Sunday, June 8, 2014

It's a Gardening Kind of Day

Today I did a lot of gardening. I wasn't sure if I'd manage a project on top of my chores and errands today, so I thought I'd rock a new kind of post.

My aim was to do a "follow me around" video but I suck at taking my phone everywhere. So, it's basically only my gardening. And my last minute thought to show you my lunch. You are welcome.


Sunday, June 1, 2014

Home Stuffin;

This weekend was one filled with family. I had a great weekend. It started with a barbeque at my brother's new house and then finished with a day filled with my favorite things - chatting with the family, going to my favorite restaurant for my favorite sandwich, and ending things with my wedding cake. You heard me - my wedding cake. We have it every chance we can get.

So when I got home, it was only natural to make my home more... well... homey. I decided to finally cover those pillow forms that I bought. (You can see my mini-haul that these were mentioned in here.) I decided to make the easiest pillow covers ever. Bonus: they aren't permanent so I can switch them out to my liking or just take them off and wash them. (I drool. Don't judge me.)

First thing, measure your pillow. You measure the width first (left measurements in picture below) and then you measure what would be the "height" (obviously the opposite of whatever you just measured) all way around the pillow. I had a square 16"x16" pillow, so it was pretty easy. To figure out what to cut you add two 5/8 inch's for seams to the width, and then you add two 1 inches to the circumference. I'm not fantastic at math, so don't look too closely to my adding of fractions. After cutting, I didn't really pay much attention to how long my seam allowances were, so this step probably wasn't all too necessary.
My first cut didn't go well. I was watching Netflix and for some reason had 8" in my head. So, my first piece was cut completely wrong. Damn Netflix.
The top strip is my "whoops" cut. The bottom is what it is supposed to be. Quite the difference. Probably should have noticed that before cutting.
Next, on the shorter sides, I folded up the edge 1/2" and then again for another 1/2". I ironed that down (yes, I ironed, pick up your jaw) and sewed up the two edges.
Next, I laid the fabric down with right side up and folded up the sides to overlap each other, a la this:
Thus giving me something that looked like this:
Remember that 2.5" overlap that I factored in? (check my math above... but not too close and all judgemental-like) This is where that comes in. You make sure the two ends overlap each other by the 2.5". This is kind of important because it takes this from just a square of fabric into a square of fabric you can jam pillows into.
Then you sew up the two edges to close everything in and trim the corners so they aren't all bulky.
Last - turn it inside and out and stuff in your pillow.
And voila! You have a pillow cover that is removable, changeable and washable. In my video, you may remember I wasn't a huge fan of this red on my couch when I just placed the swatch of fabric on it. However now that it is in actual pillow form...
I love it!

I can't wait to make more of these. It is legit super easy (not that fake easy that people say and no one I can't get past step number one) and took a max of a half hour to make. A little bit more for me since I a) cut wrong b) stopped mid-sew for some grilled pizza. That stuff is delicious and you don't pass it up for anything.
Are you still thinking "what the heck are they doing eating wedding cake?" You shouldn't be - you should just be jealous you don't have this deliciousness in your life.
Have a great Sunday!