I attended a brilliant sewing workshop ran by my uber talented friend Mieke Hartland last week and I finally learned how to sew a zipper cushion cover. Now for the more competent seamstress, this may not seem like the biggest achievement in the world, but to me it was a vast improvement from my previous unsupervised efforts. I have made several cushion covers in recent years but they have always ended up sewn in rendering them pretty unwashable, and highly unsuitable to a house filled with boisterous boys with sticky fingers!
We had the option to sew bunting or sew a zipper cushion, and in anticipation of the spring I decided to update my soft furnishings with some new scatter cushions. I must say, the zip was far easier to insert than I thought it would be, and under the watchful eye of Mieke I had it sewn in place within minutes. The second cushion which I completed at home went equally as smooth, despite me having a muddle with my zipper foot for a short while!
The only thing I struggle with in regards to sewing is TIME. Now any mom or working woman will probably be able to relate to that, regardless of how 'quick' I think my sewing task should be I frequently find that I need at least a good two hours solid sat at my machine to set it up, thread it, wind the bobbin if necessary, select materials and that's even before I have sewn one little stitch. This means that invariably I am never going to get any sewing done during the week days, especially when the boys are awake, and even if they are being angelic then I wouldn't want to risk unattended needles becoming a health hazard.
On the flip side of that, I think this is why I love sewing so much, because when I do get to do it, it is purely for me, concentrated uninterrupted me time. And when this is accompanied by good friend and good wine that you know you are on to a winner! My offerings may not make waves on the Great British Sewing Bee, but they certainly look pretty on my sofa :)
Roll on next month's workshop!
R x
