Transforming a finished and blocked piece of needlepoint into a pillow with well-shaped edges is a beautiful way to display your handwork.
Items Needed:
Sewing machine and thread
Backing fabric
Pillow form or polyester fiberfill for stuffing.
Start by trimming down the excess canvas around all four outside edges to within 1/2 inch of the worked design to prepare the pillow front. This 1/2 inch will be your seam allowance. Using the trimmed needlepoint piece as a pattern, cut a piece of backing fabric the same size as the pillow front.
Place the pillow front and the pillow back together, having their right sides facing. Begin Stitching in-the-ditch along the bottom edge, 1-inch from the corner closest to you. When you reach the next corner, place the machine needle in the "down" position, pivot the fabric and stitch in-the-ditch along the next edge.
Repeat until you are back at the bottom edge, stitching 1-inch from the final corner. You will now have an open area long the bottom edge of the pillow.
Clip the corners to within 1/4 inch of the machine stitching line - do not cut through the machine stitching line. Clipping the corners reduces the bulk, eliminating rounded corners for a more professional-looking finish.