If you've been a follower of my blog for sometime, then you know about my quest to become a seamstress. Keep in mind, this quest is far from being over. It's been roughly a year (yes, a year) since my sewing skills have been sharpened. In the past week, I've made two pillows for my living room. We're bursting with pillows over here and I LOVE it.
Thankfully, there are very talented people on the internet who post wonderful directions for sewing. I've posted the links below. :)
To create an envelope pillow seen below (left) follow this tutorial here.
Next, I created another envelope pillow but added a fun felt flower on the front. Thanks to V & Co. for posting a fun tutorial here.
Today is my niece's first birthday! Tomorrow I will be posting pictures of the gift I spruced up for her.
It's safe to say that I'm kind of obsessed with the University of Missouri. I have posted several times about my unwavering love for the city of Columbia and my beloved Missouri Tigers. I realized yesterday that it has been TWO MONTHS since I've been back. I'm ready for football season, so I can spend every weekend there tailgating and watching the Tigers take on the SEC.
Before I tell you about my little craft I made.. let's take a trip down memory lane. I'm getting a little nostalgic over here. I think I might cry. I'm emotional - I can't help it.
Fellows Graduation 2011
I loved MU so much that I graduated twice from there.
I consider emails from Brady Deaton and Gary Pinkel very personal. After all, they are addressed specifically to me.
We may never play kU again, but that doesn't mean I'll ever like them. It's in my blood to hate kansas. Sorry folks.
Last summer, I decorated my guest room with a little black and gold bunting to showcase my love.
As a wee little freshman, I met the great Truman the Tiger! I never met him again. He's a sneaky Tiger...hard to catch.
How awesome is this? I missed the MU/Nebraska game where the goal post was taken down and marched to Harpos, but I was there LIVE to see Missouri beat Oklahoma. It was absolutely incredible. I'm literally getting goosebumps typing this right now.
MU fans rallied and showed up BIG on Gameday at the columns. I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
Picture Perfect
Speaking of the columns, they are my FAVORITE part about the campus. Running through the columns as a freshman and as a senior was a tradition I'm forever grateful I participated in.
I met so many of my best friends at MU. Now, we're still close and drive across the state to meet each other for weekends of fun, weddings, and just to catch up.
I bought this cute little pillow on Etsy. Just in case I forgot what my state looks like. Now, Missouri isn't the coolest state.. I know.. I know.. but I've got to embrace it!
My sweet friends bought me this awesome cookie cutter. Who wants cookies!?
My MU Alumni calendar helps me keep the date straight in the summer time. It actually comes in handy, because I have no idea what day it is.
Whew! Thanks for that. I highly enjoyed that little trip.
Now, tonight I decided to quit napping and being lazy and do a little crafting. Last year, I bought fun black and yellow fabric for my MU bunting. I used the remainder of it on a pillow! I followed this tutorial on Momtastic. I'm a dork and cut way too many pillow faces and was SUPER CONFUSED when I couldn't get things flipped out. Then, I watched a video. It's obvious I'm a visual and audio learner. :)
MIZZOU-RAH!
Perhaps one of these days, I'll tackle something a little more difficult.... but not anytime soon. I am finally figuring out how that stinkin' bobbin works.
Let me first begin by reinforcing the statement that I am not a seamstress. Trust me! I have many sewing classes and obstacles to cross before I ever earn that title. My grandmothers are seamstresses. I am a beginner. Actually, what do you call someone who continues to begin over and over again?
I know I have a long way to go in my sewing because I can never remember how to thread that darn bobbin! The agony!! I had to watch clips from this video... waaaay too many times. I actually started speaking in a British accent afterwards to make myself feel better. Later, I had to turn on the video again to learn how to install a new needle after mine tragically broke. Let's just say, I learned a lot yesterday. I practically have the video memorized.
The other night, I was laying on the floor next to my bed chatting on the phone. As I was using the floor as a couch I noticed a tan tote bag under my bed. This tote that was hiding under my bed came from an Accelerated Reader conference I attended back in October. I snagged the bag and decided to give more poor like AR bag a facelift considering I wasn't going to use it in its current state.
On U-Create, I found a ton of tote bag tutorials here. I scrolled through and found the one I wanted to try and I got started. It was time to give this AR bag a little life!
I cut two strips of a canvas print and two strips of burlap. Then, I followed the directions given here! That's when I encountered my first problem where I asked... "Umm.. what is a zig zag pattern?" Oddly enough, my sewing guru had just called and she briefed me, "It's where your needle jumps around and makes a zig zag stitch." Ahh, Alissa knows how to speak to me in terms I understand.
Get Ready For a Makeover, Bag!
I began sewing my strips along the edges and attempting the "ruffling" of the strips. Things were going along just swimmingly until I asked my next question, "Umm.. what's a jean needle?"
Obviously, I didn't have one of those. My poor regular needle (is that what we call them?) sacrificed his life for this tote. Don't worry, only one needle was injured during this project.
While I was sewing away, my friend Ashley was cricuting away and we were simultaneously watching Craft Wars on TLC. It was a crafting overload. In my head I began to think, "I should have Ashley take me picture!" I stood up to go grab my camera and I stepped on a pile of fabric and completely wiped out. We laughed nonstop for about three minutes. I'm glad someone else was there to witness my epic fall. After I dried my laughter-tears, I loaded up my sewing machine and Ashley caught a few pics. I feel so bloggylicious.
Action!
After the zig zag pattern, the broken needle, and my wipe out I finally finished my bag. For the average person, this craft will probably take you one hour TOPS. For me, I like to take things nice and slow.
Now, I plan on carrying this bag everywhere with me in hopes that someone will ask, "Oh! Where did you get your bag?" Then I can reply smugly and say, "I made it." :)
There comes a day in every crafters life when they have to learn how to sew. Perhaps I'm being a tad overdramatic, but I feel as if that day FINALLY arrived for me. I was finding all of these fun projects I wanted to create, but alas - I didn't know how to sew nor operate my brand new swanky sewing machine.
Then, after missing a few sewing sessions at JoAnn Fabrics .. I begged my neighbor to teach me how to sew by offering her a meal in return. I blogged on Monday about our apron making adventure and today I've got some BIG NEWS.
Yes I, Jordon J. Furnell, made my very own pillow. Disregard the fact that it took me 4 hours and I received many injuries from straight pins.
She's a Beauty
Sewing Swag
My sewing bucket list includes many pillow projects. The first one being an adorable Bow Pillow found here. Bless this sweet blogger for posting a step by step guide for newbies like me. Here's a peak into my journey creating a brand-spankin' new 4th of July pillow for my crib.
Whew! We've Got a Bow.
Let the choirs sing! It's a real pillow that one can actually use. I've been hugging it for the past 24 hours to reassure myself that it is real and that I actually made it. My life is complete.
What shall I sew next? Anyone need a new wedding dress? Maybe a pair of overalls? Only kidding. I'll stick to pillows for a few months.
If you've been a follower of my blog for very long, you'll know that I cannot sew. This isn't one of those situations where I'm just saying I can't sew and then whip up a new set of curtains and a fuzzy sweater. No, I legitimately cannot sew. It's been my crafting Achilles heel for 23 long years.
You can imagine my surprise when I unwrapped this beauty on Christmas Day! I am so excited to expand my crafting to the wide world of sewing.
Now, first things first. I must learn how to sew.
Sounds simple enough, right? Since I can't sew and I'm terrified of taking my brand spankin' new sewing machine out of the box, I'll settle for my sewing wish list.
I think I should quit while I'm ahead. Now, I must get back to a very urgent matter. I'm right in the middle of disc one of season six of How I Met Your Mother.
