3 Great pincushion ideas

Are you a pincushion user?  Or do you use a pin tin?  I was a pin tin user for many years, until one day I made myself a pincushion and never looked back!

Lately I’ve been experimenting with some different types of pincushions.

Large pincushion

This pincushion is like a mini house brick.  I made it to do sewing with my daughter’s class (year 1 and 2).  The other mums and I threaded up 27 handsewing needles, knotted the ends and stored them in this pincushion for the students to help themselves.  It worked really well.  The only thing I would do differently is choose a plain coloured fabric; the needles and pins are hard to see against the brightly patterned fabric.

The idea and pattern for this pincushion came from the book Handmade Style by Anna Graham.  Her pincushion has fancier pockets and a few other features, but it’s the same size.

Velcro pincushion

This small pincushion is made by hand using two rectangles of felt sewn together with running stitch.  It only took five minutes to make.

On the underside is a dab of adhesive velcro (rough side).  The idea is to have a matching piece of soft velcro on your ironing board or sewing machine (or both) to attach it.

You could also put some velcro on a slap band to attach it to your wrist.

Pincushion from The Dressmaker’s Companion

If you’d like to make the round pincushion from the front cover of The Dressmaker’s Companion, my pattern is here: 3 Great pincushion ideas round pincushion pattern

I’ve made several with this pattern, and used special buttons in the centre.  It makes a lovely gift for a sewing friend.

Update: use the round pincushion to make an Alice in Wonderland-style wristwatch pincushion like this one.

To sew this pincushion:

Step 1.  Cut out 2 circles and one gusset.  Make sure all the notches are present and only snipped 3mm deep.  There’s a 6mm seam allowance included on every piece.  Iron the pieces first if they need it.

Step 2.  Take one circle and the gusset. Fold the short end of the gusset back 6mm and position it at one of the notches on the circle, right sides together. Sew with the gusset on top and the circle underneath, all the way around.

You’ll need to make about 2 or 3 tiny snips in the gusset to get it to “spread” around each quarter of the circle as you sew.

Step 3.  Repeat with the other circle.  There will be a gap in the side of the gusset to turn through and stuff the pincushion.  The gap is fairly small; I used a pair of hemostats to push the stuffing in.  I used polyester stuffing for this pincushion, but for the others I used wool batting (the sort used for making felt).

Step 4.  Sew up the gap using whipstitch.

Step 5.  Sew a button on each side of the pincushion. Use a long needle and 4 strands of thread. The two buttons should have the same number of holes (don’t use a 4-hole button on one side and a 2-hole button on the other).  Sew the buttons on tightly so the centre pushes down.

Cheers!