Sunday, April 26, 2015

Pincushion Tutorial

I've been wanting a new pincushion for a while, and I realized I could repurpose a jar very easily to suit my needs. So here's a simple, 10-minute craft that requires no sewing whatsoever, but yields one very cute pincushion!


Supplies:

  • one 4 oz wide-mouth canning jar
  • 5"-6" diameter circular piece of fabric
  • polyester fiberfill
The jar I'm using used to hold some delicious marmalade, which was an adorable favour from Ronnie and Craig's wedding, and used to look like this:


So I kind of cheated, since the fabric was already cut out for me! Here are the parts, once the jar was cleaned and disassembled:


I think any typical canning jar would work, but this particular jar is stout and has a wide opening for its height. Its lack of height also means it will be less likely to topple over while you're blindly groping for pins (if you also do this).

To cut a circle, grab a small plate or bowl, and use that to trace onto your fabric. A non-stretchy, woven cotton works best!

If you're super sentimental, as I am, or want to put some design into the jar, do that first. here, I've cut the tag down to fit at the bottom, but you could also add some pretty fabric or paper to line the sides of the jar.


Next, grab a bunch of fiberfill,


and stuff it in there. You will want more than you think you need, because you're going to push it down.


If you let go and the fiberfill pops out of the jar, you might be close to having enough in there.

Next, put the fabric on top, with the right side facing up, and gather it down so that you can screw the ring over it.


The fabric will puff up a bit; poke it to test for firmness. You may want to push some more in there. Once you screw the ring back on, you can gently tug at the ends of the fabric to straighten the top. This pincushion is done whenever you think it is!


And so cute! I think this would be a very cute gift for a beginning sewer (sewist), too. READY FOR ACTION! 

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