More sewing

I have really enjoyed my latest projects. First one came about from our bedroom re-do. I have wanted to change our master color scheme for a while and stumbled upon some great deals that made that happen. More on that in a minute.

Anyway, one of the things to go was the old bedskirt, ratty around the edges from many many years of use. Fortunately bed skirts are never touched in the center, and instead of throwing it away I realized I had myself like three yards of nice white cotton.

I used the same concept as the other skirt I made the girls, except this is longer so she can 1) wear it longer and 2) not listen to me tell her to put her legs together and sit like a lady!.

And instead of a ribbon hem I used a fancy contrast stitch on my machine, happily chosen by Princess. I literally sat down and did the whole thing during Rosebud's nap one day; start to finish. Princess loves it and it seems to be the default thing to wear these days.

Don't ask my why she is sitting on top of the play kitchen. Oh well.


Next up was a project for the baby. I also used what I had on hand for this one, using scraps of coordinating material. Well, I guess I did pay $2 for batting. So nearly nothing.



I made a grab ball (pattern here) and it was really neat. Took a lot longer to sew all those little sections together than I estimated, but it was very satisfying to complete.

Here she is playing with it on her 7 month day ~sniff~

I even put 'crinkles' in a few sections. If you have ever used the Costco baby wipes you know that the blue package is very crinkly. Rosebud loves chewing on those. So I cut one up and inserted it before I sewed them shut.

Okay, the master bedroom.

I started thinking about changing things a while ago but I didn't know what to go with. The budget was, well, nothing. My energy for the project was...about nothing. But the white duvet (seen in this post) was getting baby/kids stained and I really just hated the lavender. I wanted to make it richer but not way girly. I started thinking about blue and brown.

I happened to be browsing the classifieds and someone was selling a Bed Bath and Beyond bedding set (minus the comforter) for $5.00 in the exact scheme I was wishing for. Five bucks for a set that retailed for $200. Brand new, just no comforter. So I got throw pillows, shams, a sheet set, valances and a custom made matching lamp shade for five dollars. I already like our down comforter so I figured I could make a duvet out of the flat sheet in the sheet set.

Three weeks ago I went to JCPenney because they recalled the bassinet I had used for the last three kids. I had just moved Rosebud out of it! Anyway, I wasn't sure how they would handle it but they returned it like it was new and handed me the full purchase price I paid in 2 0 0 2! Crazy stuff, but they said that was their policy. No argument here. Penney's rocks!!

I wasted no time in heading straight to the bedding and picking up a rich brown bed skirt and fancy ice blue sheets to match my $5 set. Now I had two flat sheets to work with - brown and blue. I sewed them together for a duvet!

The opening for the comforter to be inserted is a bit of a work in progress. Can't figure out how to do the closures the way I want to. But I like it so far.

Isn't it pretty? And I haven't even used all the other pieces yet!