Easy Felt Pincushion

This is an easy project, as no sewing experience is required and the materials are cheap and easy to find. The result is a very useful tool. Have fun creating your own unique pincushion!

What you’ll need

1. Felt
2. Geometry compass or a round bowl or plate to make a circle template
3. Scissors
4. Embroidery Needle (long)
5. Thread
6. Stuffing material (I use polyester stuffing and sand or rice)
7. Cardboard
8. Hot glue gun and a glue stick
9. Notions: buttons, ribbons, flowers

How to make your pincushion

• Trace around your bowl or plate or use a compass onto the felt and mark the center. Your finished project will have about half the size of the circle you trace. My circle is 22,5 cm (9 inches), and the finished pincushion will be 11 cm (4 1/2 inches) in diameter.
• Cut out the felt circle and the flower petals. For the flower you can use this template or make your own.

• Sew around the perimeter, about half a centimeter (a quarter of an inch) from the edge of the circle using a running stitch. Use a strong sewing thread or embroidery floss. Do not tie off.

• Pull the thread tails to gather the piece but leave an opening big enough to fill the cushion. Put polyester stuffing (or whatever type of stuffing you have) and then sand or rice. The sand as well as the rice will make your pincushion bottom heavy, so it can sit safely when you remove your pins, but they will also sharpen your needles and keep them free of rust and corrosion.

• Pull the thread tails tight, tie off and secure with a couple of knots.
• Cut a cardboard circle a little bigger than the opening and punch two holes in it, 1 cm (half of an inch) apart.

• Thread the long embroidery needle again. It has to be long enough to pass through your pincushion. Push the threaded needle through the center of the pincushion near your mark for the center, then through the cushion. Do not pull the thread all the way through, leave the tail extending from the top. Then, push through one of the cardboard holes, through the other cardboard hole, and up through the pincushion again near the center.
  Grab the thread tails that come out of the center of the pincushion and pull tight to dimple the center of the cushion. Tie off and secure with a couple of knots.

• Cut a circle of felt about 1 cm (half of an inch) bigger than the cardboard circle and glue it on using the hot glue gun.

• Make your flower and glue or sew the petals and the button. Using your hot glue gun, glue it on the pincushion.

• Now, your pins and needles have a pretty place to rest in when you are not using them.

These pincushions are made the same way.