I love a good modern take on a traditional project.  This idea had been brewing in my mind for a while now and this weekend I just grabbed a plain pillow cover out of the linen closet, threaded up my needle and went at it to create this modern cross stitched pillow.  As I was going, I kept getting more and more excited about how it was turning out.  It was fun and simple to do, but produced a pillow that I feel like you could snag in the hippest of minimal Scandinavian design shops.

Materials:

• Black Thread
• Plain Linen Pillow Cover
• Needle

Tools:

• Ruler
• Water Erasable Marker

First, I mapped out where I wanted the stitches to be.  I used a water erasable marker (it washes out with water) to mark my spots.

Although each row was only 1.5″ from the next, the rows were staggered, so each mark ended up being 3″ from the next mark in it’s row – vertically or horizontally.

Next, I threaded the needle with double the thread, so when folded back on itself it formed a four ply stitch.

Lastly, I stitched about a 1 com cross stitch on each mark.  It took me about an hour to complete, but it was easy and kind of cathartic.  I listed to a few of my favorite podcasts and enjoyed the process.

I think it’s adorable!  I’m excited to add it onto my couch along with a few other black and white patterns.

What do you think?  Something you’d like to give a try?  I’ve even considered making a few for the shop…