Sewing Project

When I was little my mom had a sewing machine.  It was one of those really old ones that was inside a sewing desk.  You had to open it up and flip the machine out.   She would make dresses for me and Aimee or use it to sew on our Girl Scout patches.  I used to try to make Barbie clothes out of her scrap fabric, but it was so ridiculously hard that I just never really had any interest in sewing.  I guess times have changed, because I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas this year.  Not only have the times changed, but the machines have as well.  My machine is very portable and easy to pull out anytime I want.  It also is a little on the fancy side...it has a computer in it!  It is programed with 60 different stitches and can even make button holes.

Fancy-schmancy!

My dear friend Willisia is a sewing pro.  She actually helped me on my first sewing project a few years ago when I made the curtains covering our sliding glass door.  I spent a Saturday morning at her house and she taught me how to thread my machine and do a few of the fancy stitching.  For my first (completely alone) sewing project I decided to make some couch pillows.  Pillows are not too terribly difficult to make, so it was a good choice to attempt.  Here is my quick version of a pillow making tutorial:

After picking out your material decide what size pillows you are going to cover.  J and I chose to use a couple of  20x20 and 18x18 size pillows.  You need to cut your fabric an inch larger on all sides to give yourself enough room for sewing.  Place your fabric with the right sides together and cut.

Sew the three sides together and about three inches in on the fourth side leaving enough room to stuff the pillow into.  Go back and reinforce the corners to make sure they are strong enough.

Using your iron, press the edges.  This will make your pillow seams lay flat against the pillow rather than "bubble up" on the sides.  Trim the corners to get rid of extra material.  

Now, turn the pillow case right side out and push the corners out.  Stuff the pillow into the space you left open.

Now comes the trickiest part...sewing the pillow closed.  You can sew it together by hand, which would probably take a while...or you can use your machine.  You will need to push the pillow down into the case as far as you can, or try to fold it over inside the case.  Fold the material where you pressed it and pin the sides together using straight pins.  Sew the sides together using a slow setting because its very easy to sew crooked.  The pillow makes the whole process a little awkward.

Fluff the pillows and you're finished!  Pretty easy huh?  

One down...three to go!

The finished product

I definitely could not have done this without the guidance of Willisia and her mad sewing skills.  J even helped out with a few of the steps too!  Stayed tuned to see these pillows along with another new addition to our living room...