the panda sews: sewing and pillows

i used a sewing machine for the first time ever over the weekend and ended up with super cute pillows!

sewing (along with knitting and countless other crafts and hobbies) has always been one of those things i've been curious about, and after a few friends got into a google buzz discussion about it, it was decided that carolyn would teach a beginner's class at her house (pillows!).  i used a target gift card to purchase a brother sewing machine, and it sat in the box for a few weeks.  (side note: i tend to psyche myself out when learning something new like this. "i'm not gonna "get" it!" or "i'm gonna suck!"  had it not been for our class on the 27th, the sewing machine would've stayed in the box for weeks. or months).   i got to go to textile fabrics on 8th ave to pick out my fabrics - that place has TONS of great stuff, but i settled on a cute squirrel-with-a-buried-nut-treasure print, with an orange pattern to go on the back.

the sewing machine wasn't very complicated, but i still haven't quite gotten the automatic-threading system down.  my very first 12X12 pillow was a success!

i decided to try my hand at another pillow today to further hone my skills (i.e. try not to forget the things i learned the night before). i went to hancock fabrics in murfreesboro for more fabric and found a few cute things. i got a brown woodgrain fabric to compliment the squirrel design for pillow #2.

front

back

other hancock fabric purchases 

(the one on the left is pretty orla kiely-ish, isn't it? it was only $6.99/yd!)

i really think i could get into this whole sewing thing - looking forward to trying curtains and other things soon!