Blocking and Backing the Tapestry Cushion

As The Cushion took me so long to make (closer to 13 years it turns out) I thought I would give it a little post all of its own.

Ten years of the making time were purely to finish the tapestry work. At times I would be so involved I couldn't put it down and was itching to work on it. Once I took it on holiday when we went to stay in a gite in Brittany. Another time I fantasised about working on it instead of being on holiday - we were cycling from Barra to North Uist in the Outer Hebrides one Easter week and the weather was terrible - very strong North winds and frequent hail storms, not our most enjoyable holiday. At other times the tapestry languished for months on end attached to it's frame and stored in a bin bag to keep the dust off.

Still, the tapestry work was finished three years ago, why did it take so long to do the final stage? I think I was just plain scared I'd wreck it.

Last month though I decided I'd get it ready for The Show (a deadline usually helps me get things finished).

I looked up my Kaffe Fassett Glorious Needlepoint book (old charity shop bargain!) and had a quick internet browse then set to. It was actually pretty straightforward.

First I dampened the tapestry with a wet sponge. Then I pinned it out. I laid a tea towel between the tapestry and a plywood board and am so glad I did this as the tea towel was quite stained by the board once I'd finished. Pinning out out was alittle fiddly. I found it easiest to use sturdy drawing pins and a hammer. I used a piece of A4 paper to check the corners were square and that the sides were straight. As I had worked my taperstry on a frame it was only slightly squint and didn't need too much reshaping. I guess this would be a much bigger job if the tapestry was very out of shape.

I then left it attached to the board for a few days to dry.

Next I was concerned that the green border would be too thin once it was taken up into the seam created when sewing the cushion backing on. Fortunately I had enough dark green wool left to make another row of stitching right round the edge to make it wider.

I'd already found some fabric (charity shop velvet) to use to back the cushion. I decided not to bother with a zip. If it ever go so dirty it needed cleaned I could undo the last seam to remove the cover for washing then sew it up again after.

I pinned the right sides together then started sewing. As I had an extra row round the edge I could make the stitches into this which would mean there was no risk of the white canvas showing. For the first side I did a sort of stabbed back stitch making tiny stitches. I realised this was going to take forever so for the other sides I did two overlapping lines of a running back stitch, much quicker and it seems secure enough.

Time to turn it the right way round...

Tada!

I'd bought a feather cushion pad from ebay, 2" wider & taller than the cover dimensions so that I would get a nice fat cushion. I shoved it in and sewed up the gap.

Finally it is finished.

I like the red backing, it highlights the red stitching in the tapestry and makes a nice contrast to the green front.

Now the cushion is just one of the many in the living room used to make boats/dens etc. I do watch that it doesn't get any rough treatment though, that's certainly not allowed!