Monday, January 30, 2012

Use What I've Got #7-Velcro Bedskirt Tutorial

We updated the bedding in the MB in September.
It was a great deal at HomeGoods!
I LOVE Homegoods!
I love the comforter and the pillows....and so does "Dave"!
But the bed skirt that came in the "Bed in a Bag" was pretty cheap looking...

 The fabric was too lightweight....and for whatever reason....it just would not stay put!
The fabric that is supposed to stay between the mattress and the box spring was always hanging over and the skirt itself kept dragging on the floor!

Don't you just HATE when that happens....(like this is something to really stress about in the big scheme of things)
But since I can't cure cancer or stamp out world poverty....
I will have to be satisfied with the fact that I cured bed skirt droop!

My solution....Velcro.....and it is almost No-Sew!

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This will actually be a tutorial with pictures and everything!  Big Whoop for me!

And it meets the "Use what I've Got Challenge" criteria too!

 Let's start with the fabric....

I bought 7 yards of this heavy beige drapery fabric early this summer....

It was going to be the covers for the "summer couch look"....but alas it was not the right color....(I used sheets instead and here is the post about that)













 So when we needed a way to display the wedding photos at Tonia and Michael's wedding without using nails...we used the fabric to cover some foam core screens...



When the wedding was over....the fabric went back to the "stash"!





It was just waiting to become the solution to the "droopy bed skirt"!










I had 15 feet of iron on velcro that I bought using a coupon at Hancock Fabric....


I was ready to get this project going!










After our near "run in with the law" with the Library Chairs.....I have been dwelling on "going straight"...tee hee....


So.....



 Much of this tutorial will be tips on making it easy to sew perfectly straight edges on a project.


Whenever I have a big cutting project, I find myself crawling around on the sewing room floor....
that is because those blue and white floor tiles are exactly 12 inch squares....and they are perfect for laying out the fabric for cutting.






I did some quick measurements to determine the length of the 3 sides of the bed...and the drop I wanted for the skirt.

I cut 3 pieces of fabric...

20 inches deep x 7.5 feet

This gave me a nice deep 2 inch hem and 2 inches to lap over the box spring.


The length allowed for a 3 inch deep center pleat and a 3 inch pleat at the corner.

Then I cut 2 pieces of fabric that were 20 inches deep and 18 inches wide....to use at the 2 bottom corners...



I started by serging all the raw edges....leaving the selvage on the top length of each section....

Yeah...I know you are thinking...."Why did she use black thread for the serging?"

But if you have a serger you know the answer....
I didn't want to spend the 20 minutes it takes me to change thread in the serger.....
and I knew it wouldn't show anyway.....

Here is the next "going straight" tip:  I used the pressing template I taught you about in this post when I ironed the hems on each piece....
This made those long edges come out perfectly straight!








I used the templates to make the pleats too!







Since I knew I would be sewing long, long hems....
think 25 feet of hem....

I used this fancy piece of masking tape on the deck of the sewing machine as a guide....

I find this works better for me than the lines on the machine....



Now I had all the pieces done....ready for the bed....

Actually I was ready for bed....seriously....
I was trying to do this when I think I had the flu!

So part 2 of the project had to wait 'til the next day!






The carpenter's square sure came in handy!
Look how it helped me make sure the Velcro went straight along the box spring.






I was too cheap (thrifty) to use one long strip of Velcro....









I cut 6 inch pieces and spaced them along the sides.  I figure if it isn't enough I can add more later.  If it is enough....then I have lots of extra Velcro for another project.









I used the 18 inch corner pieces to make a faux box pleat on each corner







Probably the hardest part of the whole project was chasing the cat off the bed in order to wrestle with the gigantic mattress....all by my little lonesome....Since Mr. S was again away ice fishing...I was on my own....recovering from the flu.....oh poor me!

Anyway.... Here is the finished project!

I even have some left over fabric and some Velcro...
ideas anyone?

14 comments:

Grammy Goodwill said...

You did a great job. The bedskirt looks so nice. I esp like the pleats.

Anonymous said...

Great job! I need to remember this.

Jill Schrader said...

Love the velcro idea. It should be easier to get it on and off for washing in the future, too. Just lift the edge of the mattress a little bit!

Sweetwater Style said...

Yeah...I should have talked about the ease of washing it...that is if I don't make a new one before it gets dirty....you know me!

NanaDiana said...

I hate those slippy-slide-y bed skirts, too. Great idea about the Velcro. It is pretty!!! xo Diana

Lisa said...

Very nice and great idea! Now just figure out how to keep the bed skirt from getting covered in cat hair...I hate that!

Honey at 2805 said...

Thank you for sharing your lovely project and all the great tips at Potpourri Friday!

Kimberlee, The Spunky Diva said...

That is a fabulous bedskirt idea!!!! Love the velcro! Would love to have you come link-up at Finished it Friday! Have a fabulous weekend!
~Kimberlee, The Spunky Diva

Maury @ Life on Mars said...

Holy cow! You and I might be having a little ESP... seriously. I made a velcro bedskirt last weekend (see it: http://www.lifeonmarsblog.net/2012/02/removable-bedskirt-tutorial.html). How weird is that? Even our fabric looks similar. Yours looks great and maybe a little easier than mine!

1CardCreator said...

Beautiful bed skirt, loved the police story about the chairs story.

Carol, The Answer Is Chocolate said...

WOW! This is such a smart idea and it turned out great. Thanks for sharing at this week's BFF Open House. Still laughing about the library chairs.

Style, Decor & More said...

You are sooo talented! Love it!

Katherines Corner said...

Well done, looks terrific and I love that you re-purposed the fabric from your stash.Thank you for your bloggy friendship and for participating in the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop linky Party xo

Six Sisters said...

Looks amazing! Thanks so much for joining us on "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." We loved having you and hope to see you back next Saturday with more great ideas! -The Sisters

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