Can I embroider on a pillow?
Yes, you can embroider on a pillow, and pillows are a great way to add personalized designs, names, monograms, or decorative embroidery to your home.
Choose the Right Design
Most filled and appliqué embroidery designs can be used on pillow fabric. Choose a design that matches the fabric and avoid extremely dense designs on lightweight or stretchy materials.
Use the Proper Stabilizer
Using the proper stabilizer helps keep the fabric from shifting, stretching, or puckering while the design is being stitched.
Consider the Pillow Fabric
Cotton, linen, canvas, and other stable fabrics are generally easy to embroider. Stretchy, slippery, or very lightweight fabrics may require additional support.
Embroider Before Assembly
If you are making a pillow from separate fabric pieces, embroider the design before sewing the pillow together. This makes hooping much easier and helps prevent accidentally stitching through both sides.
Test the Design First
Test the design on a scrap piece of the same or similar fabric. This gives you a chance to check the design size, stitch density, thread colors, and overall appearance.
Quick Checklist
- Choose a design appropriate for the pillow fabric.
- Use the proper stabilizer.
- Embroider the fabric before assembling the pillow when possible.
- Avoid overly dense designs on delicate fabrics.
- Test the design before stitching the final pillow.
Best Tip
If you're making a pillow from scratch, embroider the front piece before sewing it together. This is usually much easier than trying to hoop a finished pillow.
Source of information: With over 200,000 customers and a private Facebook group with more than 2,000 members, we have heard just about every embroidery question and troubleshooting problem you can imagine. This question has come to us directly from customers by email, through our Facebook page, and in our private Facebook group.
Have another question? See all the answers in our machine embroidery designs FAQ.