i finally had time (and space on my studio desk to set up the machine) to sit down and sew up the pillow.
when i first started this project, i had been excited about the idea of making it from completely recycled materials… but when i went to my stash of old clothes waiting to be remade, i found that the only thing i had that would work well with our decor was good old denim. i was a little disappointed that i couldn’t do a log cabin style pillow top around the stitched piece… but not enough to make me break out the new fabrics. so, denim it was!
i think it can out great. i like the way the faded creases and small worn spot give it character. it has a lapped back so it can be removed to wash easily.
for my birthday this year, my wonderful friend Ruth gave me a backstrap loom made from a Schact rigid heddle.here’s a pic of the heddle on it’s own…
Ruth taught me how to warp it up with TOFUtsies, and i’ve been happily learning to weave. i’m just doing a plain weave in the full width of the heddle… my selvages are atrocious! but they are getting better as i go along. i’m planning to sew this first weaving into a bag that will hold all the loom pieces or weaving in progress in the future.
i promise i will get pics of the finished weaving before and after sewing it into the bag. it’s almost finished weaving, so it shouldn’t be long now… now i’m getting excited thinking about what i should weave next…
stitching done! the finished stitched area is 3.25″ on 14 ct. aida cloth… of course, there is extra fabric around the edges to seam into the pillow. I decided to add some back stitching around the heart to make it pop more… the soft pink was too light to show up against the oatmeal background without help. now I just need to sew it into a pillow.
Below are some smaller images… the first is 200 pixels for blog buttons and the second is 100 pixels for Ravatars, etc. if you are listening to Cast On and want to use these to show your love, feel free to snag them.
the theme of the current series on Cast On podcast is Make Do and Mend… I decided to embroider it on a pillow! hehe. the chart above is my design… feel free to “borrow” it to make your own. when I get the pillow done, I’ll post the finished pics.
I’ll be using:
- some Aida cloth from my G’ma…
- embroidery floss from the huge bag of old floss my mom found at an estate sale
- a button (sewn into the heart) from my G’ma’s button box
- an old pillow salvaged off a couch that was beyond repair (as the pillow form)
- and recycled clothing strips log cabin style around the cross stitched piece
this way, I’ll have it around all the time to remind me to keep in the correct mindset!
Please! I would LOVE to know if you use this chart… leave a comment and let me know. better yet, leave a link to pictures of your wonderful work!
