Cushions - How to.

At the request of Nic's Notebook I have put together a little 'How-To' about the cushions I made. I am new to this sewing game so I'm not very technical I'm afraid. 
I also didn't take any pictures whilst I was going along, so I hope it makes sense. 

1. Once the cushion inner {IKEA Granat} had been bought I laid out the fabric on a flat surface and marked round the cushion with pins to get an idea of how big it was {if you put them side by side, the ones I made aren't quite the same size because of this. Maybe I should have used a tape measure? }
2. I cut out one piece of fabric the size of the cushion for the front of the cushion. 
3. I cut another piece of fabric the same width as the cushion, but made sure it was about 8 inchs longer than the cushion was in length. This piece of fabric was then cut in half to make the back of the cushion.
4. These two pieces of back will eventually overlap so I folded one of the raw edges on either piece over {it was actually the edges I had just cut when I cut the longer piece in half.} and sewed it to form a neat edge. 
5. The I pinned the right sides of the fabric together, so it was now wrong side out. I made sure the two back pieces I had just sewed overlapped by a couple of inches, trying to make sure that the outside of the flaps was about in the middle of the cushion. Because the flaps at the back are overlapping and were the same size, one of them hung over the edge of the seam a long way. The other fitted about right. 
6. Now I sewed all the way round the cushion to form a square. 
7. Once the edges were sewed - I trimmed the edges close to the seams so that the corners looked better and turned it the right way round. 
8. There you go - cushions.  

No. 2 - Making cushions

Apologies for the bad image quality - it's the camera on my phone :(

In case you missed the post on my main blog in which I tell you just how spoilt I was for my birthday - I got a bright pink sewing machine from the girls. I love it. 
The bright pink sewing machine was threaded up on monday night, and last night {after a trip to Ikea to get parts of a friends birthday gift, where I also picked up cushion inners} I finally put it to work to make the cushions we have been wanting for our front room. I'd seen and consequentially bought the most amazing fabric in Ish on Sharrowvale Rd in Sheffield, after we'd decided that the room needed some colour {it has been a mix of beige and brown for a long time now} and I think, now they are done they're just what we needed. That beige sofa and beige throw are pretty plain. 


I haven't quite ventured into putting zips on the cushions, as I have heard from a very adept sewing friend, that they're quite hard to do, but I am pretty happy with how they have turned out. I mean, how wrong could I go sewing squares. 


Lets see how I get on when I am trying to make something a little more adventurous.......

30 things before I am 31.

As today is the day - the Big 3-0 - I thought maybe it's time for a new list. 
There were a few items I didn't quite get round to on the last list but that I would still quite like to do, so I'm carrying them over. I think I'm allowed. After all it's my list. 

I am going with the making and doing and changing side of things rather than things that might need me to spend a lot of cash to achieve them. I don't have that 'lot of cash' and I cant see anything bar a lottery win changing that in the next year!


So, the 30 things I aim to do before I'm 31 are; 

1. Make macaroons.
2. Make new cushions for the flat. Something that says 'me' in the room – there isn’t much around the flat that is me or mine. It's very much my housemates space. And I have seen some gorgeous Orla Keirly-esque fabric too!
3. Run 5k. Not necessarily in a race, but all at once. Preferably without my lungs collapsing. 
4. Become more self reliant. I have let myself rely on people this year and it's only lead to me being let down. If I rely on myself more I’ll only have myself to blame when I’m let down, right……
5. Make an item of clothing from a pattern, from scratch. {Clearly, I won’t be making the fabric, but you get the idea right?}
6. Read a book a month and and document it here. 
7. Take a TTV picture or two. This was on the list last year but I failed. I have the camera now, thanks to Lizzy, but I need to mod it and make it work for ttv.
8. Making a Blurb book out of my 2010 Shuttercal.
9. And whilst I am at it - carrying on my Shuttercal 365 for 2011. I like having a documentation of the year.
10. Learn one new recipe a month. Be it soup, cake, a proper dinner or a snacky snack.
11. Take a class. I fancy letter pressing. Or a language. Or maybe the silk scarf class @vogue_ismybible saw and thinks we should attend. 
12. Go to more gigs.
13. Vent less - I read a quote a while ago, that I can't quite remember totally, but it said something like '50% of people don’t care about your problems and the other 50% only care because it makes them feel better about their problems'. It made me think - they’re my issues. I should keep them that way. Especially around the people I have a feeling fall into that later 50%.
14. Sort out my finances. 
15. Get a tattoo – this was on last years list, but since it took me a whole 27 years to decide my first one, a year to decide the next one might be a bit much. {this might be on lists for a while……..}
16. Host a dinner party {and not serve Fajita’s or soup!}
17. Take part in some Blogger events - I've really enjoyed the ones I did in 2010 - Pin it Forwards, the Souvenir Foto School classes and the August Break.  
18. Send little surprises to friends in the mail. Last year I made a start on this. This year I shall continue. Who doesn’t love surprises?
19. Go to the bit of the A625 that has collapsed. No idea why but I have a feeling it’ll be a little ‘end of the world’ like.
20. Get my knees on the way to being sorted.
21. Swim. I love swimming and I don’t do it enough.
22. To get back to the weight I got to pre-glasto. Before I gave up on the health kick and put the weight back on. Grrrrrrrr. I think I’d quite like to lose a stone, maybe one and a half of them. Two would be a dream.
23. Make frozen yogurt. I love ‘fro-yo’ but Leeds seems to be all out of good places to buy it. 
24. Crochet something other than a beanie. Not that beanies aren’t useful, but I’d like to expand my skills.
25. Go to the theatre.
26. Get one of my photo’s printed onto canvas.
27. Make myself attend a Buns and Roses event. {well, hopefully more than just the one!} Edit - this'll have to be a Seven Hills event now I am in Sheffield!
28. Learn more about photoshop. Enough to that I can 'create' rather than just get by.
29. Picnic in the summer.
30. Take at least 6 roles of Holga film {and develop them}

Things I learnt

I think it’s about time to look back on the list. There are some things I have learnt about myself with this first attempt at a list; 

• The simple things are the ones that might just slip you by. They are the ones I thought i might be able to pick up later and I clearly haven't done. Like making a font. I am sure in the new two weeks I can make one, but it's about the easiest one on the list! 
• And I have failed at list items that were money driven. I couldn't own a fancy handbag - i don't have the money to buy a fancy handbag. But I did buy myself a nice everyday bag, and my mum bought me a lovely holiday bag, and maybe I am not a fancy bag person....I would like to be, but since I can't be, I am pretty happy to put this goal to bed! 
• Nor do I have the cash to buy a bike to ride more. I tried to ride my dad's but its too big and the one he offered me didn't have gears so it would have been useless in Leeds, but not riding a bike seems to be doing me ok so far! 
• And I had neither the money OR holidays left at work for a real road trip - but the boy and I did take a lot of little trips. We drove ourselves round the Algarve. We took fancy routes to friends houses for the weekend. We made little trips that counted. 
• I’ve not got me that tattoo I want either – not through lack of trying. I've had two appointments lined up, but I just don’t know what to get. It took me a good 10 years to decide the last one, I’m not sure this one can be decided yet…..
• And this whole cooking a meal a month for the boy – well, it might have worked, but he isn’t very good at letting me in the kitchen unless I’m baking and still then he tries to have his say…….
• I also wanted to see Katie and Liz more. And I have seen them this year, but definitely not as much as I’d have liked. But I have some more visits lined up with them for 2011. 

I know I have a couple of weeks left to complete the list, but I can't see myself getting a bike, taking a road trip or buying a fancy bag or some of those other bits - so, I think I'm just going to abandon those goals. But you know, as I've said before - it's been nice to have the list and it's definitely something that I want to carry on.