Hello. My name is Pepper and I’m a Knitty Gritty addict.
I saw this cool reverse applique technique on Vickie Howell’s show the other day where you take two pieces of knitted fabric and use a sewing machine to “applique” a design on, and then you cut out the top piece to reveal the bottom piece of fabric. OK, so it was a nifty technique, but I’m not so sure I would ever want to do it again. It’s a lot of work to knit two full pillow covers only to cut one of them up. Plus, I sort of screwed up and put the stabilizer on the wrong side and ended up spending ages pulling bits of the paper out of the stitch border with tweezers… ayie!
In an ode to my geekiness, I decided to create a Rebel Alliance Reverse Applique Pillow:
Buttons covered in satin ribbon, by moi:
“blocking”… so, acrylics don’t really need to be blocked, but these at least needed to be straightened out before I sewed them together.
yarn details:
Red Heart Soft in Wine
worsted weight
100% acrylic
142 grams/256 yds per ball @ $2.99 each
Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Buttercup
worsted weight
20% wool, 70% acrylic, 10% polyester
70 grams/162 yards per ball @ $2.99 each
findings
14” pillow form, $5 at Joann’s
self-cover button set, $0.99 at Zim’s
satin ribbon, $0.99 at Joann’s
pattern details
based on “fleur de lis pillow” by Allison Whitlock (from Uncommon Threads!)
needles: size 6 straights
gauge: not important, per se
time: 40 hours? (seriously, it took forever)
yarn used: 1.25 balls of the Red Heart, maybe 1/2 of the Wool-Ease
total cost: >$11
modifications
-obviously, I changed the design from a fleur de lis to a rebel alliance logo
– My inside panel is reverse stockinette and the outer panel in stockinette – I just thought this added more visual interest
– I ditched the border because, frankly, I wanted this project to be over already!
notes
-were I to use this technique again I would most definitely up the yarn weight to bulky and use at least size 10 needles; it was way too tedious to knit the whole thing up on small needles at a tight gauge only to cut it up! Arg!
– I needed to make my back panels at least an inch longer. I disguised this in the pic, but the seam pulls at the buttons just like a tight shirt on Pam Anderson and my pillow form is exposed!
– Do not make the same mistake I did of sewing the stabilizer on the front (red side) of the pillow instead of the back (yellow side).
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