One of the hazards of living with me is stepping on pins and needles I leave laying around. I’ve tried pin cushions but never liked any of them (for superficial reasons). They’ve always been one of my ‘ugly necessities’ (you know those objects you have to have to do your job but are only available in the ugliest shades).
Anyway, NOT ANYMORE!
MATERIALS:
Fabric (I used a plain white cotton)
Sewing Machine
Button Kit (You can buy it at your local fabric store or online)
Hand Sewing Needle
Thread (colour corresponding with fabric)
Toy Filling
Pin Cushion Pattern (download here)
Here’s how I made it…
1. Print pin cushion patterns (here) and cut out.
2. Copy patterns onto fabric (don’t forget to mark the centre dot on both squares to make the button positioning easier later on – you can do this by poking a sharp pencil through the centre of the X mark on your pattern)
3. Cut out all the pieces (You will have 2 squares and 4 rectangles).
4. Sew all the shorter ends of the rectangles together, leaving the last two for the next step (remember to backstitch all beginning and ending seams).
5. Sew the last two rectangles together leaving a gap in the centre (don’t forget to backstitch!).
6. Now, press all the seams open taking extra care on the one with the gap (this will help when stitching it closed in later steps).
7. Pin one of your squares to the rectangle strip, making sure all centres are aligned. Remember to have the right sides facing each other.
8. Start sewing the square to your rectangle strip. You will need to carefully ease the corners. *TIP* Start sewing 0.5cm from the edge and start curving your seams one stitch before the next 0.5cm mark.
9. This is how it should look after one square is sewn on!
10. Now, sew the other square onto the other side.
11. Clip your corners carefully.
12. Now flip it right side out through the gap you made in Step 5.
13. And stuff it with toy filling. Try to stuff it almost to capacity because you want your pins to stay but you also need to leave some space so you can tuft it!
14. Sew the gap closed using a blind stitch.
15. Make two buttons out of the fabric you used for the cushions. *I didn’t provide button making instructions because I bought my button making ‘gadget’ on an overseas trip and it looks nothing like the button kits in fabric stores! There are lots of button making instructions online using the normal button kits so if you’re having trouble just have a look around*
16. Thread your needle and tie a BIG knot at the end of your thread. Try to use a thick thread or doubling up with thinner thread as this requires quite a lot of pulling.
17. Poke your needle through one side of your cushion where you’ve marked the centre dot.
18. Your needle should go all the way through to the other side, coming out at the other centre dot.
19. Attach one of your buttons and pull as tight as you can.
20. While holding the tension, go back through to the other side and attach the other button.
21. Pull as tight as you can to create the ‘tuft’ and secure the knot and hide underneath the button (You can sew from one side to the other a couple more times to make an even tighter and more evident tuft).
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