Finishing the Form Cushion – Stage One
Corner of the Form
When I’d finished the stitching of the canvaswork for the Form Cushion, it was a little puffy and warped, and badly in need of blocking, but being long and thin I had nothing suitable for blocking it on. Until I had an inspiration – use the form itself!
We covered the form with an old towel, and then worked on alternate sides of the form. I’ve put an old length of cotton curtain header over the canvas, so that when I come to remove the staples, it will be fairly easy to do.
In theory…
It took quite a lot of heaving and tweaking, and the combined efforts of my mother and myself (for a client, she’s having to put a lot of effort in here, isn’t she! – she’s started on renovating the form too.), but in due course we managed to get the canvas firmly attached, and stood back to look at it.
Taking The Long View
It didn’t look nice and smooth as it does here. It was bumpy and lumpy, and not very happy at all.
So I steamed it gently, using a steam iron but not letting it touch the wool. Very, very carefully, and slowly..
It started looking a great deal better (even upside-down), but then we set it aside, still stapled in place, for a few weeks. We wanted to be sure that it was very thoroughly dry before we moved on to actually making the cushion.
And besides, I’m not entirely clear on the type of cushion it will be!
phew..seems to be too much of work. Are you going to start the cushion right away?
Blocking is one of my least favourite activities, be it embroidery or knitting. Still, I love the finished appearence and I’m sure this piece will look wonderful when you take it pf the block.
It might have been a lot of work, but it was definitely worth it!
I don’t think I’ve ever tried blocking. I seem to have managed to avoid it so far.
Oo – I love that pattern!
Sounds like hard work but definitely worth the effort. xx
This sounds like hard work! It’s a good thing you had your client on hand to help you out by the sounds of things 😊 I can’t wait to see you make it into a cushion – I’m intrigued!
Where there’s a will, there’s a way – it looks wonderful!
That was a genius idea to block it on the form!
Great idea! Its beautiful!
But it looks like you’ve blocked it wrong side out! Or are my eyes just going bad?
It is so interesting to learn the techniques that go into other forms of stitchery that I don’t do. This looks lovely.
Beautiful pattern and colour. Worth the effort to make it,
What a good idea to use the form itself!
Blocking is my least favorite part of any project whether it’s embroidery, knitting or crochet.
Thanks so much for linking up to last week’s Stitchery Link Party. Aloha hugs!
a landscape of stitch, fascinating to examine with the varied colour. Great improvisation with the blocking too….