Tennis, Anyone?

Monogram momma has been most busy pulling mini monogram #2’s “big boy bedroom” together for him. This takes some time, as you can imagine. He’s been sleeping in his big black iron bed we bought him, complete with all his linens as well, but it’s all the other things I’ still pulling together. Oh you know, the artwork, chotchkies, bedskirts, window treatment, etc. So while I’m not ready to show off the finished product yet because, well, it just isn’t finished, I whipped up an uber preppy, non gender specific bed skirt that might just be the finishing touch you yourself are looking for.

Now don’t panic. Put away the brown paper bag you are hyperventilating into. This little home décor project is for both sewers and non sewers alike. If Sandra Lee could sew or craft (maybe she can? Who knows?) then really, this is something she would do in that semi-homemade way that she does. We are operating strictly off of shortcuts here so don’t worry. See? I told you not to panic.

You Will Need:
-dustruffle/bed skirt of your choice and size
-ribbon (I used 1” wide ribbon and used a little over an entire spool for a full sized bed skirt. Roughly 21 feet is what I ended up using)
-pins
-needle/thread, sewing machine, or fabric glue (read to make sure it will withhold a good run in the washing machine)

First things first. Before you work on any sewing project that will eventually require washing, it’s important to wash and dry it before getting started on your project. Why, you ask? Because you want to make sure it’s been pre-shrunk before getting started. Otherwise, there is a pretty good chance it won’t lay or fit right (this goes for clothing as well) because different materials wash and shrink differently. So once you’ve done that, I used my ironing board for my work surface in this instance.

Essentially, all you’re doing is pinning the ribbon along the entire base of the bed skirt. Now, I pinned my ribbon because I was going to run it up on my sewing machine. But if you’re using fabric glue, then you can probably glue it as you move along and skip the pinning part. Keeping up with me so far? Good. I told you this was a simple project!

So keep pinning the ribbon all the way around the base of the bed skirt until you get to the other end. Then it’s time to take it over to your machine and sew two seams (you can also hand stitch this too if you prefer). You want to sew the ribbon on each edge to ensure a nice clean look and help the ribbon to lay perfectly flat with no edges folding over. I hate to state the obvious, but do make sure your thread matches your ribbon perfectly so as to blend in without notice.

Once you’ve successfully fabric glued, hand or machine stitched the ribbon securely on the bedskirt, it’s time to move back over to the ironing board and really give it a nice clean press with a hot iron. Note that you’ll need to spend some extra time really getting a good press on the box pleats if you are working on a pleated skirt such as mine. When you’re done ironing, grab an extra set of hands to help you move the mattress and add it to your prefect preppy look. It’s SEW simple (ha!)!

I really love this simple ribbon embellished preppy dust ruffle. I think it’s perfectly age appropriate for mini #2’s “big boy bed” and will compliment his bedding to a “T”. What do you think? I love the timeless, clean look it provides and I also love that this would look great on any bed. Not just a toddlers bed. That pretty green stripe of ribbon against the bright white pleated bed skirt fabric makes me want to go throw on a Lacasote polo , a pair of monogrammed bloomers, and one of my old tennis skirts (HA! If only they even came CLOSE to still fitting, that is. *sigh*).

P.S. There is a link to the dust ruffle I bought under the "things you need" list. I found that Bed, Bath, & Beyond had a much better selection and better prices than Linens N Things. You can look at all the styles here though, as they've got some other really pretty and simple skirts that might fit your look better.