Pleated Pillow Plus…

About 6 weeks ago, my husband came home from work asking me if I was willing to do a little sewing for someone that he worked with who wanted some pillows made.  I thought “pillows?” “they’re a snap!”.  Ha.  Little did I know that the day I started them my machine would decide to break and become totally unusable.  We ended up at the shop twice and then gave up and bought a totally new machine. 

We went with a simple Bernette 66 for Bernina that hopefully will last for years to come.  I really loved the service at the store those ladies were all so nice to me, besides the other perks (such as warranty and free maintenance/cleaning for a year…etc). My machine also came with three classes which I learned some amazing tips from such as: Make sure you thread your machine’s upper thread with the foot down because this sets the tension properly….this is one trick I still need to master.  Also, only turn the side needle-positioner wheel (whatever it’s really called) towards you and  never away as this messes up tension too.  I never knew!  I am sewing better than ever! I’m also thrilled with the foot power that I know have from the courses I took.  I was so excited to start on the pillows that I was supposed to make in this material that I LOVE!  I took the courses before starting and I’m so glad I did.  This was a pretty fun project though a little nerve racking trying to make them perfect for the girl I was making them for :).

Here’s a photo of what they look like in her cute newly-decorated apartment that she sent me.  I also designed the middle pillow myself because she wanted a more embellished pillow but not too crazy.  I love how they turned out!

When we were picking out supplies she also asked my advice on what to do for a flower arrangement.  I was so flattered that anyone would ask my advice on anything…it was a nice feeling.  This was my suggestion for the flowers…she thought of filling the jar with beans which I love and suggested she paint them.  It looks awesome!

Gold-Leafed Pillow

I’ve been wanting to make a pillow to match my curtains for a long time.  When I first move to the village I hated the 12' wide x 6' long windows so I put in curtains everywhere to get a little privacy.   I couldn’t find anything in my price range that even remotely looked good so I decided to dye some broadcloth.  It wasn’t as deep as I would have liked but it was adequate which is what I needed (and will need for another 6 months or so).  Anyway I planned on making a pillow in the curtain color to contrast with my bedding but never got around to it.  I wanted to bead it at first but after trying iron-on appliqué with the Halloween Costumes that I made this last year, I thought it would be really fun to appliqué leaves on a pillow for my room.  Luckily, while I was watching Martha one day, she did a reverse appliqué pillow with the perfect template!  I didn’t use her method, but I used her template and I love it!!!

 

I did it with the leftover scraps of gold lame that I had ironed onto iron-on webbing and then I ironed them on and then sewed them on (as the adhesive does not adhere long to lame).  I used a matching thread to the pillow which I think gave it a lot of depth. Personally, I think it’s gorgeous!

Here it is on my chic bed in our lit’ ol’ apartment.