I love Project Runway, and though I am not a fabulous seamstress or fashion designer, I do a fair amount of sewing and decided I needed one of those wrist pin cushion thingies like the designers use! I played with a few ideas that were bouncing around my head, spread out my fabrics, trims and supplies, and this is what I came up with. The first one I made was cute but when I started using it, I realized it wasn't practical (or safe!) because I kept stabbing my wrist with the pins! I've since added a metal canning lid to the same design to protect myself from being poked. Here you will find the step by step instructions on how I made my pin cushion...
Tools and Supplies:
sewing machine
hot glue gun
scissors
standard needle & thread
embroidery thread & appropriate needle
tape measure
an approx. 3.5" diameter glass or jar for tracing
approx. 6" of 1/4" elastic
2.5" canning jar lid
small amount of fabric - 3x 3.5" diam. circles
1 coordinating button or bead
handful of fiberfill or batting
optional lace, ribbon, trim
Step 1:
Use your 3.5" glass or jar to trace 3 circles onto your fabric. Cut them out. Right sides together, sew 2 of the circles close to the edge, leaving a small opening. Turn right side out and iron. Stuff this little circle "pillow" with the fiberfill and hand stitch the opening.
Step 2:
Take a length of your embroidery thread, knot one end and thread the other onto your embroidery needle. Poke the needle up through the center of your little pillow, wrap the thread around the outside of the pillow tightly and come back up through the center again, creating a dimple in one side of the pillow. Do the same to the opposite side and continue creating segments. Once you've made 8 equal segments with your thread, knot it on the underside of the pillow, but don't cut the thread yet. Use the same needle and thread to sew a button or bead in the middle of the segments. Knot the thread, but don't cut it yet!
Step 3:
Put your canning lid on top of the wrong side of the 3rd circle of fabric. With your hot glue gun, make a line of glue in the seal part of the lid and wrap the fabric tightly up over the rim. Next, carefully use the end of a sharp knife to poke a small hole through the middle of the lid and fabric. At this time you may also hot glue your ribbon, lace or trim around the canning lid...start at the raw edge of the fabric. For this one I added a wide grosgrain ribbon, bunching it as I glued. I later cut the edge of the ribbon to give it the fringed effect.
Step 4:
Thread your embroidery needle through the hole in the canning lid (attaching the underside of the pillow to the raw side of the lid). Knot the thread onto the fabric on the opposite side of the lid...but don't cut it yet! Put a few dots of hot glue between the pillow and lid and push them together until they've adhered to each other.
Step 5:
To make the bracelet, cut the elastic to the appropriate length to fit your wrist. At this time you can either cover the elastic with a bunched tube of fabric, leave it as is or add a piece of trim to it as I did. To add the trim, place your elastic on the trim and use your sewing machine to stitch through the elastic and trim, being sure to stretch the elastic as you sew. The trim should bunch up after being sewn. Machine stitch the ends of the elastic together to complete the bracelet.
Step 6:
Lastly, use that dangling piece of embroidery thread to attach your bracelet to your pin cushion. Make several stitches between the elastic and the lid fabric and knot your thread and...cut it! Slip that pretty cushion onto your wrist and gently bend the metal lid to curve around your wrist. Stick your needle in your cute new pin cushion and prepare to feel like a star designer!
I will be joining in the link party at Tea Rose Home today! Stop by to see the great works of some very creative peeps!
