There's nothing more fun that making something from materials you would normally overlook or sadly enough - trash. Here's a fun little project that only takes about an hour to make and uses easy-to-find materials that you can repurpose!
Materials you'll need: 1- 1 square of thin cardboard* 2 -used plastic or wooden spools 3 - cotton fabric scraps 4 - embroidery thread 5 - embroidery needle 6 - pencil (for tracing) 7 - glue gun 8 - polyfil stuffing 9 - twine or yarn 10 - scissors (not shown) * these cardboard squares I generally keep from the fat squares I get at the fabric store, thick cardstock also works well.
Steps:
I'll be making the pincushion that looks like a little mushroom. To start with, trace out a circle about 2.5" in diameter on your cardboard (to trace the circle I used a drinking glass). This circle will form the shape of your mushroom cap. After tracing, cut and set your cardboard circle aside.
Now trace another circle double the size of your cardboard circle ('bout 5" in diameter) onto some cotton fabric (i used a coaster this time) and cut. You want your fabric circle to be large enough to cover the cardboard entirely including the polyfil (you'll see why later, just trust me!).
Thread your needle using three ply embroidery thread (embroidery thread comes in six strands, so just divide it in half), but do not knot the end of your thread. I used a light green color to match my fabric. Take you fabric circle and do a running stitch all around your circle ( with a half inch seam allowance, give or take). Before and after you stitch, make sure to leave a tail of thread that's a couple of inches long. You'll need those tails to pull and gather up your fabric.
Now for the fun and tricky part. Once you're done with your running stitch, make a sandwich, your cotton fabric at the bottom, a small handful of polyfil in the middle, and your cardboard circle on top (see pic). Lightly press your cardboard circle down on the polyfil, and begin pulling the two tails of thread to gather up the fabric circle (it'll look like a cup -see pic). Keep pulling the "tails," making sure to keep the stuffing* underneath the cardboard until the fabric is completely gathered. Tie off and knot securely. Turn over your cap, the fabric should be taut and shaped evenly into a circle.
*it's really important not to overstuff your cap because it will cause the cardboard to dent and lose its shape. It's best to start with a small amount of stuffing and add more as you see fit.
Time to join your pincushion cap to the base! Spread a moderate amount of hot glue over the top of your spool, then press it firmly onto the middle of the pincushion cap (this hides the center spot where the fabric is gathered and knotted). To make the base look more rustic, I hot glued twine around the whole spool. To polish off my pincushion, I cut a small fabric circle and glued it the bottom of the base (felt works well too).
Ta dahh!! Now you have a cute pin cushion made from things you had around house!
You can get really creative with the base of your pincushion. I used bright blue yarn to cover my spool for one pincushion and even decoupaged another. Well, I hoped you enjoyed this little tute. If you decide to make a little pincushion, I'd love to see pics, so send some my way. Bye for now! Sue
