Project: Pillow

Is anyone else out there a hobby enthusiast?  

Where you can't help yourself from trying new things?

Well that's me in a nut shell.  Especially if it has to do with the home.  I love learning new hobbies (painting, remodeling, you name it), but I'm a bit of a stickler.  Cause I have to become a "master" at anything I try (hence my "craptastic" old renderings post).  I don't like being an amateur at anything I do, but I do know my limitations.

So a few weeks ago, amidst a lull in work, I decided I would try my hand at sewing.  More specifically, at sewing pillows.  I had been looking for new throw pillows for a couple rooms in the house, and since I'm not willing to spend $20-30 on just one pillow (let alone $100 for a room of pillows), the idea arose for me to do them myself.

So on an especial dull day, I headed to the local fabric store to peruse the isles (Casey's learned that when I say I'm going to go look...I mean come back with armfuls of goodies).  Fabric stores can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you don't know exactly what you want.  But I came prepared.  Earlier in the week I had scribbled down some pillow designs I really liked.  

I soon found all the fabric I would need to start my new project!!  And headed home to plan it out. 

When it comes to sewing, I turn to the "moms".  Both are amazing!!  Casey's mom used to work at Hancock Fabrics, and pretty much knows everything about sewing there is to know.  And my mom seriously knows her way around a sewing machine...and is a great teacher.  So they both helped me with this little project of mine.

But enough about the how, here is my first finished pillow:

Isn't it cuuuuttte!!  I'm so excited about it!  And let me tell ya, it took me a long time to finish.  My mom helped me with some major parts all of this project.  She pretty much walked me through the whole process.  Including how to pull the fabric to get it to scrunch up.  Part of the sewing was really intimidating, so mom helped with that too.  And there was more than once that I had to rip out a row of stitching, and re-do it or let mom (like I said, I know my limitations).

But it was also very fun, and very rewarding!  It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, but you have to first cut all the pieces, and sew, and re-sew, and sew some more!!

In case your wondering, I used a pillow form for this pillow.  I'm lousy at stuffing pillows, and these two were 50% off at the fabric store!!!  I also put a fold over flap in the back, for easy cleaning and washing.

And since I had some fabric left over, I made some linen napkins too.  Here they are, with some of my "working station" (aka: mom's island) shots:

This is a close up on one of the corners.  You can't tell, but they were giving us some trouble sewing with all the double folded fabric.

I still have one more big pillow to finish in the next few days...once I can get back to mom's sewing machine.  But for now, I couldn't be happier with my little starter pillow!!