Plain Jane Pincushion Tutorial

I love pincushions! They are such functional, artsy little things. While I have an assortment of neat, cool and stylish pincushions the one that I really love is just the basic plain jane one. The main reason that I love it is because it is such a snap to whip up. No sewing machine involved! Some pincushions that I make can take up to 20 hours! But this little baby takes a total of 30 min-1 hour (unless of course you have to run to the store right in the middle of making it--but that's another story for another day).
Supplies:
Scissors
fabric square about 9"
2" piece of felt
stuffing
large eye needle
dental floss
sand (optional)

Above: don't ya just love the tiny acorn. He is not functional but adorable. The cap is a real acorn cap and he is made out of clay.

Above: Cut out an 8 1/4" diameter circle. I used a compass to draw a circle.

Above: 4 1/8" on compass. Click on photo to zoom in.

Above: I like to use a large head needle. I also use wax dental floss instead of cotton thread. The dental floss is very strong and will not break like the thread will.

Above: Make a running stitch all the way around the circle. Take 1/8" stitches. This will help to bring the fabric together tighter.

Above: Make sure to start the beginning  stitch and ending stitch on the right side of the fabric. Click on picture for a closer look. 

Above: I like to add a little sand bag to the bottom of the pincushion before I start stuffing. This sand bag is not necessary, I just add it for weight. You could also use crushed walnut shells (bird section of pet store), sand (found in florist section of discount stores), *beans, *rice (*the food type could attract bugs) or emery. I like to use a little sand bag because I have found that when sand is used it tends to sometimes work itself out and make a small mess. The sand bags can be small, maybe 2" or 3" in diameter.

Above: Lightly cinch the circle closed as above. This will help keep stuffing in as you stuff the pincushion.

Above: I use a combination of wool and fiberfill stuffing. I like wool because it packs tightly and looks smoother than fiberfill, but is a little more expensive so that is why I combine it. Also the lanolin keeps pins and needles from rusting.

Above: Try to cinch the pincushion has tight as you can. This hole is probably 1"-1 1/2" wide.

Above: I use my cuttlebug to cut felt out. I love using the cuttlebug this way. It cuts the felt out very clean with sharp crisp edges. One tip that I have found is make sure the felt you are using is wool. The cheaper felt that you get from the large discount stores just doesn't work as well. It will work but you have to trim the shape out because the cut is not as clean.

Above: The shape comes right out. Very clean and crisp edges. At this point you may want to think about your embellishments. Use your crafty imagination. You can glue buttons, game pieces, charms, vintage clipon earings, yoyos (fabric ones), fabric flowers, etc. This is your creation-go wild! If you don't like using glue, just find things that you can sew on. Just remember if you want your pincushion to be functional try not to go too wild with the hard embellisments, you don't want to jab a pin or needle into the pincushion and have it break because a button or charm got in the way.

Above: I put the acorn on the felt top first before I put the felt on the pincushion.

Above: Little acorny, not functional at all, but super cute. Wouldn't it be fun to do a fallish pincushion with a couple of these cutie acorns. 

Hope that this tutorial is clear enough. If not just send me a comment and I will try to answer your question.

Sew....go ahead and try your hand at this fun and easy project. Remember no sewing machine required!!

Have a wonderful and crafty day,

Holly

Jar Salsa vs. Pico De Gallo

Jar Salsa vs. Pico De Gallo...
I must confess, I no longer eat jar salsa. It just doesn't taste right.
Here's a great recipe that I enjoy making at least once a day. I love it for lunch, goes great with a cheese quesadilla. All you need is:
1 tomato
cilantro
jalapeno
lemon juice
onion-mild kind, we're eatin' it raw!
Chop everything, I like big chunks about the size of a pea. Handy hubby likes it chopped very fine, it looks like baby food (aka soupy salsa). Eat it with lime corn chips! Some day I am going to make my own chips....

Above: The jalapeno and onion are from my garden. The tomato is from farmer's market. I really don't like to use bottled lemon juice, but it was all I had. I did grow cilantro this year, but after a few weeks, it goes to seed and peters out. I did find out this past week that it is best to buy seeds and grow cilantro in two week intervals.

Above: All chopped up and ready to eat! Wish you could smell it. The cilantro is awesome!

I finished a pincushion that I had been working on. This time it is more of a modern pincushion, meaning that I used bright colors and new fabrics. The fabric line is from Bonnie and Camille. I love using vintage fabrics, but this fabric line just spoke to me. I hope that I can make some place mats using this line and maybe do a tutorial on them. Napkins would be cute too!

Above: it is a pear pincushion and snip-it bag.

Above: hand embroidered pear.

Above: Two hand sculpted pears. The photo is kind of dark. They look so cute in person.

That's all that I have to share for today, hopefully I can get a post in tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day, keep those hands busy!!

Holly



A Beary Sweet Pincushion

I have been having fun in the designing area of things. I have been working on a bear pattern....well...actually it has been in the works for several years. Kind of an off again, on again thing. This pattern has been tweaked and redone so many times. Finally I have a pattern that I am ok with. It is still not perfect, or actually it still has some flaws, but I am happy about it. I have made many bears over the last 15 years, some I gave away, some I sold (in yard sales) and a few that I have hung on to. Most of these were made using a pattern designed by someone else. I have made some bears using my own pattern, but like I said before, these patterns really needed tweaking. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to show you the funny little bears. I absolutely love the process of making a teddy bear. The only problem that I have really run in to is that it is really hard to find the mohair. The company that I use to use Spare Bear Parts shut down a few years ago. Most of the companies that I have found are located overseas, Australia, Europe, etc.  So the shipping on these orders is usually around $20+. Bummer. Must do more research for US companies. I do love The Old Pincushion's mohair and her bears are so cute. She has very reasonable prices, but is located overseas. Her shipping is very fast, though. By the way, she also has a contest going on right now and you can win the most adorable pig.

Above: Little bear cut out and ready to stuff.

Above: Stuffed with excelsior, this is the traditional stuffing of vintage bears. She is also stuffed with wool and a little bit of poly stuffing.

Above: A vintage quilt square. Can you see the old newsprint? The ladies use to make patterns from old newspaper. Most of these prints are vintage feed sacks. I used this quilt square to make a pincushion. You will see it in the pictures below.

Above: Little bear almost finished. Trying to figure out with ribbon looks the best.

Above: WHOA.... Creative chaos at it's finest. What a mess!

Above: This sheet of paper is my work surface. For some reason I can't keep everything stored away. As soon as I am finished with a project I put everything away.

Above: Little bear all dressed up. She is sewn to the pincushion and the strawberry is sewn on also. It is stuffed with wool to keep your pins from rusting. 

Above: She is all finished except for her eyes. They have been ordered. The ones that I had for her looked too big. She is 7 1/2" (standing up) and those eyes would probably look better on a 9" bear. So, as soon as her eyes come I am going to list her on Etsy.

Above: All you need is a little bit of mohair and 15years worth of pattern goofing. This bear was the first bear that I have actually used mohair on. The other bears were made out of all types of stuff: fake fur, wool felt, old jackets, cotton fabric, velvet, blue jeans (really tough to work with-don't recommend it) and other fun stuff.

Have a wonderful and blessed day, and don't forget to keep those fingers busy!

Holly

Whatcha' Working On

June has just flown by!! I can't believe that July 4th is next week. The garden is growing nicely. We have picked a few tomatoes, jalapenos, bell pepper and one squash. We ate the squash in a salad last night. Tonight we are having pasta salad and crusty bread for supper. I am going to add a couple of cherry tomatoes from the garden to it. I will post the recipe tomorrow, if it gets the thumbs up tonight.

Just a few crafty things to post. Mainly a "whatcha been working on" kind of post. Most of them are on Etsy now.

Woolly Bear Caterpillar.

Little felted mouse with her woolly bear pet.

Above: Taking Woolly Bear out for a stroll.

Above: new pedestal pincushion. Made out of 100% wool.

Needle/Scissor fob

Above: I stitched designs around the pincushion. Mouse, kitty and house. Kitty is flying a kite. The two hand sculpted pins were a blast to design. The cheese was especially fun. Poking the holes in it to get Swiss cheese.

 

Above: scissor fob. See how handy the needles stay, right by your scissors. The red thread keeps them looped to your scissors, so that when you are sewing in a crowd and someone has scissors just like yours, you can tell them apart. All of the stitching on the pincushion and fob was hand stitched, using various stitching methods.

I will be back tomorrow with some more. My computer is very slow tonight, taking forever to upload the pictures.

goodnight,

Holly

Finally......Time for Blogging!

Boy, sure is nice to be back on schedule. The past few weeks have been a whirl wind. With school winding down, teacher gifts to be made, D#1 graduating from High School, D#2 graduating from preschool and Son getting his learners permit and driving us crazy.....ahem....I mean wanting to drive us everywhere and I mean everywhere.
I am in the process of relisting some things on Etsy and adding some new stuff. I have a few more things I want to list and probably won't get that done until this weekend.
Anyway, here's some pictures and I promise that I will get a "good" post in sometime this weekend :)

New listing on Etsy. Chef Mouse on his Cupcake Pincushion.

Two pins are included: sprinkle container and spoon with icing.

Mouse is only 2" from the tip of his hat to the tips of his toes.

Above: Betsy Ross clothespin doll.

D#1's graduation. She's the one in the purple.

Above: What in the world? She blurred...... Thank goodness for the professionals. I'll order my picture tomorrow.

Above: the traditional hat throw.

Have a great night and I'll be back tomorrow,

Holly

Hear Ye, Hear Ye...Merry Men & Women Ahead

Update: Robin Hood, Maid Marian and Rub-A-Dub-Dub have all been sold thanks to a wonderful Etsy customer!

Cupcakecutie asked me a question on my comment section back on the 18th and I just now found it. I am so sorry. So, I hope she is reading this. She wanted to know where I got my hedgehog and mushroom sewing pins that were on an previous post. I made them. I don't really sell the pins by themselves, usually only with the pincushion. I have an Etsy store: http://www.cottonpickinfun.etsy.com/ and my pincushions, clothespin dolls among other things are on there. I believe that I state in my Etsy "rules" that I don't ship internationally, but I will. I am just not sure how much to charge for shipping and have never shipped anything out of the United States, so it may take me more that my normal of shipping "within 48 hrs of receiving payment". If you can bear with my slowness (aka ignorance) then by all means, convo me on Etsy and maybe we can make it work. So sorry Cupcakecutie (btw: love the name).

Today I am going to show you Robin Hood's better half. No....not Little John. Maid Marian. I wanted very much to put a diamond on her "hand", because you know that Robin Hood popped the question and he must have used some of the spoils for an engagement ring. Well, maybe I will, the diamond could easily be taken off if someone didn't want it. It would be so cute:)

I had a hard time designing her dress. I really wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like, but I knew the princess cone would have lace coming out of it. That just exudes Fair Maiden. The color was really hard. Pink is a princess color, so technically she could be a princess instead of Maid Marian. That would be really cute, but I like her with Robin Hood. They look so sweet together. I hand embroidered her dress and everything else is hand stitched, also.

Above: Maid Marian

Above: embroidered accents and pearl accents.

Above: Lost in the Sherwood Forest?

Above: No...here's her hero.

Above: stopping to say "hello" to Patrick Gnome.

Above: Rub-A-Dub-Dub...two mice in a tub. The two towels are real and the bar of soap is clay. The little towel in fluffy brother's paws is also real.

Above: sweet little brothers have just finished their bath. One already has a towel dried head and he looks surprised at his "do".

Above:Must haves at bath time: Mr. Bubble and rubber ducky. I knew that I wanted to make Mr. Bubble container for the mice but didn't know what else to make. Because I love to send two sewing pins with my pincushions, I had to put on my thinking cap. I thought about a toothbrush, hair bush, a bubble, bar of soap, etc. When I asked D#2, she immediately said "A rubber ducky, of course!"  That is one clever kid, I hadn't even thought of that. She was very impressed with this mini ducky. It is 3/4" by (a hair taller than) 1/2". Mr.Bubble is about the same.

The brothers are tiny too-small non fluffy one 1"x1", actually that is the size of what you can see. The fluffy brother is 1 1/4" x 1 1/4". Both mice are fully "bodied", meaning they have legs and feet and are fully "furred". I didn't put a tail on them because it seemed to really get in the way of the pincushion bath water. The teacup is an antique one. It is one of my favorites. I love the detail on the cup. The cup and saucer are bonded together.

Thank you so much for looking,

Have a great night and I will get that flocking tut up soon. Dear hubby has to take my camera to work Thurs, so I had better get it done tomorrow,

Holly