Sewing up a Needlepoint Pincushion

These two small canvas work pincushions were worked on a small scrap of canvas I had left over from another project. I bound the edges of the canvas with masking tape to prevent the threads from snagging as I worked and then I marked the centre of each pincushion with a tacking thread.  I didn't bind the top because its the selvage and it won't snag.

The threads I used are Caron Watercolours. Its a 3 ply thread and I split it and used 2 strands for the pincushion on the left, and only 1 thread for the outer rows of stitching on the other pincushion. You can see a close up picture in my previous post 'Canvas Work Pincushion'.

To finish off the pincushions I chose a cotton patchwork fabric for the backs.

Sometimes when I make up a canvas work pincushion I prepare it by doing an extra round of half cross stitch. I do this once I have finished embroidering the design. The idea is that when you stitch the canvas to the backing fabric, you 'stitch in the ditch' between the the last row of the design (which is satin stitch on these pincushions) and the row of half cross stitch.

When the pincushion has been turned this extra row of stitches helps to stop a line of bare canvas from showing around the sides of the pincushion.

I trimmed the canvas and cut off the corners before I turned it.

Then I stuffed the pincushion with a polyester cushion stuffing and stitched it up using ladder stitch.

And here they are...

It's a quick, fun little project to do. It's also ideal for you if you haven't tried doing needlepoint before. I will post a free pattern with a stitch guide in my next post if all goes according to plan.