Over Thanksgiving we visited Handy Andy's grandparents in Arkansas and his grandma helped me make a cushion for the rocking chair in our guest room [which I will reveal later]. When I said "helped" I mean she did 95% of the work. But, she did show me a lot of things and gave me a lot of tips for sewing. I really did learn a lot from watching her, and this project is proof!
I've wanted to make covers for our couch pillows for a while now. I even found some clearance fabric at Hobby Lobby not too long ago that I bought for the project. At first I was planning on trying a no-sew cover that I found on Pinterest a while ago, but I was inspired to try sewing by Grandma T...so I got out my sewing machine [that my mom insisted I needed when I got married].
Here are the pillows before:
Blah.
Inspired by one of my favorite blogger, Lindsay from Living with Lindsay, I used different fabric for each of my pillows for an eclectic feel. Here's what I used:
You may recognize the orange fabric from my thrift store chair project. The other fabric was only $3 a yard -- awesome!
Before I started, I took some scrap fabric and practiced sewing, since I have no real experience using a sewing machine. The few times I have used my machine before I felt panicked once the needle started moving. I practiced until I felt comfortable, then I went to measuring and cutting the fabric.
Measure twice, cut once.
Always give yourself extra room, better too big than too small.
Two good tips from Grandma T. My first pillow cover was way too big, so I went back and cut a few inches off. Better to waste a few inches than to have to start all over. I also made sure to press my material before I started sewing, something Grandma T emphasized.
After most of the sewing was done and the pillows were in the cases, I hand-stitched the bottom opening. [Oh yeah, hand-stitched].
And here's what they look like finished:
Are you impressed? YOU SHOULD BE. Okay, I know that sewing four straight lines isn't that impressive for many of you, but for me this is a huge accomplishment, so don't rain on my new-to-sewing parade.
I also started on another project that I will hopefully finish and share with you for Pinterest Thursday. I had a very productive day!
What did you get done today?
P.S. Linking up here:
