Handy little Pin Cushions

Keeping your sharps safe while you work.

Pin cushions can be described as the working side of the cushion family. These are handy little cushioned tools that keeps all the sharp bits in one place while you sew.

These can be made quite easily:

Cut two squares or rounds of material and sew together, making sure you allow to the seam allowance.
Place in the filling, either wadding or poyester fibre .
Topstitch the gap closed as this will not need to be removed. There is no inner pad as the filling is put straight into the main fabric.

The designs of these cushions can be very plain or be a little work of art in themselves. Cushions made with plain material can be decorated with decorative stitches. This can be done by hand or by machine.

It is great to experiment with little bits of fabric to see what can be made.

Different Styles of Pin Cushions

The types of designs would be things that have a padded look within them such as:

The middle of a flower - This is very effective if done with patchwork templates and a mixture of colours.
A Mushroom or Toadstool - A Bit tricky to do as the stalk would need to be very short or it could be done from looking down.
A Cupcake - Some type of button, sequins or bead could be put on the top.
The shell of a snail - The swirl of the shell could be highlighted with a small chain stitch.
A Tomato,a Strawberry or any kind of fruit - This could be made into segments by sewing narrow braid on it.

These can either be free standing or,with a piece of elastic, attached to your wrist. If you attach them to your wrist then they will not get lost under any patterns or material.

Some are made in an animal shape and are handy to keep on the table beside the sewing job being done. These work very well just in a square shape but just make sure it will not topple over.

Felt is the most common fabric used to make these cushions but any strong close woven material would be just as good. The finer thinner fabrics would tend to tear or may run as the material is pierced with the pins.

These pincushions are my creation called "pots of " and what the pot is full of depends on the top fabric for example white - cream, blue - water, yellow - gold or custard, floral - flowers and red - jam.

These are available to buy on my homemade crafts page.

Enjoy designing and making yours...

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