a wednesday project

dislaimer: i am by no means a skilled sewist. 

i don't sew on a regular basis... but boy do i wish i could! i had some free time yesterday (like i said, two weeks off) and whipped up these pillows. i make it sound so easy, don't i? "i just whipped them up!" really though, they're pretty simple and for that reason i love them all the more.

i followed this tutorial for the pillows. i took some pictures along the way and i'll share parts where i, an inexperienced seamstress, ran into difficulties or where i just didn't know what the heck i was doing.

obviously you're gonna need some fabric and a pillow form. a sewing machine helps too.

my pillows were 18x18 so i was able to get away with just a half yard for each pillow.  i picked this cloud9 fabric up from a new little local shop call crafthouse. if you live in lincoln, you need to go. like now. go! i love the modern/simplistic look plus, it's a little heavier weight so i didn't have to add an extra lining for my pillows.

as for the pillows, i was lucky enough to snag two pottery barn pillows from a little place called cargo largo in missouri for $5 a pop. it's a good thing that place is in missouri because... well... yeah.

i always find that cutting the fabric is the hardest part. it's supposed to help if you iron... whoops. i wish someone could just come do that for me. it is no fun. if i had a huge cutting table, that might make things easier. anyway, when you're done cutting, make sure the right sides (or the sides you would want everyone to see) are facing each other. so while you're working on your project you see the ugly sides. double check and make sure your patterns line up or aren't wonky. you don't want wonky looking pillows.

once you have that done... you pin the sides leaving about a half inch seam allowance and a gap big enough for your pillow to squeeze into. one thing that i could not figure out because my brain was not working was how to put the pins in the opposite direction so that they're easier to take out while you are sewing. if you look at the picture above, the heads of my pins would reach the foot making them hard to take out. it should have been simpler than it was. it probably is, this is definitely a user error. i'll figure it out next time.

The next step was trimming the corners. I guess this is necessary to make the corners sharp on your project. I think it worked.

after you stuff the pillow inside your little cover, you're left with a gaping hole. you've got to pin that shut by folding the edges down and then pinning those four layers of fabric. i made a little video below showing how to do the slip-stitch. the video i watched to look this up, i said i was inexperienced, didn't have a clear shot of what was happening. hopefully this helps you guys.

ta-da! finished product.

that was my project yesterday! next task is to finish the quilt i started months ago...

what are you working on? show me!

hannah