Can anyone give me advice on how to get started sewing? I had textiles classes in school but I was really bad at it (I barely passed, and I was a straight-A student- I passed on the strength of the exam) and basically haven't thought about sewing since. I can sew on buttons, but that's about it (I have some needle and thread one of my parents got in a hotel room).
The reason I'm asking is that I really want to decorate my flat- at the moment it's all incredibly monochrome (white) and I'm sick of the showhome (plus clutter) look. I've lived here nearly a year now, it's time to make this place more my home. I thought about scatter cushions for my bed and lounge (and possibly other things), but all the places I've been looking either don't have things to match my tastes, or are hideously expensive, or both- mostly . (I don't see how a mass produced cushion cover made out of fairly ordinary materials can possibly be worth 15 quid, let alone more) I've also been looking on Ebay, Etsy, and Folksy, and found similarly that anything I even remotely like is way outside my (student) price range. Have also done a bit of looking in charity shops, also to no avail (taste rather than budget wise).
Most of the guides to sewing online seem to be aimed at someone with a machine- but if I want a few cushions and a throw and I'm balking at 15 quid a pop, then I'm pretty sure a machine is out of the question.
Given my previous failure at sewing I'm somewhat nervous about undertaking something like this, particularly (probably) taking the harder option and doing it by hand. (Although that being said I could've burned water two years ago and I'm a pretty competent cook now) Is this completely unrealistic? Does anyone have any advice (including where to start, what equipment is really essential, what kind of expense I'm talking about for setup, etc?
The reason I'm asking is that I really want to decorate my flat- at the moment it's all incredibly monochrome (white) and I'm sick of the showhome (plus clutter) look. I've lived here nearly a year now, it's time to make this place more my home. I thought about scatter cushions for my bed and lounge (and possibly other things), but all the places I've been looking either don't have things to match my tastes, or are hideously expensive, or both- mostly . (I don't see how a mass produced cushion cover made out of fairly ordinary materials can possibly be worth 15 quid, let alone more) I've also been looking on Ebay, Etsy, and Folksy, and found similarly that anything I even remotely like is way outside my (student) price range. Have also done a bit of looking in charity shops, also to no avail (taste rather than budget wise).
Most of the guides to sewing online seem to be aimed at someone with a machine- but if I want a few cushions and a throw and I'm balking at 15 quid a pop, then I'm pretty sure a machine is out of the question.
Given my previous failure at sewing I'm somewhat nervous about undertaking something like this, particularly (probably) taking the harder option and doing it by hand. (Although that being said I could've burned water two years ago and I'm a pretty competent cook now) Is this completely unrealistic? Does anyone have any advice (including where to start, what equipment is really essential, what kind of expense I'm talking about for setup, etc?