A pile of ornamental pillows enhances the look of any chair, sofa or bed. The long, wide tags attached to them, however, can be an eyesore in an otherwise well-thought-out screen. The synthetic tags have also a scratchy sense that could be uncomfortable against skin. Even though federal regulations need decorative pillow-makers to tag their products prior to sending them to shops, in contrast to urban legend, you can remove them and throw them in the trash.
Hold the tag taut with one hand. Nick the tag as near the pillow seam as possible with a set of sharp embroidery scissors, without damaging the cloth. Cut straight through the tag and remove it. When there’s a second tag, hold it taut and trim it away. This removes the majority of the tags but leaves some evidence they were attached to the seam.
Put your seam ripper beneath the stitches closest to the labels, should you wish to remove all evidence of them. Cut each stitch carefully along the seam. Tightly woven material is less prone to damage. If you’re removing seams from loosely woven textiles such as knits or chenilles, however, lift each stitch gently to confirm that no material is caught on the seam ripper before cutting the stitch. Eliminate the tags.
Sew the pillow closed using a running stitch. To start a running stitch, thread the needle and knot the thread at the finish. About 1/4 inch prior to the opening, push the needle through the cloth’s thickness to the other side. Push the needle back through the cloth around 1/16 to 1/8 inch in the first push and continue this pattern until the pillow is shut up, to about 1/4 inch past the opening. Secure your hand-done seam by fortifying the last stitch at least five times before cutting off the needle and thread. As an alternative, you can close the pillow up using a less-tidy slip stitch, essentially sewing the opening shut by rapidly looping the thread across the opening.