Hardanger Pincushion

At long last I finished the test pincushion from our stitchalong.

The sides are done separately as buttonhole-edged strips and whip-stitched onto the top and bottom.

When I first tried  to cut the excess fabric off the sides, I realized I hadn't done the buttonhole stitch but only the varied satin stitch. There was nothing to whip stitch into. So I re-stitched the sides. I had enough spare fabric and thread so I didn't bother picking out the satin stitches.

I backed the open work with medium interfacing that had been ironed onto a piece of scrap fabric so the glue didn't face out.

This sewed up in about an hour.

Now I'm ready to sew up the 'good' one.

Embroiderers who like precision and neatness would really enjoy stitching Hardanger pieces. Once the basic techniques are mastered (Kloster blocks, buttonhole stitch, wrapping bars, dove's eyes) the pieces stitch up very nicely.