Living Room Pillows

 My sewing room makeover almost two weeks ago did not keep me from doing some actual sewing along the way.  One of the things I like about blogging is that it does challenge me to keep good records so these next few posts will catch up with completed sewing projects from the previous month.

I've had on my home improvement list to add some more throw pillows to our living room sofa here in Baltimore.  This first one is a 12" by 16" accent pillow from some "free fabric."  Robb and Stuckey was an upscale home furnishing store in FL until they went bankrupt after the financial meltdown.  There's some new version but what I always enjoyed was picking up remnants that they generously donated to our Ft. Myers sewing guild.  This is a woven faux leather with a fusible backing already applied.  I bet it wouldn't be too bad to sew on an industrial machine but it gave my Viking 770 a little workout.  

I used a large leather needle which punctured the fabric and backing but the machine had a little power surge (the light would dim) all the way around the pillow.  

It was a bear to turn inside out as well.  I couldn't pin it shut to hand stitch the final seam so I used these binder clips.  

I sat outside on our deck and used what I think was a leather needle (although not marked that way) to sew that bottom seam.  But sort of cute on either the chair or sofa.  

Next I used some extra fabric from this chair and made a toss pillow with some brown tweedy cotton velvet for piping, a sample piece from Fabric Mart that I've been saving.  The pillow form is a down and feather 16" by 20" form from Fabric.com.  They have great feather pillow prices.

Again, I'm pleased with some more color and texture on this plain microfiber sectional and have a few more pillows in mind for the future.  As always, home dec sewing isn't my favorite but there is a lot of bang for the buck.