Heart's Ease Examplar Workes

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all staying safe and well and getting plenty of stitching done. It's been a busy time for me but I thank you for your patience in getting these instructions ready. Today I am posting assembly instructions for the Beelieve Sewing Set. First up -- the box style pincushion.

FINISHING: BEELIEVE PINCUSHION (Box Style)

Below are pictures of the box style pincushion for the Beelieve Sewing Set. I want to preface my finishing description by stating first that I am NOT a professional finisher. I’ve been sewing since I was a teenager and have a general knowledge of how to put things together, but if you have a better way to assemble this piece or any of the pieces in the set, please feel free to do so. If you'd like, sharing it in the comment section of the blog would be most convenient for everyone and, I'm sure, most appreciated. Thanks.

Pictures of finished pincushion:

Although the chart is designed using just cross stitch and petite stitch (for signature block on the back), I used a few specialty stitches in my piece. They include: Spiral Trellis (flower center); Closed Herringbone (grass and border); and Smyrna Cross (basket). I encourage everyone to try some specialty stitches of their own choice when stitching their piece.

Finishing materials needed for the entire set: (1) lightweight fusible interfacing; (2) Skirtex; (3) polyester fiber fill; (4) thin cotton quilt batting (such as Warm & Natural); and (5) thread to match the backstitching for joining purposes. You will also need enough thread to create twisted cording for the scissors fobs.

The assembly of this sewing set is not suitable for machine stitching and must be hand stitched to control accuracy of the placement of joining stitches (ladder stitch) used to sew your pieces together. Lightly press the stitched fabric prior to cutting out the pieces. It is recommended that all cutting be done at the same time to avoid confusion about seam allowances which, in our case, would be 1/4" away from backstitched edge and nun-stitched edges. I am going to explain the way I finished my piece in basic terms, but to see an in depth tutorial on how to construct the box pincushion with helpful pictures, please go to this site on the internet:

Lynn's Cross Stitch Tutorials

NOTE - Basting: I tend to do a lot of basting when I assemble my pieces. It helps to hold the Skirtex and thin cotton batting in place without having them shift around while assembling. I start my basting from the outside (right side of stitching) and randomly take long stitches to secure the materials together. Once the entire piece is sewn together, stuffed and stuffing hole closed, I remove all the basting thread by grabbing the big knotted end(s) and carefully pull the basting threads out.

BOX PINCUSHION: After pressing the stitched fabric, slightly trim 1/4" seam allowance around all pieces to decrease bulk in the seams. Iron the lightweight interfacing onto the back (wrong side) of each panel to fit just within the backstitched border. Cut four (4) pieces of Skirtex to fit just inside the backstitched border of each of the side panels of the pincushion. The Skirtex will give additional support to the sides and give the pincushion clean, sharp edges. (See Diagram 1).

DIAGRAM 1

After cutting the Skirtex to fit, place it on the WRONG side of your stitching and baste in place. Do this for all four side panels.

For the top and bottom of pincushion, cut 4 squares of light cotton batting (such as Warm & Natural) to fit just inside the backstitched border (2 for top, 2 for bottom), place on the WRONG side of the pieces and, starting from the RIGHT side of your piece, baste in place. The batting gives a smooth, plump profile to the finished piece and hides any lumps that may appear from the polyester stuffing. After you’ve basted the Skirtex and batting in place, fold your seam edges over onto the wrong side of all the pieces and lightly press. Picture below shows the inside of the top and sides “joined” so you can see the basted Skirtex and cotton batting in place.

Now you are ready to start joining the panels together. Start with the top panel and one of the side panels. With raw edges folded under, line up the backstitched border and butt it up to the back stitched border of the other piece, making sure each backstitch lines up with the backstitch on the other piece. Thread a tapestry needle with one strand of thread that matches the back stitches and anchor the floss under the folded seam allowance at the upper left corner of the top panel. (See Diagram 3 and 3A) Bring your working thread through the fabric next to the first backstitch. Starting with the first backstitches on each piece, use the ladder stitch (or whip stitch) to join the two sides together. See Ladder Stitch diagram.

Continue joining, making sure you go through the adjacent back stitches until you get to the bottom. Attach the next piece at the bottom making sure the corner points meet, and continue joining the pieces together until you get them all attached.

DIAGRAM 3

DIAGRAM 3A

Once the sides are attached to the top, butt the folded ends of the side panels up against each other so that the backstitches line up. Starting at the join at the top of the corner, proceed to stitch each corner together with the ladder stitch. See photo below.

After all the sides are stitched together you will join the bottom of the pincushion to the rest of the piece with the ladder stitch. You will need to leave an opening to be able to insert the polyester fiber (see diagram below). Once it is stuffed (and don’t be afraid to stuff it full) to your satisfaction, close the opening with the ladder stitch, making sure you line up the backstitches as you do so.