Sewing 101

My awesome sister gave me her old sewing machine this summer and I was very excited to set it up last week. I may have had to watch a you tube video on how to thread it, but I figured it out pretty quickly. As I mentioned in my previous post, we have hardwood floors in our new place. I knew I needed a rug, with color since my couches are dark, the floor is dark, and my tables are dark. So, after two weeks of being here, I found a great rug. Now I just needed some killer accent pillows to pull it all together, right? Well, these aren't it:

Our previous pillows are terrible. There's a big marker stain and a few rips and they were just not attractive. So, I decided to cover them.

I ran to Wal-mart (I'm on a budget) and spent $10 dollars on this fabric:

I wanted a little bit bolder and brighter fabric, but got vetoed by the hubs. I'm happy with this pretty fabric though.
I got to work cutting, ironing and pinning. I followed this tutorial, which was very helpful for a beginner.

 I watched Project Runway while I did it for inspiration:

 Here's my finished project. If I had to do it over again, I would like the fabric a bit tighter on the pillows.

Here they are on the couch. As you can see, the pattern isn't super bold, but I think it goes well with the rug. I really wanted something feminine in the room with the masculine couches.

My next project will be to paint the tables in the room, but I still haven't figured out exactly how I want them to look.

 I'd say overall my first sewing experience was pretty good. I already have plans for my next project so stay tuned!!