Embellishing a Bed Skirt

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I've been feeling a bit more like getting stuff done around here.  One of the things I did yesterday was to pull out all the crib bedding.  I'm really glad I did because I realized that two of my crib sheets are missing.  I'm really annoyed because I planned on reusing the nice Pottery Barn Kids ones I bought  for Bubba since they're gender neutral and I like the colors.  I can't think of where they would have gone!  I guess I'm going to have to pick up some new ones... probably pink ones.  :)  For now, I have the one green one I did find on the crib.

I also added the pink minky Boppy cover I found at Goodwill, the baby quilt my friend Gail made, Kelly's Ugly Doll, and the yellow crib skirt that also came from PBK... but I messed with that first.   Of course.

The first order of business, naturally, was to wash everything.  It's been put away for a couple of years.  After the crib skirt was dry I ironed it. HOLY MOLY was this thing a pain to iron!  I hate ironing anyway, but with all those little gathers it was just awful.

A few weeks ago I was looking for something in my craft room (I'm prone to losing stuff lately - so much for being organized!) when I came across this.  My friend Suzy travels to LA for work and likes to stop at the ribbon stores in the garment district.  She got a great deal on this pom pom trim and brought me back this huge spool.  I love pom pom trim, but I hate the price!  It's ridiculous what they charge for this stuff around here.

Anyway, when I came across this spool, I knew exactly what I'd be using it to embellish.  My crib skirt!  It was really easy too.  I'm a lazy seamstress, so I hate to pin things.  Not only does it take forever, I always end up scratching myself with the pins through my shirt and I'm allergic to the metal (nickel allergy) so I end up all itchy.  If I can avoid pinning, I do.  Here, no pins were needed!

First, you take the end of your trim and just fold over the last half inch or so.  If you have to cut off one of the pom poms, that's fine.  I just laid that folded under end along the edge of my skirt.  Be sure to backstitch so that it's secure.

How did I keep it straight?  Easy.  I just lined it up along the stitching for the hem that was already there.  The main thing to remember is to NOT stretch the trim.  That will lead to you having a puckered hem.  Just sew a few inches, pause to line up the next few inches, then sew some more.  If you're not sewing in a straight line, it won't matter at all as long as your thread matches your trim.  I couldn't see my stitches at all when I was done.  Just keep the trim pretty straight across the hem and it will be fine.

I didn't even measure or cut my trim.  I just unrolled it from the spool as I went, and when I got to the end of where I was sewing I cut it an inch or so from the end. No waste!

Stop sewing about an inch and a half from the end.  Fold that end under (again, cutting off the last pom pom if you need to) and sew it in place, again back stitching to secure.  This would work with regular ribbon too! It's a fun little detail to add that doesn't take much time at all.  Honestly, the hardest part of all this was ironing the skirt.

Once you're done embellishing the skirt you can put it on your crib, only to find the trim sits neatly behind the wooden edge.  WHOOPS!  Ah well.  You'll be able to see it once we lower it, right?