First sewing attempt in a while

[Rochelaise18]

I haven't done any sewing for a long time. I used to be pretty good with it at school, but stopped for a number of years. I decided to get back into it a while back after finding some fabric I'd bought and forgotten about. I had a think about what to do and decided on something simple to get myself back into it. So I made a small cushion. Think I need a bit more practice.

That looks fantastic, hand stitch or sewing machine? I'm attempting to make a cushion for my daughter's room using quilting patches.

Good place to start, and that fabric looks slippery which doesn't make the job easier!

Thanks.
@Frenchfancy it was. I seem to have a habit of, when not sewing with cotton, finding really slippy fabrics to sew with! But I like the feel of satin and velvets, so...
@DinosaursWouldEatYou it was with a sewing machine. I was mainly trying to see if it was good for sewing the likes of satin. There was a lot of swearing involved as it was a vintage machine without a manual and I had to download one just to find out how to insert the bobbin once threaded.
I now have a new machine (still use the vintage for sewing some cotton items) and made a few velvet cushions with the new one:

“There was a lot of swearing involved....”
They look great! Enjoy the sewing (again)- and the fabric shopping!

Ooh yes- fabric shopping is the best!

For a first go in a while then you have done really well - also as you say you didn't pick the easiest of fabrics to dive back into it with - so kudos to you for just going for it.

For fabrics with nap, silks, stretch fabrics there are a few tips and tricks to make the air less blue - as you are battling two things the fabric against the feed dogs and presser foot - but most importantly the slidey shiny sides facing each other - that is why you often end up with mis-matched pieces when you get to the end of the line - as all of those are fighting against each other and you are fighting with them - so lets figure better ways to make it a fair fight !!
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If you want to work with this fabric again - I can send you my top tips - as I run a sewing school so can pass on my wisdom.

Most importantly - don't be put off - keep practising - to put things into perspective - think back to what it was like the first time you drove a car !!

PS - love my vintage machines - I even go back to hand crank machines when doing the finishing sewing for lingerie or corsets.

I have lots of sewing guides and manuals for vintage machines that I can share with you - as the different makes have their own little foibles - if I don't have them - then be very wary about what you download - and quite frankly there are a lot of crooks out there that will ask you to pay a lot of money for a freely downloaded PDF.

Happy to share what I have - as for a lot of these the copyright has expired - so I won't be infringing our laws.

@JaneHitch the swearing was at the sewing machine and came while trying to get it to pick the bobbin thread up. It gets more frustrating when you've checked, double-checked and triple checked the manual you downloaded and followed the instructions perfectly but it refuses to cooperate! I eventually tried the spare shuttle and that worked perfectly, so can only conclude that a previous owner did something to knacker the one they fitted.