I finished this project in December but just managed to deliver it to its intended recipients — it was a wedding gift for Ruby Nite and her now-husband — last week. In the interim between finishing it and delivering it, the pillow lived in my office, so all my colleagues who saw me working on the embroidery during many long meetings and teleconferences also got to see the final product.
The raven and word design on the front and the thorn design on the back are hand-embroidered, mostly in a split backstitch. It’s a bit clearer on the larger version on Flickr: front, back. The actual pillow-cover construction I did on the sewing machine, though — my taste for hand-sewing doesn’t extend quite that far.
The cover is designed to come off for washing and ought to hold up through a fair number of machine cycles. I figure whenever one is making something for people with kids or dogs (they have a dog [so far]), it had better be something that can stand some chewing and some washing.
I’m pleased with how it turned out!
…and now I need a new project to keep my hands busy and my mind clear for meetings and teleconferences…
Wow! That’s gorgeous. What a perfect wedding gift. I presume you designed it yourself — it’s very cool.
Well, I wouldn’t want to take credit for having any drawing skills — the two bits of embroidery I had previously acquired as separate patterns, I think from Urban Threads which I mention with some hesitance since they’ve been accused of plagiarising smaller designers. Sublime Stitching is perhaps a more reputable source for good embroidery patterns.
All the colours and fabrics and putting it all together into a pillow kind of stuff was mine. But I cannot draw!
I have to admit, I have not brought the pillow home because I love having it on my chair at work. It’ll make it there eventually but every time I walk back to my desk and see it on my chair it brings a huge smile to my face 🙂
Thank you again Robyn, the pillow is beautiful!