Help me make this pillow, please

January 11, 2021 10:05 AM

I want to give a high-quality Union Jack pillow to a friend, but don't want to spend $150. This is surely within my limited needlepoint skills (I'll pay someone to put in a zipper and do the piping), but the only things I've found are a hideous boxy pillow on Makezine, a floral (?) design that's $50 for the pattern alone, and some dinky key fobs, etc. Point me in the right direction, please? Bonus gratitude for suggesting the perfect thread colors (available in US). Thanks!
posted by cyndigo to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

Here's a great website for creating cross stitch patterns from a photo. I'm not sure if it would be helpful for needlepoint, but it does include thread colors on the last page of the PDF output. https://www.pic2pat.com/index.en.php
posted by little king trashmouth at 10:29 AM on January 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

Before you start on this, I'd recommend that you calculate how much making it yourself (canvas, yarn, backing, stuffing plus the many many hours of stitching) and paying to have the zipper/piping done will cost. It is entirely possible that $150 for a ready-made one will turn out to be worth it in the end.
posted by mcduff at 10:41 AM on January 11, 2021 [20 favorites]

Here's a how-to.
posted by essexjan at 2:15 PM on January 11, 2021

If you are going to do it yourself you should note that neither your original link nor the pillow shown in essexjan’s link are accurate representations of the Union Flag — in the real flag the red diagonals are not centered in the white diagonals. This may not matter to either you or the recipient, but you should at least be aware of the fact if you are going to go to significant effort or expense.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 3:14 PM on January 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

Agreed with McDuff; I have several family members who used to do finishing work of this type and you may go over budget just for hiring that part out.

If you want to do this yourself for your own entertainment and not for cost savings, I’ve had a good experience with the materials from Herrschners, and they have needlepoint fabric and tapestry wool.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:03 PM on January 11, 2021

Response by poster: I'm happy to devote the hours as I've been wanting to get back into needlepoint.
posted by cyndigo at 8:52 AM on January 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Rather than stuffing, I'd look for a pillow form that's the right size. They're pretty inexpensive and that will cut down on your bill for skilled labor.

Plan the size of your needlepoint around the size and aspect ratio around the form, with an appropriate seam allowance.
posted by BrashTech at 9:23 AM on January 18, 2021