Pin Cushion Tutorial

I've been meaning to make a pin cushion for AGES but wasn't too sure how to go about it. After taking a looksie online, I have adapted a few tutorials I came across in my own way and came up with this method. You don't need a sewing machine at all and there is minimal hand stitching involved so it's a quick and easy thing to make — and makes a great gift!

How-to after the jump....




Time needed: 20 minutes

Materials
scissors
needle and thread (any colour, you won't see it)
cotton balls
hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
ruler
pen
iron
newspaper
small jar and lid
Fabric and ribbon (if you like)

My materials

For this I used an old mustard jar, but any small jar will do. For the fabric, you can use small scraps if you like as you don't need much — a good way to use them up!

Begin by turning on your iron and glue gun so that they can heat up. Lay out some paper to keep your table nice...

Begin by cutting a length of your fabric that you want to go around the outside, make sure it's going to reach the whole way around the jar with enough to overlap a bit at the end. I cut my piece 4cm wide.

Iron the raw edges to the middle, mine was now just over 2cm wide.

With your fabric that you want to have as the cushion bit, draw around something the size of a saucer, mine was an 11cm diameter (this is about the right size for the little jars but you may need a bigger circle for a bigger jar). I did iron that crease out after taking this photo too...

Measure out your cotton balls into the middle, for mine I used about 7 balls. Don't cram it too full or you won't be able to put the pins in when you're done. If you have some wadding or toy stuffing lying around, that would work really well too.

With your needle and thread, do a running stitch along the circle that you drew. Pull tight to close, making sure it's nice and tidy on the front without too many tucks.

Knot off and secure.

Grab your glue gun, and cover the lid with the glue all over the top. If you're using a lid with a metal jar DO be careful as it will get rather hot.

With the glue still hot, push the top part of the cushion into the glue and hold it down until it's cooled. Make sure it's on there really securely.

Put a dollop of glue on the lid and the lower part of the cushion and carefully attach your edging that you ironed before. I should have actually put mine a little lower so it was slightly over the edge of the lid so it sits nicely when on the jar so you might like to do that with yours. If you find it hard to hold the lid jar, screw it back onto the jar as it's easier to hold that way.

Keep making your way around the lid and finish off nicely by tucking the edges in and glue into place.

Now you're done! Fill the jar with what you like, it makes a really cute gift when they are all done up especially for someone who has just started sewing.

Here is another one that I made, trimming the edge with ribbon and I also put my edging down my lower to make the jar more flush. This was a really cute little jar that had some New Zealand honey in it.

Have fun!