Molly's Sketchbook: Finishing a Needlepoint Pillow
We are so happy to announce that we just received another big, beautiful shipment of the gorgeous Charley Harper needlepoint canvases. As you may already know we love these canvases, and judging from the overwhelming response we got when we announced that we were carrying them last month, we think you might too! Charley Harper was an incredible painter and illustrator whose graphic, nature inspired work translates perfectly to needlepoint.
Since we first got these canvases in I've learned to needlepoint and it's really fun and simple (if you'd like a little lesson please check out our previous needlepoint post here). I've done two canvases so far:
This one is called Rainforest Birds (I actually just did the background for this one, Joelle and Nikki did the rest!) if you visit our shop in New York you can see it hanging near the front window.
This is my second canvas, called "Baffling Belly" (which I did all by myself!). This canvas is a nice do-able size, about 14-inches tall by 9-inches wide, the mesh size is 13:1 (which means 13 stitches to 1-inch). I love the striking graphic quality of the stripes. Doing the stitching does take some time, but it's very satisfying when you're done to have such a beautiful piece.
Since I was so pound of this canvas I wanted to finish it by making it into something that I could look at and live with everyday. I liked the idea of making it into a pillow since that seemed both practical and pretty, but I was really afraid that I was going to mess up all my time consuming needlepointing work. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Once I jumped in and got started I realized that sewing a finished canvas into a pillow is just about as easy as sewing any simple pillow, and it was a quick process, especially when compared to the time it took to actually stitch the canvas! Most importantly it turned the flat canvas into something to live with and enjoy.
If you'd like learn how to make a pillow out of a finished needlepoint canvas please visit my Finishing a Needlepoint Pillow Project Journal. Thanks! -- Molly
P.S. If you need some basic needlepointing instructions please click here. And don't forget to check out all of the beautiful canvases we have here.
September 4, 2009 | purl bee | Print | Email Article | Share | in Charley Harper, Gifts, Home, Molly's Sketchbook, Needlepoint, Paternayan Yarn | 13 Comments
Reader Comments (13)
Best - M
The cost of the canvas actually does not include yarn. We are aware that they are indeed expensive, but the reason for the high cost is because the canvases are hand painted. Our less expensive canvases ($50-range) are small, and they are painted on a large mesh canvas, with 13 stitches to 1 inch. The more expensive canvases are large and are painted on a very fine mesh canvas of 18 stitches to 1 inch. No matter what the size of the overall canvas or the scale of the mesh, each intersection of the mesh has to be painted the correct color, so the process of painting them is quite time consuming. I hope this clarifies the issue for you.
Thanks for your question,
Joelle
Best, M