Molly's Sketchbook: Sampler Pillows
One of my all time favorite craft books is The Constance Howard Book of Stitches. I find it a never ending inspiration. All of the pictures in the book are in black and white but they show the most creative embroidery stitches and opened me up to the idea of two (or more) color embroidery, which is something I'd never really thought of before.
After experimenting with two color embroidery and finding my favorite stitches I wanted a project to show them off. I love my vintage embroidered pillow cases (you can see them in this picture of my Around the Wool Blanket ) so I decided to make a modern version of them on some earthy linen pillow cases. Instead of embroidering something traditional like flowers I just sewed many lines using different stitches. I like to think of them as embroidery samplers in action!
If you'd like to learn some of these exciting new stitches check out my Two Color Embroidery Tutorial.
And if you'd like to make some Sampler Pillows using your new stitch skills just keep reading! -Molly
Materials
- Two 100% linen pillow cases, one in cream and one in natural. Joelle found these at Muji a neat Japanese home goods store in SoHo.
- Ten Balls of Valdani embroidery thread in earthy tones (with a couple bright accents)
- A water soluble Clover fabric marker
- A white Chaco Liner (or a piece of tailors chalk)
Marking
First and most importantly, iron your pillow cases: Spray them with thoroughly water and then press them with a very very hot iron. Joelle calls this the "soak and fry" method. Since linen wrinkles so easily this is a crucial step.
Next, using your fabric maker or chalk, mark a line 2 inches in from the pillow opening along the whole length of the pillow case. Mark the next line 1 3/4" inches in from the first line. Mark your final line 1" from the second line.
The second pillow case is marked slightly differently:
Mark 1 1/2" in from the edge. Then mark 3/4" in from that line. Finally mark 2" from the second line.
(A 6.5"X 24.5" rotary ruler makes marking these pillow cases really easy!)
Embroidery
Embroider down the full length of the marked lines using a different stitch for each line from my Two Color Embroidery Tutorial.
The stitches pictured above are (from bottom to top):
Double Threaded Hourglass
Threaded Herringbone
Asterisk
Basic Weaving
Pekinese
Wrapped Ribs
When you're done make sure to spray away the marked lines and iron the pillow cases again.
August 6, 2008
Reader Comments (10)
the pillowcases were pre made. They're from a shop called Muji, you can find it online here:
http://www.muji.com/
Linen is really nice to sleep on and it gets softer and softer everytime you wash it.
Unfortunately, Muji doesn't sell online in the States. It's hard to come by nice linen pillow cases without a deep casing - these look perfect for extra embellishment.
This is wonderful tutorial, and the cases look fun to work! Neat stitches, nice colors!
Thanks!!
Hugs,
Kerry
Yes, cotton cases will work. Cotton is great for embroidery, a blend of linen cotton would be nice too. Good luck!
Love your designs and I am so happy to happen upon your site!