How to Finish a Needlepoint Canvas

Finishing a needlepoint canvas as a pillow makes decorative home accessory.

Needlepoint is a form of embroidery created in the 16th and 17th centuries. Designed to mimic tapestry, two embroidery stitches, the continental and basket weave stitch, are stitched over canvas. Design patterns are usually printed or hand drawn onto this open weaved canvas, making the counting of stitches easy. Motifs and styles of needlepoint design include scenery, flowers, animals and still life. Needlepoint canvas projects can be finished into both decorative pillows and framed art.

Things You'll Need

• Heavy paper
• Hardboard
• Pencil
• Ruler or yard stick
• Spray bottle
• Distilled water
• Tacks or nails
• Hammer
• Foam Core (cut to fit inside frame)
• Glue gun
• Frame mat (optional)
• Frame
• Metal frame points
• Brown paper
• Frame brad
• Craft glue
• Fabric
• Scissors
• Pillow Trim
• Dressmaker’s pins
• Sewing machine
• Pillow form

Instructions

Blocking the Canvas

1. Lay out the heavy paper onto the hardboard. Draw the design outline on the paper. Use a ruler or yard stick for straight lines.

2. Wash your hands thoroughly to prevent handling the canvas with soiled or oily skin. Fill the bottle with clean distilled water and lightly spray the needlepoint until damp. Do not over spray the canvas.

3. Line up the corners of the needlepoint canvas on the drawn outline. Hammer tacks or nails approximately one inch apart to secure the canvas. Make sure your design is straight and gently stretched as you nail it in place.

4. Allow it dry before removing needlepoint canvas from the board.

Finishing as Framed Art

1. Lay the needlepoint canvas over the foam core. Wrap one side of the canvas toward the back of the foam and tack it place. Repeat with the opposite side, making sure the needlepoint design is lined up correctly on the front side.

2. Secure the canvas by applying glue gun glue to along the edge of the canvas. Let it cool before removing the tacks.

3. Wrap the remaining two sides toward the back, making sure the corners of the canvas are folded neatly. Tack down and then glue to secure the canvas to the foam core.

4. Place the optional matting in the frame followed by the needlepoint canvas. Secure the mat and canvas in place with metal frame points.

5. Cut brown paper to fit the back of the frame. Apply a thin line of craft glue to the frame’s border. Press the paper into place to give the frame back a finished appearance. Nail a frame brad in place for hanging the framed needlepoint.

Finishing as Pillow

1. Cut away the excess canvas leaving a one-inch border around the design. Measure the size of the needlepoint design.

2. Cut the piece of fabric a half-inch wider and three inches longer than the design. Cut the fabric in half across its length.

3. Press one edge of each fabric piece with a one-inch seam across the length. Lay the two fabric pieces on one another until the length matches the design length plus a half-inch. The fabric should overlap at the center to create a fold to insert the pillow form later. Pin the two pieces in place across the overlap.

4. Lay the fabric right side up and line the fabric edge up with the trim edge. Pin the trim to the fabric with pin place across the trim, not lengthwise, every one to two inches. Curve around the corners placing a pins directly at the corner. Over lap the trim ends approximately one inch, curving them toward the fabric’s edge.

5. Sew the trim in place with a quarter-inch seam, removing the pins as you sew. Pin the right sides of the needlepoint canvas and fabric together. Sew together with a quarter-inch seam.

6. Cut a curve around the corners and turn right side out through the overlapped backside of the pillow. Insert the pillow form through the overlapped back.

References

• Craftstylish: Embroiders Style Accessories with Needlepoint
• Michaels: A Brief History of Needlework
• Needlepoint-For-Fun: How to Frame Needlepoint