I decided to try foam instead of stuffing and look how much better it is! The only problem with foam is that it’s very exact, so you can see where either my sewing or my foam cutting wasn’t so dead-on square. But overall it’s way better and comfier too. I don’t know what that book was talking about when it recommended stuffing.

I made these for Todd’s home office by picking and choosing patterns and information from my four sewing books referenced below (looking for the simplest method, of course). Todd picked out the fabric himself using a Jo-Ann’s 50% off coupon He wanted drapes originally (with the pull cords to swish back and forth) but it’s a narrowish window with very little stacking room on one side so I couldn’t see the point. Instead I used a deep rod pocket design.

I attached the lining using the “sack” method where you sew right sides together on the two side seams but the lining isn’t as wide as the fabric, so when you turn it right side out and press you get the look of having carefully handsewn the fabric over the lining without all the handsewing. I did handsew the fold over at the top for the rod pocket but I machine sewed the hem. Unfortunately because of the stripes I couldn’t really match the thread to the fabric and the hem shows. OK, the hem shows if you get down on your knees and look for it, but still. I have to learn how to do blind hems on the machine next.

I barely had enough fabric left to make the tiebacks but I think they came out nicely. Now we’re waiting for another 50% off coupon so he can buy fabric for the next set of windows which I think will be for the kitchen.

My first zipper! My first time making my own piping too. It came out pretty good except that one of my sewing books recommended using a stuffed cushion as more comfortable than foam. So inside the cushion is a muslin cushion I made that is stuffed with fiberfill. I don’t know. The fiberfill is kind of bunchy – I guess I didn’t fluff it enough – and the cushion doesn’t have a sharp shape, so the outside cushion doesn’t have a very sharp shape either, although the piping helps somewhat. I may go buy foam and swap it out, which I can do since I made it with a zipper.  

My four sewing books:

Complete Home Decorating Book

Do-It-Yourself Fabric Decor

Sewing for Dummies

Complete Home Decorator

I made this for Todd. We bought the bolster at Wal-Mart and then he picked out this fabric he liked (not my idea, believe me!). I traced the bolster and faked up a pattern using an overlap rather than a zipper or seam to close the back. It came out OK except I didn’t allow enough overlap so it gaps a little. He never uses it though so it’s just another thing on the floor in his bedroom.

These stools (sitting stool and foot stool) were purchased at Target. They had hard wood tops. I covered them in batting and fabric from curtains I got at a tag sale for $1. I used the Trading Spaces method: fold and staple. The stools make sitting at my standing height craft/cutting table comfortable.

I made the pictured valance without a pattern from cheapy Wal-Mart fabric by simply folding the fabric in half, right sides together, and sewing along the sides. Then I made the tabs – what a pain to turn them all – pinned them inside the unsewn top and top-stitched. If I had it to do again, I’d probably make the valance shorter. The fabric shades came from Pier One.

My frog is a whimsical frog stitched from a kit with backing and piping added to create a pillow. I can’t find the kit for sale through the usual suspects but it seems to come up on eBay fairly regulary. It’s called “Mr Frog Goes A Courting.” Kate Hodgson’s site has photos of some very real needlepoint frogs she’s working on.