New eyes....

Sometimes when I see something again after a long time of not noticing it or not looking at it, it's almost like looking at it with a new pair of eyes. I notice things that I previously may have overlooked, new parts become my favourites, and something that I may have loved at first, now seems ordinary. This is how I feel about my pillow tops. I took some pictures and pasted them below...




I have only ever sewn together one hooked pillow before...and it's likely that the trouble I experienced at that time is the reason why I have delayed finishing these two pillows until now ;-)

For these two, I serged around the outside, as close as my serger would allow (about 3/4" from the last row of hooking). After finding some wool for the backs, I cut a piece about the same width as my pillow (including the 3/4" of unhooked backing on all sides) and 1 1/2" longer than the length. I then ripped this piece of wool in half before ironing (fusible knit) interfacing onto the wrong side of both pieces of wool. That was as far as I could go...I had to ask my mum to sew in an invisible zipper to join the two pieces (I have never learned how to sew in a zipper, but I promise I will learn when I get a new sewing machine ;-) ). The zipper is sewn into place about 1 1/2" from the edges. The zippers were too long, but the shorter ones for pants are too short (trust me!). I am eventually going to glue a new end and cut the excess off.


With the back face down, I placed the "top" on top, with the hooking face-up. Since my hooking is not perfectly square, I trimmed the excess wool (so that the pillow top and back are the same size and shape). Next, I flipped both pieces over and pinned them together, before attaching them by sewing around the hooking with my zipper foot...getting as close to the hooked loops as possible without catching any loops in the stitches.

I am now ready to whip the two pieces together. Since I have so much backing and wool fabric along the border, I am not going to use any cording -- I don't think that I need it. Instead I am going to roll/fold it forward and baste it in place prior to whipping. I also trimmed the wool material in the centre seam allowance (where the zipper was sewn in), since it will be too bulky when whipped.

I am travelling all week for work...so I hope to get the whipping done in my hotel rooms at night. I will let you know how it works out and post pictures when I can.

How do you finish your pillows? I am interested to learn other techniques....