The @ sign was unknown to my great-grandmothers. It is probably not likely that they would have chosen to embroider SOFAGRIS (couch potato in Norwegian) on a pillow either! The shape and detail of the letters is from a lost time. If you prefer, you could replace this with another expression, e.g. Carpe Diem (seize the day). There are numerous alphabet patterns to choose from; just put together the letters that you need. A small heart at one or both ends can fill space if the pattern does not fill the entire width of the cushion.
White cotton canvas for embroidery, 9 threads per cm, approximately 8 × 42cm (31⁄4 × 163⁄4in)
White linen, 18 × 42cm (7 × 161⁄2) and 41 x 42cm (161⁄4 × 161⁄2in) for front piece, and 13 × 42cm (51⁄4 × 213⁄4in) and 53 × 42cm (213⁄4 x 163⁄4in) for the back piece
Zip 35cm (14in)
Yarn
Mouliné fine yarn:
1 skein red no. 666
1 skein pink no. 62
Find the centre of the cotton fabric and follow the diagram. Sew cross stitches over 2 × 2 threads.
Assembly:
Pull out two threads under and two threads over the red cross stitch rows. You should have two threads in-between.
Fold the linen following the thread direction, place the embroidery underneath, pin and sew the two layers together.
Sew the zip to the back piece (see Good Advice).
Place the front and back pieces right sides together, pin and sew around. Cut off excess fabric in the corners press (iron)the seams apart and reverse the work.
