My second (non-plushie) post-pincushion sewing project was this envelope pillow with piping. I made a lot fewer mistakes on this one, and the finished product looks pretty classy — classy enough that I’m OK with the fact that my son is only kind of meh about the pillow, so it lives on the couch instead of in his bedroom.
Skills practiced:
- Serging with my Singer Tiny Serger (which was easier to thread the second time around, once I realized that the secret was to use a threader)
- Attaching piping
- Double-folded hem (again)
Lessons learned:
- The Singer Tiny Serger, while a bit fussy to thread and light on features, works SO much better than attempting to finish an edge using the overlock stitch on my sewing machine.
- My math sucks (i.e. rather than just measure-twice-cut-once, I also need calculate-twice).
- I really needed a bigger cutting mat and more bobbins (which I ordered from Amazon, and have since arrived). Related: Don’t be lazy/impatient and use a “close enough” color of bobbin thread instead of winding a new one.
- The advice about a pillow cover being two inches smaller than the insert is only if you want your pillow to be WAY crammed into its cover. I hope I never have to remove this pillowcase, because it took a lot of effort to get that pillow stuffed in there and properly distributed.
I already knew this, but I really love the look of contrasting edges, like the yellow piping against the blue fabric. Now that I know I can make things that look fairly classy and well-crafted, I’m also seriously thinking about going for a more customized and less matchy home decor theme, and making covers for our throw pillows that reflect our likes and experiences as a family: travel, comics, sci-fi, etc.
My next project (already in progress) is to make my son a tank top from my old t-shirts, using this Spoonflower tutorial as a guide. If this works out, I’m looking forward to upcycling more of my old clothes!