Sewing Project #1: Throw Pillow
Remember when I told you I bought a sewing machine? And that my experience is at level 0? Well, the weekend we bought the machine I decided to make a pillow. Really had no clue what I was doing, but with help from Mark we figured it out. Please note, this is the most basic pillow ever.
As I was trying to learn to sew, I didn’t take pictures of the process. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to when I don’t have to concentrate on just sewing a straight line. Basically I chose 2 fabrics and then also used muslin as a liner for the inside to give a more polished look. The muslin was by suggestion of the woman in line with us at the checkstand. We went home, sewed the pillow and then stuffed it.
After stuffing the pillow we tried a by hand blind stitch to close it, but it didn’t look great. Then we decided we should try a zipper. The zipper didn’t look great either. So, we went and found a zipper tutorial and then tried again.
Still following? Yes, there were 3 versions of this pillow before we finished. Oops. I promised that I’d show you the real projects even if they weren’t perfect, right? We just kept making it smaller since it started off rather large anyways. Below are the pictures of version 1 and 3. Version 2 didn’t get a picture.
Here is the front of the pillow on version 1.
Obviously I wasn’t ready for this picture, ignore the awkward face. You can see how we used brown fabric on the back to match the details of the fabric on the front. You can also see that the seams aren’t perfectly straight. Some of that is due to stuffing though.
And here is our final version sitting in its new home. 2 versions later it’s much smaller than what you see above. What do you think?
The pillow isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with it. It was a good first project to get the idea of how to use a sewing machine.
What I learned from this project:
- Making bobbins
- Threading my sewing machine
- Sewing in straight lines
- Adding in a zipper (sort of, need some improvement in this area)
- That stuffing can look really weird sometimes and I want to try pillow inserts
Well, that was the first project. I found a bunch of patterns on sale for $1.99 for pillows, aprons, purses and other fun things. My next project will be using more of a specific pattern to create something. I’ve also seen lots of fun ideas on some sewing/craft websites and blogs. Suddenly I’m much more aware of any project that has a sewing machine involved. Any fun sewing tutorials I should know about?
Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans?
hi~thanks for stopping by my blog! great job with the pillow! love the pattern and the contrasting brown backing. yes… i think everybody needs an emergency stash of m&ms in their bags!
1That looks great! I love the fabric you chose! Now I’m inspired to make a pillow.
2I’ve debated about getting a sewing machine before, but I don’t know how much I would use it. Can you rent them? lol. I’ll be following along to see what else you use yours for!
3Great job Michelle! I love the fabric you chose. And I’m impressed that you tried a zipper on your first sewing project! A lot of people are scared of them
4Michelle, it looks great! I am uber impressed that you sewed on a zipper for your first sewing project! I’m still scared of zippers, but thanks for that tutorial!! Funny thing is is that grey/yellow polka dot fabric she used in the tutorial is the one I wanted to use for my pillows. I’m planning on making throw pillows for our couch in the basement (well future couch). Anyhow, did you use an already formed pillow or did you stuff the pillow with stuffing yourself? I can’t decide what to do! OH and where did you find those cheap patterns??? You should join Burdastyle b/c they have some free patterns too!! =)
5Great job. It’s adorable. We have friends in town this weekend…so baby’s gonna be with the grandparents and it’s parTAY time!
6wow this is so cute! I to start sewing more…
7I love pillows so this would be first on my list.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Hey, looks great! Nice job!
8Love the fabric. I’ll be showing off some of my homemade pillows this week. Ekk. Showing off your own stuff is scary. Great job!!
9Practice makes perfect. It looks great!!! And you tried a zipper! That’s a huge pain for a first project. It looks lovely!
10You did an awesome job. I just got my sewing machine after taking a nearly 10 year hiatus from all sewing, so I think I may be starting from square one again. But I must ask where were you able to score 1.99 patterns?
11OH my goodness, you made that? It looks great, even if it took 3 tries! My sewing machine’s been collecting dust pretty much since I got it. I got frustrated, took up baking instead, and haven’t touched it since. You make it look fun though, maybe I should try again!
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