Finished Pillow Top...

Brynwood Needleworks - Finished Pillow Top - Wool "Stitching Travel Pillow"

We had a great weekend here at Brynwood. Handsome, the pups and I spent time together, but the two of us also worked and played. We packed and moved out a boatload lots of boxes, and then went to our dear neighbors' home for a cookout. We also had a showing on our home. All in all, it was crazy, fun, busy.

Brynwood Needleworks - Finished Pillow Top Detail

I managed to finish the pillow top, adding a needed modification and a few other personalized touches.  I'm sure you're wondering what those were, so of course, I'm happy to tell you.

First, I've always told my students that no one will ever see the pattern next to the finished work, so feel free to alter your pieces to reflect your own personality. I like to practice what I preach.

The original directions called for the initials to be located bottom right, and the scissor holder to be bottom left. The template showed the pillow edges as lines along the side of the pattern. The pattern also said to cut the ground fabric to 12" x 17". As I didn't have a ruler on the Flying Cloud, I relied on the template (with its boundary lines) to cut out my fabric. (Bad move in retrospect. Lesson learned.)

Brynwood Needleworks - Finished Pillow Top Scissor Holder Detail

More on that in a bit. I first embroidered the date on my scissor holder. I love "prim" because it looks better when things aren't exact. My personality is usually at odds with that, but I just had fun with this piece and I'm happy with the results.

I backed the wool with the same fabric I'm using for the back of the pillow and then stitched it down on the ground fabric. I placed it on the upper right side of the pillow, because of my "size fix". It created the perfect parking place for my "Big Ben" scissors (purchased at Primitive Gatherings on my last visit north). The clock face is actually the hinge!

Brynwood Needleworks - Finished Pillow Top Revision

 

By following the boundary lines on the pattern template, my pillow ended up and inch too small on both dimensions. My "fix" was to take the remnant of the matching ground fabric and join it to the length dimension. Then I took my coordinating fabric (the houndstooth blue), and joined it to the width. 

I sewed them together on my machine and then covered the seam lines with decorative stitching. Now, it measures what it should have to begin with, and my scissor holder and my initials are placed to balance the design. 

 

I'm extremely happy with the results, and now that my real estate prep work is behind us, I can play in the studio today to sew the finished top into a pillow. 

I'll show you the finished pillow tomorrow...and then I'll be starting new wallets. Two are commissions, and the rest will be for my shop. Fun times!