Of this. I used to sweat a little at the thought of actually sewing something. Then I realized there were things I just had to sew if I wanted to make them myself -- like pillows. Hemming tape doesn't quite do the job on these. DANG IT.So years ago I bought that little Shark sewing machine and it is AMAZING. At the time, it was only $20, now it's about $30. It is tiny but does a BIG job. It's still tickin' after years of use.
Since I moved our son's toys upstairs to our loft, I've been trying to make that space even more cozy for him. I wanted a bean bag for him to lounge on but the cheapest I found was $35 and it was not cute.
So it hit me -- I'll make my own! The beads for bean bags are extraordinarily expensive, so I decided on a huge floor pillow instead:
I bought a yard of flannel and a yard of broadcloth for a total of $8, sewed up three and a half sides, stuffed in a large pillow form we already had, then stuffed about six bags of stuffing inside to fill it up.I channeled the eighth grade sewing student in me and sewed up the last section using the loop-hook-latch stitch:
Ummm...I made up that stitch. I'm sure you real sewers (sowers? seuers? huh?) out there are recoiling in horror. But no one will ever notice it but me, so I decided to let go -- serenity now and all.It is EXACTLY what I wanted in there. My son LOOOOVES it. It's so stinkin' comfy. I never thought in a million years I would think Thomas the Train was cute, but there they are...all caute:
That project was sew easy, (Oh, I HAD to!), I decided to keep going, and made a couple pillows for our recliners in this space:
Finding fabric to go with the wall color and purpley/maroonish/burgundyish recliners (WHAT were we thinking?) was a feat, but I finally found one I looove that goes with the whole "library" theme I started in here years ago:
Make that "library meets Thomas the Train" theme now. :)To recap -- it really is easy. (I don't say that unless it's true!) Take your fabric, good sides touching each other:
Then sew around all three sides, and some of the fourth side. Then turn it right side out, stuff it and sew up the rest by hand. I am not kidding when I say it took about three minutes to sew the smaller pillows -- it takes WAY longer just to stuff them!
All in all, the big floor pillow was $24 including the stuffing and fabric. The smaller pillows were $12 for the fabric, and the stuffing I had. Don't be sceeered ladies! It's really not hard to do -- and you can make any pillow you want out of just about any fabric. Awwww yeah....
P.S. I found a Shark machine here you can purchase at the store. Try Target as well -- that's where I got mine years ago.
