New pincushions

>> Thursday, March 09, 2006

I was so tired of my old red tomato pincushion. I had the same one you see in every sewing store and in discount sewing kits for a long long time. Which is ridiculous because 1. I use one all the time 2. I know how to make a new one and I have plenty of fabric 3. I've been coveting the gorgeous ones made by Craftapalooza (gosh I love her things. Look at this and this.) And 4. I love having beautiful things around me, not tired old tomatos.

So I cut the old tomato up in order to use the filling, and also so I could retrieve a couple of needles that I was sure had disappeared inside. You know how that can happen? Well I shook the sawdust out into a ziplock bag and needle after needle kept appearing. And I plucked them out of the sawdust and put them aside. And they kept falling out! It turns out I had FORTY-FOUR needles hidden inside my old pincushion! Am I the only one that finds that really kind of weird? Yikes. Turns out I don't really care for sawdust as a filler so I threw it out.

These pincushions were made using the instructions in the latest Martha Stewart (yes the one for grownups!). My girlfriend (the same one I just gave the Kates to) has a subscription but doesn't care to keep them, so she gave me her February and March issues. Usually I'm not that interested in the gardening issue because I don't have a garden, but that's the one that has the pincushion instructions because they're shaped like tomatoes.

I did find it a bit more difficult than expected to get the sides smooth. There are a few little puckers here and there. But overall I was very happy with them. I used some fabric that I had bought at the quilter's store while looking for my knitting bag lining. I think small floral prints look best on small items, otherwise they can look a bit busy. This is what I had in mind when I bought the yellow. I'm really loving yellow these days. It's also so nice with blue, especially turquoise.As you can see, I changed mine a bit so they don't look like tomatoes. They have flowers cut out from wool felt on top with vintage buttons. The bottom sides have vintage buttons too:And I had a lovely time sorting my pins by colour. Next I'm going to make a blue one and add a strap so I can have it on my wrist and really look grannyish.

10 comments:

Anonymous,  March 09, 2006  

I found the 43rd needle while playing with a ziploc bag full of sawdust. The lesson learned: Never play with a ziploc bag full of sawdust.

Green Kitchen March 09, 2006  

Love the pincushions! The colors, flowers, and bluttons make it all so yummy. I was also thinking about the wrist type, too. We'll have to compare, or swap.

Anonymous,  March 09, 2006  

Really great! I've been meaning to make some of those -- and some of the strawberry ones from an older issue too but haven't gotten around to it yet. I love your take on it though!

Anonymous,  March 09, 2006  

Good Job! I've been thinking about making one too!

Anonymous,  March 09, 2006  

Eeek. These are fabulous!!!!! Thanks for the compliments *blushes*....maybe we could do a pincushion swap?

Anonymous,  March 09, 2006  

Forty-four? Uh, *forty-four* did you say? Geez! Didn't you start to wonder where they were all going when you had to keep buying needles?!? Since I usually have to sew with two kiddies under the age of 4 underfoot, I stick 10 yellow pins, 10 blue pins and 1 needle in my wrist pincusion, and constantly count them... if I'm off, at least I know what to start looking for. :0)

Claire Louise Milne March 09, 2006  

sadly no,I didn't really notice. I'm constantly looking for my thimble/scissors/needles. I keep a lot of pins in the cushion, but only a couple of needles and I just kept thinking I must have put them back in the needlebook. Also, as I mentioned it was a very very old tomato!

Claire Louise Milne March 09, 2006  

I love the strawberries too!

Anonymous,  March 10, 2006  

I love the colors - good job! I think I'd start to notice if 44 needles went missing, too!

toronto craft alert March 10, 2006  

these are awesome - love the pin colour palettes to compliment the cushions - it's these details that make you sigh each time you use something you've made and love...

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments!

  © Blogger template Simple n' Sweet by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP