More Pillows!

Today, I made some more throw pillows. Three to be exact - two 16x16 in, and one 12x16 in. When I got up this morning, I threw the fabric in the wash while I made my patterns for the pillows. Though they still took me longer than expected, I did not run into the same issues as last time; and my zippers went much more smoothly.

The great thing about doing a project like this is that you learn something new every time. Here's what I learned this time around: 

• Patterns help tremendously with having two pieces of fabric that are the same size. In the future, however, I'd love to get one of those huge cutting boards so that for something as easy as squares or rectangles, simply placing the fabric on top of it doubled over would be a breeze.
• Referencing your user manual solves problems that don't need to be problems. I know, I know - imagine that. But the issue I had with my needle not automatically adjusting to the zipper foot after I had to replace my first needle, was a user issue rather than a machine issue. 
• This pattern requires you to move the zipper pull back behind the needle once you near the end both times. It's not easy moving that zipper pull either time, so I messed around with a few things today to see if I could find an easier way to get it all the way past the foot. *Crayola skinny markers work great! Here's what you do: while your foot is lifted, but your needle is still in, open your zipper a bit and leave the pull sticking out toward you. Using the capped side of the marker, push the cap against the zipper's pull and voila! No need to kill your fingers.

You'll find the final results below. My apologies that it's a little dark - it isn't quite summer with endless light yet. I'll leave you with a question. I'm not hugely fond of the plain green pillow - it needs a little something more. Any suggestions/ideas/inspiration?

Goodnight.
~Ms. S

Throw Pillow Cover

The missing power cord for my sewing machine was found yesterday afternoon! You'll never guess where it was. Are you ready for this? It was on the bottom shelf of the microwave cart collecting dust - a logical place for it, no?! Thank goodness it turned up because I desperately wanted to get going on this throw pillow found on Design*Sponge via guest blogger Brett Bara.

In this post, I mentioned how excited I was to give this a try, as there was no pattern and it looked SO easy. Ha! Upon getting up this morning and finishing breakfast, I began working on this thinking I'd be done in an hour - hour and a half tops. Well...2.5 hours later when Mr. S got home from a morning workshop, I was just making the bed to see how the whole ensemble looked. (It's fabulous, by the way). Not quite how I'd intended my morning to go, but thankfully today was flexible.

Close-up of the fabric

If I'm being completely honest, this was my first "major" sewing project. And seeing as how even experienced sewers dread projects with zippers, I'd say I fared relatively well, though not without a few mishaps.

1. I didn't cut my pieces perfectly evenly, so that made keeping track of a 1/2 inch seam hard.
2. Even following the directions as carefully as possible, I managed to bend my needle beyond saving when it hit the zipper pull. Oops. 
3. After sewing the remaining three sides, the instructions tell you to turn your cover right side out and iron your seams flat. My zipper was zipped closed when I sewed my remaining three sides, so finagling the thing open far enough to reach my hand all the way in was comical.

Here's what I'd do differently next time:

• Make a pattern - I have lots of tissue paper, so I'd use it to make sure my pieces match
• Keep my zipper open upon finishing that step
• Be more anal about measuring my seams

Other than that, I'm quite happy with the end result (though I'm hoping the zipper won't take me two hours next time), and Husband was quite impressed. Here's to the next set of pillows; we'll be shopping for fabric this afternoon! :)

Happy Spring!

~Ms. S

Confession

(photo courtesy of: home-decorating-co.com)

Last night, before retiring for the evening, I re-checked all the blogs I follow just to see if anyone had posted something interesting. I'm still not entirely sure I'm glad I did this re-check, but before I get to the point of the story, I need to give you some background information that is more than slightly embarrassing (and due to this fact, the information doled out is not entirely accurate - a right I reserve to prevent what judgment I know is coming). Let me tell you about bedsheets.

I like bedsheets. They provide a soft place to sleep at night, and generally keep me well insulated. However, I do not like washing them in the small little washers here at our apartment, where I can only fit a single set (and nothing more) inside. They become a large pain. Therefore they are not washed as often as Husband or I would prefer.

Getting back to the point of this story...

Last night, while perusing the blogs, there was an entry that seemed to scream, "read me!" from Apartment Therapy.  I did what was only natural - I read it. Lo and behold, this entry began by informing me that most people (ie: everyone but me) wash their sheets weekly. ACK! Then went into the whole bedding schedule - for cleaning. And I thought I was just going to enjoy going to bed last night.

After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I grabbed our flannel sheets out of the linen closet and proceeded to unmake and remake the whole bed. Let's just say that the sheets coming off of the bed had been there far too long and leave it at that. Go ahead, gasp, cringe, make a 'grossed out' face, judge me horribly for my domestic short comings. Goodness knows, I do it to myself. It was high time to put fresh sheets on...I just hadn't planned on doing so at 10 PM last night.

But I should back up a little. Upon reading this, I mentioned it to Mr. S and got into a very defensive discussion about the acceptable timetable for bedsheets. Are you ready for my ridiculous excuse? It impresses even me. "Well, if we finally used our laundry time slots regularly, and therefore had fewer clothes, I could prioritize washing the sheets! But since our washers can only fit one set of sheets, they take last priority." Mr. S proceeded to tell me I should take our sheets to the laundromat. Which, today, presents itself as a good idea, but last night was frustrating.

Needless to say, the bed got fresh sheets. I will be making weekly or biweekly trips to the laundromat seeing as how there is one just down the street from us. But the kicker to the story is this. When I searched for the article tonight, so I could provide a link to what had spurred me into action, I couldn't find it! 'It couldn't really have just appeared last night long enough to make me feel so guilty I spent about 20 minutes changing the sheets on our bed!' I thought. But it certainly looked that way for a good 15 minutes or so until I used the 'search' function in Apartment Therapy to find it. *huge sigh of relief*

The article is great - based on information in the January issue of Martha Stewart Living about washing pillows. So, when I make that trip to the laundromat, our pillows will likely make the trek with me.

Thank you for amusing me and listening reading my whole story.

Ms. S