you've stitched together each corner you should have a box that will fit over the mattress!

Step 5-- hem it

Sheets often only have elastic at the corners-- I prefer the ones that have elastic all the way around the bottom so that it's a nice snug fit on the mattress!  If you like sleeping on wrinkly bunchy sheets (gross!)... don't follow my advice.  If you like sheets that stay put... read on :)

To add the elastic to the bottom of the sheet, I just make a slightly wider hem and insert the elastic.  To do this, you'll need to start by pulling out your iron.  Turn the edge under a 1/4" and iron it for a nice crisp edge.  Then turn the edge under a second time-- this time 1/2"-- and iron again (turning the edge under twice hides your raw edge-- no fraying allowed!!).  Then start stitching the turned under hem all the way around the bottom of the sheet.  Make sure your line of stitching is closer to the top than the bottom (see picture below) so that you're stitching through all layers of fabric.  This will hold the raw edge under and give you a nice wide case for the elastic.  Make sure you don't stitch ALL the way around... leave an open space to insert the elastic.

Step 6-- Elastic

It's time to make it stretchy.  I used 5' of elastic for my sheet.  I feel like it worked well-- like a glove baby.  To put the elastic in, attach the safety pin to one end of the elastic.  Then start pushing it through the hem you created around the perimeter of the sheet.  The bigger the pin-- the easier the task.  Once you have fished the elastic around the sheet, sew both ends together well-- you don't want it to come apart.  Then stitch up the remaining few inches of the hem and you're done!!

Clear as mud?  Probably :)  If anyone has any question, let me know!  I may or may not be able to help you.  And if you attempt this project-- let me know how it goes!!

DIY: Fixed Roman Shade

Alrighty folks... you asked for it, a tutorial on how to make your own fixed roman shade.  This may not be the right way to make them... but this is how I make them.  When I say "fixed"-- I mean that it cannot be raised up or down, opened or closed-- it's only function is to look pretty.  I had some extra black and white fabric (it's from here) kicking around my place and a free afternoon, so I decided to whip one up for the downstairs bathroom.

Here's what you need:

• Fabric of your choice for the front of the shade (aka-- pretty fabric)-- the amount of material needed depends on the size of your window-- a yard per shade was more than enough for mine.
• Fabric to line the curtain-- drapery lining works marvelously, and it's cheap ($3.00 a meter)
• velcro-- 1" wide-- I buy mine by the meter at Fabricland
• 2 lengths of 1/4" wooden dowels cut to that are cut slightly smaller than the width of your window
• 1 1x2 cut to the width of your window (used to mount the shade to the inside of your window)
• A couple of wood screws 
• Staples and a staple gun

Here's how to make it:

Step 1:  Measure the width of your window (most important measurement to get accurate!) and come up with a general measurement of how long you want the shade to be-- this will depend on how tall your windows are.  My shades take up approximately 1/3 of the window.

Step 2:  Cutting time.  Cut a rectangle that is as wide as your window and add 1 1/2" per side as a seam allowance (if you're using a solid fabric you can just add 3", but if you're working with a pattern, you'll want to center your rectangle on the part of the pattern you want to highlight and then add 1 1/2" on either side.  I don't use a specific formula for figuring out the length (it will depend on how you want your folds to look) so I just give it as much length as possible-- usually the full width of the material (usually around 54")  I generally have 12-16" left at the end.  Next cut the piece of drapery lining for the back of your roman shade.  Cut it the exact width of your window-- I cut mine 27" since my window is 27" wide.  It's rocket science I tell you...

Step 3:  Pull out your iron-- AKA your BFF (when you're sewing, that is).  Using your measuring tape as a guide, fold over 1/2" on either side of your fabric and iron it down.  Then lay your lining onto the wrong side of your material and fold either side over 1" on either side so that the sides of your fabric cover the edges of your lining.  Iron and pin it down so that it's not going anywhere.  Re-measure at several points along the length of your panel to make sure it is EXACTLY the right size.  Use a metal tape measure for this-- it works better.  If the shade is too small, it's going to look funny and if it's too big, it's not going to fit.  Now is the time to make sure you have it right.  Then, stitch down either side of the panel making sure that you are stitching through the lining-- this secures the lining to the pretty fabric and gives you a nice finished hem all in one step.

It will look something like this...  (well it should)

Step 4:  Velcro!  I use velcro to secure my roman shades to the windows.  This makes them easy to pull them off if you need to wash or replace them.  Here's what to do.  Fold over the top of your panel about 1/2" to 3/4" and iron it down.  Then fold over again 1 1/2" and iron again.  Then take the loop side (soft side) of your velcro, cut the piece to fit, and pin it onto the part you've just folded over.  Then stitch along either side of the velcro you've just pinned on.  Quick tip, I pin the velcro closer to the bottom folded edge rather than the top, so that when I stitch along the bottom I have a better chance of catching the folded edge tucked under the velcro in my seam.  Here are a couple of pictures:

Fold over once...

Fold over twice.  Don't forget to iron!!

Pin on the loop side (it's the soft side) of your velcro.

Once it's stitched along either side, it will look something like this from the front.

Step 5:  Make the folds.  Like I mentioned before, I like to have my shades take up the top third of my window.  I make the top fold (or pleat) the longest-- on this shade it was approximately 10".  Pin it.  Pin it good.

Step 6:  Tack it.  I've opted to tack my folds together on my shades.  Once the fold is pinned together, I tack it together about 2" up from the bottom of the fold every few inches along the width of the shade. This holds the fold together nicely, and it's more subtle than straight stitching all the way across.

I have no idea what this is actually called-- but I call it a tack stitch.  Basically-- I set my machine up to do a wide zig zag stitch and then set the length to zero.  Instead of sewing a seam, my machine sews the same stitch over and over again in place.  It looks something like this.

Step 7:  Sew a hidden pocket for the first length of dowelling.  To help the shade hold it's shape, I hide a piece of dowelling at the top and at the bottom.  The first piece of dowelling has it's own hidden pocket to keep it in place.  Once the first fold is tacked into place, I flip the shade over and then pin right sides together to create a pocket for the dowelling.  Sew together with a straight stitch-- make sure the pocket is wide enough to fit the dowelling.

Step 8:  Create the rest of your folds.  I made the next two folds 2" long (2" from the bottom of the previous fold to the bottom of the fold you are now creating).  Just pin and tack them in place like the first one.  For these folds I've tacked them just underneath the previous fold so that the stitches are hidden.

Step 9:  Hem the bottom.  Once you've figured out how much of a hem you would like to see at the bottom of your shade, pin it in place.  Straight stitch across the bottom.

Step 10:  Create pocket for the second piece of dowelling.  Once the bottom seam is in place, flip the shade over.  Cut off the excess material leaving a 1 1/2" allowance.  Turn over the edge 1/2", press, and pin.  Then straight stitch across.  This will finish the edge and a create a hidden pocket for the second piece of dowelling.  Putting a piece of dowelling at the bottom gives the shade weight-- this allows it hang nicely and keep its shape.

Step 11:  Install.  Mount a piece of 1x2 (cut the width of your window) to the top of your window frame with screws.  Staple the hook side of the velcro (scratchy side) to the wood.  (I get Doug to do this part for me :)

And finally... attach the shade!!  ('m waiting for Doug to put up the wood/velcro piece in the downstairs bathroom, so I put up the finished product in my upstairs bathroom to take a quick picture)

Clear as mud?

Happy sewing everyone!  If anyone decides to attempt this project, please send me a picture!  I would love to see what you all create!