Faux Cathedral Window Pincushion - Day 14 on Pins and Needles

Sorry for the break in blogging.  I had surgery almost 2 weeks ago and as much as I tried to get ahead it was just not possible.

Today I bring you a lovely little pincushion design that is fast and easy to make. The tutorial calls for 8 different fabrics but I made mine using only 2 fabrics for a more traditional cathedral window block look.

Faux Cathedral Window Pincushion

The tutorial calls for machine sewing the turned edges but I chose to hand stitch mine along with adding a shank button on top and a regular 4 hole button on the bottom.  This little pincushion is fast and fun to make and a great way to use up scraps of fabric from other projects.

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and I hope to keep bringing you some really fun projects every week.  If you drop by leave a comment and share any pincushion ideas you may have.

Easter Pincushion - Day 10 - 100 Days on Pins and Needles

Everything around us is Easter themed right now and with that in mind I continue to find more Easter pincushions that could have more than one use.  As I mentioned in my last pincushion post the stuffed egg shaped cushions could be given to children as a fun toss game for an Easter treat instead of candy. This weeks feature has a different twist as a home decor item but could also be used as a toss game item for children as an Easter treat too.

Easter Egg Pincushion

Pincushions are not just for pins.

 Many years ago when my husband was active duty Army we spent many years in Germany.  A tradition there during the Easter season they bring in fresh branches place them in a vase and create what they call an "Easter Tree".  They decorate them with blown out eggs that are beautifully hand painted along with little wooden decorations of rabbits, and other Easter themed items.

Along with the egg shaped pincushions I already made I added a new look with a felted wool egg that is decorated with machine embroidery and has raw edges cut with pinking shears.  I also found a new design, pictured above, to add to my "tree", making mine out of felted wool.  Instead of hand embroidery and felt cutouts I did some machine embroidery designs on the "egg", added felted wool blades of grass along with machine stitched grass, a die cut flower shape embellished with a button and topped it off with a sheer ribbon for hanging. If I were making it as a child's gift I would not add buttons or any other items that could be pulled off and swallowed.

I decided to use my newly made Easter Egg pincushions to decorate my own "Easter Tree" to add to my holiday decor.

Once Easter is over you can take your decorations down and hang them in your sewing room as a cute little decor item, use them as gifts for your sewing friends or keep them and use them as pincushions for yourself.

I hope that I have given you some ideas of not only how to make some cute gift ideas but how to add seasonal fun to your home and sewing.  Take a walk down "life in the craft lane" and see what you can find to inspire your next creative project.

Tomato Pincushion - Day 8 of 100 Days on Pins and Needles

I have featured a variety of pincushions but today I thought I would showcase one that is a very traditional design. Some of us may remember our mothers or grandmothers having a similar pincushion in their sewing box full of pins and needles as they hand stitched a hem or even a quilt.  Many of us may have one like it ourselves or have even made one for ourselves.  In my collection this was one of the designs that I did not have so I decided that it was one I had to give a try.

I found a super simple "Martha Stewart"  pattern with a video tutorial using a piece of rectangular fabric cut on the bias.

Martha Stewart's Homegrown Tomato Pincushions

I made mine using scraps of green cotton flannel, but I did not cut on the bias and still got a nicely finished pincushion.  The star shape leaf section is cut out freehand using felted wool and finished off with a rust colored button.  The pattern calls for gluing the star shape leaf section on the top but I decided to use a long doll needle to stitch mine in place using the button to finish it up.  Using fabric cut on the bias would probably give you a smoother finish to the sides since it would have more "give" but I think mine came out nicely.

You could add some crushed walnut shells, decorator sand (found in craft stores in the floral section) or plastic pellets (found in a craft store and used for dolls, pillows or toys) to the base of the pincushion to give it some weight.  Add an emery filled strawberry to sharpen dull needles and you have a complete old fashioned looking set.

This pattern is an easy to do project even for a beginner.  It would make a great Girl Scout project or even a school project, of course since the use of a sewing machine is required it would be best to do with some adult supervision.

I hope that you enjoy this post and will give this pattern a try to create a variety of tomatoes in assorted sizes to fill a basket and display in your sewing room or even in your kitchen.  If you drop in to take a look, have a question, suggestion or if you decide to create your own please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Using MyThrift Store Finds

I promised last week to continue blogging about how I use all those thrift store finds from last week so here is a preview to how my latest pincushion/jewelry stand came to be. Every new project starts with a mannequin body and then I try out different items to use as a base.  Sometimes they work on the first try and sometimes they don't.

I wanted my next pincushion to look a bit modern with a sparkly glitter fabric design but still keep it looking fun. I made a trip to the Dollar Tree store on Friday and found a feather boa in the toy area and the idea came to me to use it as a skirt embellishment on my latest mannequin.  This mannequin turned into a burlesque style pincushion/jewelry stand with a tulle skirt and feather trim.  The first base did not have the look I was going for so this time it didn't work.  I went to my stash of thrift shop finds and selected a more modern sleek looking stemmed glass for the base.

The base adds to the overall design so each one needs to be selected with that idea in mind and I test the mannequin on several bases to decide on the final look.  This one ended up being a fun, flirty and sparkly design. 

Burlesque Dress Form Mannequin Pincushion/Jewelry Stand