How to finish a needlepoint pillow

The choices, in plain words

• Knife edge. The front and back are sewn straight together and meet in a single edge.
• Boxed. A strip of fabric, the gusset, is sewn between front and back, so the pillow has depth. One finisher notes a boxed pillow has no "dog ear" corners. Another says round pillows should always be boxed, and that boxed pillows cost more than knife edge ones.
• Inset. A frame of fabric is sewn around the needlepoint, which makes a larger pillow from a small canvas. One finisher says the stitching is distorted less by the stuffing this way, and one shop recommends it. With no inset, the needlepoint runs to the edge.
• Welt or piping. A cord wrapped in fabric, sewn into the edge. A self welt uses the same fabric as the pillow, a contrast welt a different one. One designer who has used several finishers says this is the trim most often seen on a needlepoint pillow.
• Cording. Twisted cord at the edge instead of a welt. The same designer says it is less common and is often an extra expense. One finisher says bought trim must be one continuous piece with a lip or flange, so it can be sewn into the seam.
• Other trims. Fringe, ruffles, tassels and pom poms.

Zipper or sewn shut? Finishers differ. One finishes all its pillows without zippers. Another puts a hidden zipper and a pillow form in any pillow over 10 by 10 inches (25 by 25 cm). A kit maker says a zipper is only needed if you expect to take the cover off.

Backing fabric. Makers and finishers name velvet, silk, cotton and linen. One shop asks for decorator weight fabric if you send your own, and one shop asks customers to supply all fabric and trim.

Before it is finished

Extra rows. One teacher stitches two rows of continental stitch around the whole design as a seam allowance. One shop requires two extra rows on each side for a pillow with no inset, and says most of its other finishes need none. Ask before you stitch the edge.

Block it. The canvas has to be flat and square before it is sewn. Block it yourself or let the finisher do it.

What size insert

Advice differs, so decide how full you want the pillow.

• One needlepoint teacher makes the needlepoint the same size as the pillow form, plus the two seam rows.
• A kit maker says to match the finished needlepoint, or go slightly larger for a fuller look.
• A maker of pillow covers says insert makers recommend an insert 1 inch (2.5 cm) larger than a cover under 18 inches (46 cm), and 2 inches (5 cm) larger for 18 inches and over.

The cover maker explains what goes wrong either way. Too small an insert leaves the pillow saggy and loose. Too large an insert is bulky and strains the seams and the zipper.

Ready-made forms are usually square and come in set sizes. One finisher stocks 12, 15, 18, 20 and 22 inch squares (30, 38, 46, 51 and 56 cm). If you have not started stitching, it is worth choosing the form first and sizing the design to it. For round, cylinder, triangle and other shapes, one teacher uses polyester fill, a loose fiber that can be shaped into any form.

Finishing it yourself

This is a knife edge pillow with no inset and no zipper, sewn shut by hand. If your backing has a zipper sewn in, read the note on zippers below the steps before you cut anything. These steps use a sewing machine. The seam can also be sewn by hand, in back stitch.

You need the blocked needlepoint, backing fabric, a pillow form, pins, scissors, sewing thread, a hand sewing needle and a sewing machine, with a zipper or piping foot if you add piping. Piping is optional. If you add it, it has to go round all four sides with some to spare for the join in step 3. Measure it against the edge of the needlepoint before cutting it. For the back, use a medium-weight furnishing fabric with a tight weave, so that it does not fray. Pure cotton is easy to work with.

One seam line. Every seam here is sewn on the same line, the outer edge of the design. If you stitched the two seam rows, the line runs between those rows and the design, and the rows turn to the inside. If you did not, the line is right against the last row of stitches. Without seam rows nothing is spare: a seam sewn further out shows bare canvas, and a seam sewn further in takes a row of the design.

Corners can be sewn square or eased into a soft curve. The choice is made when the piping goes on in step 3 and when the seam is sewn in step 6. At a curved corner the seam leaves the line and cuts across the corner of the design, so the corner of the design turns to the inside. Designs built on exact squares, such as four-way bargello and plaids, may not suit rounded corners.

1. Trim the canvas. If you want the two seam rows, stitch them before you trim. Trim only when the piece is dry and square and is going to be a pillow. The cut cannot be undone, and blocking the piece again or framing it would need the margin. Cut the bare canvas of the blocked piece down to a margin of 5/8 inch (1.6 cm) beyond the stitching on every side. Leave no less than half an inch (1.3 cm). If the cut edge might fray, sew over it with a zigzag stitch or overlock it.
2. Cut the backing. If your backing has a zipper sewn in, do not cut it: read the note on zippers below the steps first. Otherwise cut the backing to the same size as the trimmed canvas.
3. Add piping, if you want it. First trim a little of the filling out of one end of the piping and try the other end in it: that is how the two ends will join. Lay the piping on the right side of the needlepoint, with the cord lying on the stitching and its flat edge toward the cut edge of the canvas. Put the trimmed end in the middle of one side. Pin the piping along the seam line, close enough that no bare canvas shows, and sew it on, beginning at the trimmed end. At a corner, cut only the piping's fabric, stopping short of its line of stitching, and never the canvas under it. At each square corner, stop with the needle down, clip into the piping's flat edge so it can turn, and pivot. For a curved corner, make small cuts in the piping instead. When the sewing comes round to the other end, cut off any spare beyond what tucks into the trimmed end, tuck it in, and sew to secure the join.
4. Check the piping. If you added piping, turn the piece over and check that the line of machine sewing runs along the seam line all the way round. Then fold the piping outward, as it will lie on the finished pillow, and look from the front for bare canvas between piping and stitching. Where canvas shows, sew the piping on again there, on the seam line. Correct the piping seam at this point: it cannot be corrected at the end.
5. Pin the back on. If there is piping, first lay it back as it was sewn in step 3, with the cord lying on the stitching. Then lay the needlepoint and the backing fabric right sides together, with their edges matching and the piping between the two layers, and pin the edges.
6. Sew the seam. Sew with the needlepoint on top, so that you can see the stitching, or the line of machine sewing that holds the piping. Sew on the seam line, close to the piping if there is one, so that no blank canvas shows on the finished pillow. Leave a gap for the form along the bottom edge, with every corner sewn: begin on the bottom edge 1 inch (2.5 cm) from a corner, sew to that corner and on round the other three sides, pivoting at each square corner with the needle down, and finish on the bottom edge 1 inch (2.5 cm) past the last corner. Backstitch at both ends of the seam.
7. Leave the margin as it is. Cut nothing more once the seam is sewn. Trimming a seam allowance can make a cushion less durable.
8. Turn it right side out through the gap and push out the corners. Check that no bare canvas shows. If it does on a pillow without piping, correct it at this point, before the cover is filled: turn the cover back and sew that part of the step 6 seam again, on the seam line. If canvas shows beside piping, take the cover to a finisher.
9. Fill it. Put in the form. Turn the seam allowances of the gap to the inside and sew it shut by hand.

A zipper. These steps are for a pillow sewn shut. A zipper goes into the backing before the back is pinned on. Set down the middle of the back, with the backing cut as two halves, it keeps out of the side seam, where needlepoint and backing fabric differ in weight and thickness and the two sides of a zipper are hard to line up. Backing fabric is also sold with a zipper already sewn in. A backing like that is not cut to size in step 2. Fitting a zipper, or sewing up a cover that has one, is work for a seamstress or a finisher.

Sending it to a finisher

Finishers quote months for a pillow. Published turnarounds run from about three months to nine months.

So Christmas deadlines come early. Finishers set their own deadlines, often months before Christmas. The deadlines three shops published for one Christmas, each covering pillows, fell between about four months and nearly nine months before it. None is a promise: one shop says its dates are a guide and may change. A pillow sent in after a finisher's deadline may not be back for that Christmas. Ask your own finisher for this year's date.

Two finishers publish a starting price for a pillow, of about $125 to $150. One charges less if you supply the fabric and trim, and the size of the canvas and the choices made decide the final cost. Ask for an estimate before work starts.

What to ask:

• Knife edge or boxed? If boxed, how deep is the gusset?
• Inset or not, and how wide?
• Welt, cord or another trim? Self or contrast?
• Zipper or sewn shut?
• What insert, and what size against the cover?
• Do you want extra rows, and how many?
• May I send my own fabric, and how much do you need?
• What is the turnaround now, and what is the deadline for Christmas?
• What will it cost?

If you say "finisher's choice", the finisher picks the fabric and trim. For finishing in general, see needlepoint finishing. For other pieces, see how to finish a stocking, how to finish an ornament and how to frame needlepoint.