30 before 30: #1 and #10 - the crafty seamstress

There are some rather ill-conceived goals on my pre-thirty bucket list. Number 1 and number 10, for example, both have substantial overlap and, while I know that months ago I had lofty ambitions of completing these exclusively, I am now lumping them together and calling it success. Some would call it lazy, others a study in efficiency...

In any case, I'll start this post by letting you in on a secret. I'm a pretty poor seamstress. I was never taught how to sew or use a sewing machine at school, nor did I have a mother or even grandmother who sewed. Knitting, yes; but never sewing. However, I love most crafty-type activities. To me they're like a form of therapy - a way to escape and immerse myself in my thoughts and some quiet time. Based on this logic, a couple of years back I purchased a sewing machine, with grand ambitions of cladding myself in all sorts of fabric awesome. 

I made a delightful wrap skirt and a vaguely acceptable pair of pajama bottoms, but my sewing career came to a screeching halt when I went all out and attempted a maxi dress that made me appear seven months pregnant (I'm not exaggerating at all here!). It's not that I made a conscious decision to give up, but my *epic fail*, coupled with a bunch of other goings-on rendered my time very limited, and so I put the sewing machine to rest for a little while.

Now that time is a little freer (post-MBA completion - huzzah!), I made a decision to dust off the white plastic lump that is my sewing machine and make something I can't mess up - cushions. A trip to Ikea was first required in order to procure the cushion insert and, while there, I discovered that Ikea is a one-stop-shop for pillow-making, as they boast a pretty funky range of fabrics. I opted for a grey print, hoping that a neutral pallet would mean that any flaws wouldn't be as obvious, and $25 later we were on our way (and yes, I understand that I could have simply purchased two ready-made cushions from Ikea for this price, but where's the fun in that?!). 

After a wee bit of fabric pressing and measuring, it was time to get my sew on - a bit of machine work, followed by some hand sewing. I'm pretty happy with the outcome, especially given my disaster maxi of 2011!

At least one of the cushions is actually destined for our replica George Nelson Coconut Chair, which is being made somewhere in the world as we speak. I think it'll look pretty swell...

Overall, not *sew* bad, right?!