The nursery needs a finishing touch — to conceal the additional blankets and seasonal baby clothing stored underneath the crib or to add that final flourish to this ideal space. A dust ruffle is the solution, however crib dust ruffles, while not complicated, are not simple either. Babies develop faster than you can keep up with them, also, as they develop, the crib bed must be lowered to stop them from growing out. This produces the fear dust ruffle droop — a sorry condition you can avoid by re-hemming a timeless dust ruffle when you fix the bed.

Purchase about 6 yards of material to your ruffle for a standard crib, enough material to cut eight ruffle pieces and also the platform mat to that the ruffle attaches. Should you pick patterned fabric — vertical rows of tulips or bears hanging onto floating balloons — allow extra yardage to adapt the design.

Measure the mattress platform and cut a piece of fabric 1 inch more and 1 inch wider than the size of this platform to produce the mat which sits on the platform, to which you attach the dust ruffle. The additional inch is for the seam allowance when you sew the ruffle to the platform mat.

Adjust the bed platform to the very best height and measure from the platform to the floor. Add 1 inch to the measurement for hem and seam allowances in the bottom and top. To get a ruffle 22 or 23 inches deep, cut eight 23- to 24-inch parts of 45-inch wide material. A normal mattress platform is all about 53 inches long and 28 1/2 inches broad, and that means you will join three pieces of fabric for every side ruffle and use 1 piece for every end ruffle.

Sew three pieces together for every facet ruffle by pinning the brief straight sides together and stitching a 1/2-inch seam to combine the pieces. Remove the pins and press the seams open. When you have two long combined panels of fabric, hem the bottom and two side edges by folding the fabric’s right side under 1/4-inch, therefore the wrong sides are together. Fold it, press and stitch the hems in place. Do this for each lengthy panel separately.

Hem the end pieces to your ruffle exactly the same manner you hemmed the side panels. Gather the two long ruffle panels along with two short end panels separately. Run the longest right stitch — a basting stitch — in your own sewing machine 1/2 inch in the raw edge on peak of each panel. Leave 4- to 6-inch thread tails at the end of this row of stitching. Repeat 1/4 inch in the raw edge to make two parallel rows for collecting. Pull both threads in exactly the same time as you gently work the stuff into gathers. The accumulated panels must measure the length and width of this platform mat.

Pin one long ruffle panel to the platform mat, right-sides together, correcting the drawing evenly. Stitch the ruffle to the platform mat, including the top row of gathers from the seam. Repeat for another long panel and after that the two shorter ends. Cut the seams, then press them open, pull the collecting threads out and discard the threads. Set the dust ruffle on the mattress platform under the crib mattress.