What kind of machines ya' got? I got my first industrial Juki a couple years ago, and I absolutely love it! Makes me wonder what else I've been missing out on.
you generally sew all except one seam with the piece turned inside out. then you flip it and stuff it and finish that last seam. you have the edges of both sides folded inside and pinned in place, and when you pull your stitches tight it looks just like all the other seams.
Furniture samples, when someone like La-Z-Boy gets a new line of furniture they get a chain loaded up with swatches of leather to compare colors. I just grab then when they don't carry that line anymore