Pillows

Using my long ago learned directions for making a lap back pillow (4-H) I made five for my Texas sewing room sofa.  No ordinary pillows for the sewing room though.  I did bobbin stitching on one-it’s been about 25 years since I did that and here it is coming back in popularity. Another I sewed improv tucks on and then cut to the pillow form size.  It’s always good to renew machine embroidery knowledge and CREATE an otherwise plain background. Playing with stripes is also a good exercise in figuring measurements and proportion to create an interesting look.

If you haven’t tried bobbin work it is done by winding a thicker decorative thread by hand in your bobbin and then making tension and stitch length adjustments.  I used size 8 decorative yarn, set my tension from a normal 4.4 down to 3.0 and stitch length from a normal of 2.5 to 4.0.  Then sew on the wrong side of the fabric so the decorative stitch is on the right side.  My settings gave me a textural stitch that I liked on the linen fabric.

The improv tucks were made just as if making tucks only I paid no attention to grain or even width for tuck.  Cutting extra width is again necessary so the finished work can be trimmed to correct size after stitching.

What fun on a rainy day.