Crafty Things: A Sewing Project

I have a confession.
I am afraid of sewing.
Yes it's true.
Of all the crafty, DIY things that I do, none of them fills me with apprehension like the thought of sewing something.
I don't know why that is. My mother taught me to sew when I was a girl and I used to make things; like clothes for my Barbies, a pillow, stuffed animals etc. I even made buttonholes and once even replaced a zipper on a pair of jean shorts when I was in high school. I made an apron in junior high home economics class that was kind of ugly and I only got a B on it, but I think the fabric I chose was wrong for the project. And it was khaki. !!!????!!

I didn't really sew anything for many years after that until I attempted to make a skirt when I was in my early 20s and the set-in waistband defeated me. I had to have my mother finish it for me.
It might have been my sewing machine that gave me this unnatural fear. I was used to the one I learned on; my mom's c. 1960s Bernina that worked like a dream; the sewing machine she had received as a gift from my father when they were newlyweds, which she used to make play clothes for us, curtains, pillows, clothes for herself etc.. (My mother can sew like nobody's business!)

When my grandmother died when I was twenty-one, I inherited her sewing machine, but unfortunately it was not a very high quality one and it also had many problems. I think it was possessed by demons or something. I had it cleaned and repaired several times, but it never seemed to work right. There was always a problem with the bobbin winder, the tension and other things and the thread would never stay where it was supposed to, it would break, knot and basically, just not sew!
I began to avoid anything that required sewing, because I couldn't stand the thought of the frustration and agony of using that machine. I didn't even want to invest money in buying a new machine because my limited sewing skills deteriorated from years of not doing it and also I developed a phobia of sewing.

Then I got this machine from my mother-in-law. It had been hers, but she no longer used it:

It looked friendly and nice. I don't know anything about sewing machine brands, but she had told me it worked well.

These pillows came with the free wing chairs that Erik got us from a man he works with. To read the post about my FREE furniture, click HERE.
The flowers are pretty, but I wanted to make different covers for them. Pillow covers that would require SEWING!
I've made pillow covers before; many eons ago. I decided to give it a try using my new sewing machine.

I found some remnant fabrics at JoAnn's. These are actually discontinued sample squares which I bought for $1.00 each.. This one I bought to make the backing of the pillow cover.

I liked this pineapple pattern very much and decided to use it for Pillow #1.

This one I bought for Pillow #2

I gathered some supplies to make my finished pillow covers more fancy. The ribbon I already had in my craft closet, the rolls of tulle were leftover from various wedding projects I've done. I bought the little jewelry charms at JoAnn's. They were about $3 each.

I measured and cut and pinned--all the while hoping that even without a pattern, I wasn't going to mess it up and would have enough for a seam allowance and that the pillow would fit inside once it was done. And voila!!! Here is the pillow inside it's new cover!!!  It was so easy; my "new" sewing machine was a dream to use.  I felt like a total pro!

Here's the envelope back. I like to make envelope back pillow covers so that I  can take the covers off and wash them if they get dirty or change the pillow insert if it gets lumpy or old. I have cats who seem to love to find the prettiest things I own so they can barf up a hairball on it. Removable covers come in handy for this reason.

And here it my finished pillow. I tied some tulle in a bow around the pillow and added the jewelry charm. I'm so proud of myself! Even though I was incredibly slow measuring and cutting and pinning, the whole project took me less than a half hour.
 Next I will working on Pillow #2!

Thanks for stopping by!