Pepper Design Blog

Project Nursery: Creative Clothing Art

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

We had a great weekend full of relaxing and fun. I am reminded on holidays such as this though of the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make each and every day for us. Kevin spent four years serving as a Marine and two of them while married. In fact, our first six months of marriage were spent apart because of a sudden deployment to Japan. I’m grateful that he was never in harms way and I am especially grateful for the servicemen that are. I commiserate with spouses and families that have to be away from a loved one for an extended period of time…

Back to what’s been going on over here decorating-wise: here’s a neat little project that I’ve been working on to create nursery art out of favorite gifts and keepsake clothing.

I have a few adorable outfits that are almost too cute to wear (almost) and when placed inside of a frame, make the perfect wall art.

To add a twist, the back of the frame is lined in a modern print – gives it a little something extra.

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Clothing Art

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Materials: shadow box or deep frame (mine is from Aaron Brothers – 40% off coupon!), fabric remnant, art to feature (clothing, handmade baby blanket, etc), map pins or sewing pins, glue

{1.} I found a square frame at Aaron Brothers that fit my little swim suit perfectly. It was built like a shadow box and deep enough to allow the suit to be pinned inside without coming too far out of the frame when mounted.

{2.} Fabric remnants or samples are great for a project just like this (I chose Gabriel in putty by Thibaut Designs). Measure your frame and cut out a square two inches wider on each side to allow for an extra large hem. 

{3.} Flip frame over and remove backing, cardboard, mat and glass. Line up cardboard insert directly over fabric cutout (make sure back of fabric is facing up). Save mat and glass for another project, set backing aside.

Using standard glue, line the edge of the cardboard with a thick line.

 {4.} Fold over each edge of fabric, gluing corners as you go. The geometric print on my fabric helped to make sure that my design was straight on the reverse side, you may want to flip over to confirm before gluing into place. Don’t worry if your adhesive doesn’t hold 100%, the next step will ensure the fabric doesn’t move.

{4.}  Press cardboard and fabric firmly into the back of your frame, the fit should be snug.

{5.} Press frame backing into place.

{6.} Using sewing or map pins (which can be found at office supply stores such as Staples), attach garment to fabric/cardboard combination. I cut my pins to about half their length to really conceal them within the bathing suit.

Pin various edges of the clothing so that the final piece is securely against the frame when hung up.

{7.} And that’s it – now you can hang or display!

This would look very neat as a collage of antique outfits (baptismal gowns, handmade baby caps, etc) over a dresser, or as cute, modern accessories (booties, hats, etc) lined up in a row of three down the wall.

It’s an easy, inexpensive way to display favorite baby items and gifts, and it’s a great way to personalize a nursery. I love this little bathing suit (a gift from my Aunt) and I love how it looks perched atop Liv’s bookcase!

Woah this is getting long. It’s about time I get some final room pics posted. More Project Nursery posts: handmade butterfly mobile, diy crib skirt, basket liners part 2, basket liners part 1, the great glider makeover, sewing the curtains part 1, part 2, part 3, nursery fabric board, curtain fabric selection, rocking horse find, new pendant light, new sconce lighting, vintage wall art addition, changing table makeover, nursery wall striping tutorial, painted animal project, the initial inspiration board and the before picture posts.

Project Nursery: Crib Skirt How-To

Here’s a quick and simple way to create a crib skirt.

And a closer look at just the skirt:

As you can see, it’s actually paneling rather than a sheet with a skirted edge. This makes it easy to create, install and update for raising and lowering the mattress as your child grows.

My initial inspiration was from Young House Love’s quick no-sew tutorial – so clever! I modified it to fit this project since my thicker, quilt-like fabric needed a real hem rather than a heat bonded version.

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DIY Crib Skirt

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Materials: fabric, matching thread, sewing machine, scissors, 1 strip sew-on velcro(or ‘aplix’, ‘hook & loop’), 1 strip sticky velcro (this velcro has a sticky side for stick-on application)

1. First up is measuring your crib and allowing for a one inch hem on either side. A standard crib is 30×54″, but all are a bit different so it’s best to measure yours firsthand (measure the height in the frame’s highest position). Don’t forget to just measure the actual mattress frame and not the wood frame.

Our crib is 28×52″ with a 13″ height to the floor, so I cut my longest panel of fabric to 54×15″ and the two side panels to 30×15″. No need for a back panel since the crib is pushed up against the wall.

2. Sew a quick 1″ hem on the edge of each panel. Now your fabric panels should be the correct size.

3. Using the sew-on velcro, cut 1-2″ strips and pin into place every 10 inches or so along one of the longest hems (now the top hem) of each panel. Use your machine to stitch down or hand stitch into place.

4. Cut similarly sized velcro pieces from the sticky velcro strip and add to the sewn velcro pieces.

5. Now it’s time to add your new panels to the empty metal crib frame.

This is where following the photos may get tricky! Here’s a detailed breakdown…

a. With the sticky velcro attached to the sewn on velcro (see the white paper? that’s the sticky side), slip your fabric panel between the wood crib frame and metal mattress frame.

b. Take off white sticky paper

c. Attach to outside of metal frame

d. Tada! here’s how it should look!

6. Repeat for the additional panels.

So easy!

7. Stick several additional velcro sections to the middle cage on the metal mattress (the part that the mattress sits on). This will allow you to move up the panels (using the velcro already sewn to the top hem) when you drop the mattress so that the fabric panels are always the perfect length.

Here’s the final bedding set:

Use any fabric for this project – bright, patterned, vibrant, custom, etc to add a splash of personality to any nursery! And don’t forget that if your chosen fabric is a simple cotton, you can do this entire project using hem tape for a no-sew option.

There’s plenty more where that came from…
More Project Nursery posts: basket liners part 2, basket liners part 1, the great glider makeover, sewing the curtains part 1, part 2, part 3, nursery fabric board, curtain fabric selection, rocking horse find, new pendant light, new sconce lighting, vintage wall art addition, changing table makeover, nursery wall striping tutorial, painted animal project, the initial inspiration board and the before picture posts.

Living Room Love: A Finished Mantel!

Remember when our living room fireplace looked something like this? the mantel was in need of a makeover.

One day I’d like to either knock down the brick to expose an original (fingers crossed) fireplace or fill in the brick with plaster to create a Spanish-style fireplace to match the house. Until then though, my first thought was to create a solid beam look by fitting a wooden box to the top of the current mantel. Kind of like the last image in this post.

So… I took my ideas and layout to my local hardware store that has a milling department and we created a mitered edge box that was just what I had in mind. But it came back looking like this.

And now, we’re finally back on track!

First up is staining. Since different types of wood will each have their own unique look with different types and colors of stain, I flipped the wood mantel over and tried out three different stains. The perfect shade? We chose the red mahogany in the center.

If our mantel had been cut from a softwood (uneven wood grain or blotchy patterns indicate that wood might be softwood), I would add a pre-stain wood conditioner to prevent an uneven covering (the conditioner seeps into the wood to create a consistent surface). Back when we were choosing materials originally, my carpenter friend recommended a vertical grain cut, this means that the growth rings run at 45 degrees and that the wood was quarter-sawn at the lumberyard – it increases the hardness by 20%, is a bit more expensive, but it looks beautiful.

Staining step-by-step:

1. Stir stain well.

2. With rubber gloves on, I used a brush (you can also use a sponge or old rag) to cover the bottom of the mantel. Applying stain to the bottom first means you don’t have to worry about dripping while the mantel is upside down! Or I should say the stain will still drip, but you’ll be covering it up when you stain the front – and cover it up quick, that dripping stain dries immediately. Next up is the top of the mantel and then finally the front, making sure to brush in one continuous movement in the same direction of the grain.

3. I then let the first coat of stain dry and reapplied several times.

4. It’s a good idea to apply a top coat of polyurethane to seal in the mantel (and off gasses) and to protect it from water rings from future vases, wine glasses, etc.

5. The entire mantel stayed outside for 3-4 days to prevent any off gassing in the house.

Here she is, all dressed for Easter! It makes such a difference in the room, I love it.

The extent of our Easter decorations this year is fresh flowers and beautiful hand blown eggs decorated by my Mom when she was my age.

What a neat gift to pass down through the generations, right?

My dad recently sent us this picture that he took of Liv when she was just two weeks old, he had it mounted on photo board – I love her little expression and her little scrunched forehead. So alert when she was so young!

And now the living room has a brand new look!

More living room posts: mantel progress, updating a fireplace mantel part 1, bookshelf styling tips, decorating in layers: stage 1, inspiration boards, picking the perfect couch, custom lampshade, coffee table-to-ottoman, and the‘before’ photos.