Summer Garden Pincushion - Join The Fun

I've been wanting to make one of those pincushions that are segmented into six parts with a button in the middle.  You know.  A pincushion!  I don't know what they call them except for that.  But anyway, I think they're cute and was looking around for instructions on how to make one out of pretty fabric.

Imagine my complete joy when I saw that Jill from the blog Fiberlicious was starting a tutorial on how to make one!  And it gets better!  She's going to teach us how to embroider the sweetest flowers on each section!  It's called the Summer Garden Pincushion and you can find her first post in the tutorial here.  Or just go up to the right sidebar on my blog and click the little button for the Summer Garden Pincushion Tutorial.  See?  I've made it easy and convenient for you.

I love how Jill has made this a true step-by-step process.  Part one of the tutorial lists all of the items you'll need to make this pincushion.  As a stitcher, I already had a lot of the items in the craftroom.  She also explains the process of tracing the pattern onto your fabric.  When I printed her pattern, it printed smaller than it was supposed to, so I took Jill's advice and drafted my own pattern.  I got all old-school and used a protractor and compass.  And guess what -- it was kind of fun!

In step 2, Jill showed us how to embroider our first flower, lavender.  She includes a downloadable pattern sheet for the flower and complete stitching instructions.  I didn't use this, depending instead on my considerable (ahem) "artistic" abilities to draw my own.  It wasn't bad, but I really need to get some different kinds of erasable pens/markers for this step.  My water-erasable one writes very thick lines and it made a difference.

The top part of the pincushion with dividing lines drawn on.

I spent part of yesterday afternoon happily embroidering my lavender flowers.  As someone who has been doing cross stitch for a long time, I'd forgotten how much fun it was to embroider.  It was like painting with floss and I enjoyed the free form flow of the stitches.  I might have gotten carried away because my flowers are huge, but I am still pretty pleased with the result.

If you'd like to join the fun of making this lovely pincushion,  go ahead and read about it on Fiberlicious.  We're only at part 2, so you have plenty of time to gather your supplies, get your fabric ready and stitch your first bunch of pretty flowers.  Just take a look at her completed pincushion and you'll want one for yourself!

A Pincushion How-To

I've been asked a few times for the steps to finishing my completed cross stitch.  For example, the ornament I finished back in July.  Unfortunately, I didn't photograph my steps as I went along creating this ornament.  I will admit that I made them up as I went along.  So next time I do one, I can take pictures as I go to give you an idea of how that festive little creation came about.

Yesterday, I took time to make the pincushion from my completed "La Fleur".  This time I did keep the camera by my side as I worked in order to give the step-by-step instructions for making a pincushion.

First, take your completed stitched piece and trim around the edges if necessary.  Make sure to give yourself enough seam allowance a little allowance around the edge of your stitching.  A 3/8" seam allowance works well.  Then cut a backing piece and some fusible lightweight interfacing, both of the same size as the stitched piece.

Fuse the interfacing to the back of your stitched piece, using the manufacturer's directions.  Next, pin the backing to the stitched/interfacing piece, matching right sides.  Then sew along the edges leaving an opening of about 2".

Trim the seams to about 1/4" and clip the corners diagonally, but don't get too close to the stitching or it will spoil your day!  Turn your piece right side out.  This is a good time to give it a little pressing, if necessary.

Now you're ready to fill your pincushion!  Go and find a pet bird and ask if you can have some of his crushed walnut shells.  (I finally found out that birds use this as their cage litter.  Who knew?)  So tell him that they must be unused crushed walnut shells.  Or if you don't know any pet birds, then go to your nearest pet supply store and get a bag of them.  Get ready to do some lifting because I don't think this stuff comes in teeny tiny bags.  You'll have enough for many, many pincushions.  Or you can share with other stitchers. 

After you've filled your cushion to your liking (I like a little space in there to give it a squishy feel), then pin and stitch the opening closed by hand.

It's cute enough to leave like this or you can add some trim to the outside edge.  I chose some 1/8" organza ribbon and ran a thread right down the middle of it and gathered it up. 

This took a while but the result was worth the time.  Just make sure you have enough to go all the way around your pincushion.

Sew the trim on by hand right over the seam.  Then enjoy your awesome handiwork and your finished product!

Well, what do you think?  I hope you liked this little tutorial on how to craft your own pincushion.  There are a lot of different smaller cross stitch charts that you can use for this project.  The design doesn't have to be square.  Just pick something you like and give it a try!