DIY Pillow Covers and Another Cozy Mystery Book Recommendation

Hi there! Remember the pillow covers I was going to make? Well, here they are...

I'm not going to lie. It wasn't pretty. There might have even been some tears involved. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we don't really have some of the standard sewing tools. Like a good pair of scissors, for example. My old scissors made for a jagged cut on the fabric right off the bat. 

The lady in the pillow cover tutorial I watched had this neat little tool. I think it was just a mini iron. After she folded the fabric over for a hem, she rolled this little thingy over it and it kind of ironed it down in place. I think it was plugged in. Anyway, it sure would have made it easier to hold down the fabric while you pinned it. I could have just gotten out my iron, but I didn't want to mess with that big ol' thing. :) She also had a neat little fabric cutting tool that cut through it like butter. Oh my...I just know y'all are laughing at my lack of sewing knowledge! Ha ha! 

 The hardest part was learning how to get the bobbin and spool of thread started. The thread had to go through a whole maze (up, down, over, left) just to get it where it needed to be. If I sewed every week, I'd probably have it down pat in no time, but as little as I plan on doing it, it's going to be difficult every time. 

In the pic below, I turned the pillow over and pulled apart the "envelope" part to show how it's made. There's just this little opening where the fabric overlaps to stuff the pillow into. I still can't believe I made these. Well, with LOTS of help and instruction from my hubby. :)

I do like how they add a pop of orange and fall-like color to my living room. 

I think they compliment my cable knit pillows perfectly. 

Okay, enough about sewing. I don't know if any of you even read "cozy mysteries" but just in case, I had to share these with you. The author is Kate Borden and there are three in the series. "Death of a Tart", "Death of a Trickster", and "Death of a Turkey".

My mom bought these from Abe Books (click HERE to go to their site) so we could have a copy to share. I had her text me this pic to show you what the covers look like...

FYI, if you're ever looking for an out of print, or hard to find book, check Abe Books. They've always had what I'm looking for. 

Anyway, these books were available at my local library, so hopefully yours will have them too. However, we liked them so much, we wanted to purchase a set to re-read over and over. :) 

You can click HERE to go to the author's page on the Fantastic Fiction website where you'll see a description of each book. Do y'all know about the Fantastic Fiction site? It's a wonderful resource for looking up books, authors, etc. It lists the books of a series in order and gives a brief description of each. It also recommends other authors based on the one you searched. I've found so many new books/series to read from this site. 

This series by Kate Borden is definitely a cozy mystery in my opinion. The main character, Peggy Jean Turner, is the mayor of her small New England town and also owns a hardware store. There's not a lot of blood and gore and it takes place in a charming, picturesque town with lots of every day things going on that we can all relate to. This is hands down, one of my favorite cozy mystery series. :)

If you're interested, you can click HERE to see my post where I list some of my favorite cozies. I definitely need to add the Kate Borden series to that list. 

~Lisa