Kaye Pyke's Classic Cushions

"Kaye Pyke's Classic Cushions" will show the average sewer how to turn basic scraps of fabric and trim into a pillow with a designer label (your own!). An expensive sewing machine is not necessary - all the pillows are made with straight stitch and a zigzag finish. Here are all Kaye Pyke's special effects such as putting a satin picture in the middle of a cushion, or a piece of tapestry, or a piece of hand-painted enamel, or a crest. For the avid embroiderers there are more original Kaye Pyke designs for cushions - or anything else!

A visit to any home-decorating store reveals the popularity of pillows as accessories. Pyke operates an Australian shop specializing in elegant embroidery and cushion kits. This handsome manual includes a bevy of designs by Pyke and her coauthors, together with instructions for basic stitching and sewing techniques. Color photographs show lovely bedrooms and sitting rooms adorned with taffeta, velvet, brocade, and lavishly embroidered cushions, providing plenty of ideas as well as actual patterns to study and undertake. Many of these pillows involve advanced techniques, but their heirloom ambience is worth the extra effort. Alice Joyce