Crib skirt....how hard could it be?..............

So, the wife and I were perusing the fabric store over the past weekend and came across a fabric that really "spoke" to us.  We liked it, a lot.  The wife thought that it was nice but thought that it would be too masculine if we had  a girl.  Did I mention that we are not finding out the sex?  Crazy, I know.  So, we ended up leaving the store empty handed. 

Now, I follow  a fellow blogger around these parts. I believe her blog is titled:  "Hibler House" and it is really cool to follow.  So, this young lady did a DYI crib skirt that looked to be "tacklable."  I totally nade that word up.  So, thinking about that fabric, I went back to the store and bought 2 yards, 40 percent off to boot and I was off to dust off the old sewing machine to do up my very own crib skirt.

Well, let me just warn you that this Mrs. Hibler must be like a sewing master or mistress or whatever you want to call it because she makes it look effortless to tackle.  She's all like, "La la la, just go ahead and zig zag this and pin and tuck this and there you have it.  A crib skirt!  Now for a novice like myself I read and reread her directions, her suggestions looked at her pictures, etc. etc.  So, to her credit, she is a very good instructor and is very thorough in her description because I got the long sides of the skirt done and being 1:05 A.M.  I thought I'd go ahead and leave some of the work for tomorrow. 

 So, this is the fabric we (I) chose.  I don't know, is it not girly enough, just in case? 

Fabric cut and hemming.  Is that the correct word for this maneuver?  I don't know, whatever.

I haven't concentrated this hard since the S.A.T.'s.  I wonder if I would break 900 if I took that test today.  No new math has been invented since 1994, has there?  Anyway, back to sewing with my P.O.S. machine.  I think that there is something to be said about buying a pricier machine than my 90 dollar Wal-Mart setup.  I spent half of my time adjusting and cutting out bird's nests of thread from my work.  It was painful.  I will spare you the gory images.  I'll just share my happy images.

 These are my panels all zig zag stitched and hemmed.  Pretty snazzy, huh?  Pretty hairy, actually.

 After some wine, my stitches got a lot straighter.  Or at least it seemed to get straighter.  We'll see in the morning.

Okay, this is where this project got a little de la ghetto.  When I purchased my really cool fabric, I also bought some white cotton fabric that would be the top panel of this here crib skirt.  Well, I only bought 1 yard.  Now, one yard of fabric is 36" X 36".  The dimensions of the mattress is something like 51" X 27".  You do the math 'cause I sure as heck didn't.  Well, I wanted to get this thing started so I ask the wife for an old sheet if we had one.  She threw this queen sized fitted sheet to me and let me know that we don't own a queen sized mattress anymore so do what I want.  She is awesome!  Well, I start cutting it up and realize there are couple of holes in it.  Should I use it?  Mrs. Hibler said it would never be seen.  You know, She's right!  I used it.

And there it is, in all its crooked stitchedness.  Not too bad.  I like it.  Looks like a keeper.  I told the wife I'd make another one if it's a girl but I think I may have to go back on my word on that one.  Tomorrow, I sew on the two short sides and this project is in the books!

Stenciling bird silhouettes on a soffit

So, I've been wanting to do some stenciling and painting.  I figure, why not in the nursery?  But what would be the subject matter? Sounds pretty artsy doesn't it?  Well, I've always liked silhouettes of birds so I thought, "Why not?"  I googled around and found some images of birds, cropped and enlarged with photoshop and printed them out and cut them up.

This was my stencil, actually, I redid it putting some packaging tape over the image and then cutting it out.  I was hoping that this would "water proof" it from the paint.

Next, I went ahead and taped up my "canvas" creating lines that would suggest phone lines.  Take note, that when I removed the tape after I painted I took of some of the base color with it.  Luckily I saved the empty can of grey paint so that I could touch up a bit.

Just to let you know, I painted over that curvy section to the right.  It ended up looking really cheesy.  Reminded me of an Italian restaurant decorated during the 80's.  Not a good look.  Once the lines were painted in I removed the tape before the white paint fully dried hoping that this would help in not removing the newly painted lines.  It kinda did and it kinda didn't.  Again, a little touch up and we were off to stenciliing.

So, my project for the day was completed.  Yeah, I was a little sidetracked but this is what I ended up with.  I was looking at it and I just don't know if I like it or not.  So, I texted my older brother (who just had a pretty darn handsome boy himself) and asked him if it was a little cheesy?  He replied back very diplomatically with, "I wouldn't say cheesy but it just doesn't fit a nursery theme."  Oh, and he even told me he had applied vinyl of the same theme and ended up tearing it all out.  He hit it on the head!  That's what it is.  I don't think it looks that great and I don't think that it fits.  Oh well, guess I'll sleep on it and look at it in the morning before I go ahead and paint over it.  Oh well.

What to expect.....

Well,
In addition to preparing our quaint little house for our new arrival I hope to blog about what I'm into for the day. 

I get a little manic, a little obsessive a little.....well, I gotta get this thing fixed 'cause I'm not paying someone to do something I could probably do myself.  Aside from finishing our nursery I need to maintain a VW GTI VR6, a Mercedes Galaendewagen and a BMW wagon, I love to cook, I am a Culinary Institute of America graduate, by the way....ahem.  I dream of fly fishing and tying those little bugs up.  I stare at our dogs for at least an hour cumulatively throughout a day.  Well, hopefully, you'll see what I get into.  Possibly pretty boring for you all to read but .....yeah, pretty boring stuff for me too. 

Let's see how long this blogging thing lasts.

Well, here I am, blogging.  Never done it before.  Never really had any interest in it either.  I don't really think that I enjoyed reading other people's blogs, to be honest.  But, expecting a child really changes my interests and perspectives.  Go figure.  Now, I find myself reading other parents' and expectant parents' blogs with great interest.

So, my wonderful wife and I are expecting a child this year (2011), March to be more specific.  That is why I've chosen the title for my blog to be "White Rabbit Hutch."  Chinese zodiac sign for those born this year. The White Rabbit.  I am of Korean descent but don't really put much emphasis in all that Zodiac mumbo jumbo but I do proudly tell people that I am a "Tiger" every chance I get... Usually when fortune cookies are being smashed opened and fortunes read aloud at some chinese restaurant or other.

My wife has been making sure that I document all of my nursery preparations with pictures.  I just didn't see why I would take the time away from a task to do so.  Well, yet again, she was right.  I should've listened and photographed everything from the very git-go.  I did, start taking pictures of a lot of the nursery creation nonetheless.  It sure makes the project so much more enjoyable.  Looking at what I start with and then seeing what I've created.  My wife is so wise.

How do I have all this time to do so much work on a nursery?  Well, my wife and I have decided that I will be staying home with the baby while she continues to work.  I don't think that this was the most ideal situation since nothing would please my wife more than to be able to stay at home to raise our children but circumstances are circumstances.  Well, anyway.......  "Ha Ha," I keep thinking to myself boy did I get the sweet end of that deal.  "HA HA," my wife tells me, you don't know what you've just signed up for.  Did I mention how wise she is?  I start to rethink our decision.  Well, I'm sticking with it.  I ain't no quitter.

Here we go!  Let's get this thing started.  I know you all are waiting with bated breath for my next blog post but I suppose it will have to wait 'cause I need to watch some Food Network!