There was a time when I became obsessed with making pincushions. Why? Everyone needs a pincushion, right? Wrong. Very few people need pincushions. But I thought that it was a good way to explore making felt-hand-stitched-softies with a purpose.
First there were cacti. I made the pattern myself. It's felt, stuffed with polyfil (with a little bit of steel wool at the end of each cactus branch to keep the pins and needles sharp!). I glued it into the terra cotta pot. Not a great idea, because pots like this break easily. One curious cat later, and you'd find yours shattered on the floor with no ability to fix it. Also, they are a bit large and in charge - I'm not sure anyone needs a pin cushion of this gigantic size. Fail.
For a while I dabbled in snap bracelet pin cushions. I wanted the active seamstress to be able to wear a stylish... Octopus?... on her wrist and stab it as often as she liked. It was a good idea, but in practice it's quite bulky. It takes up too much space, and doesn't stay oriented on the wrist. The snap bracelet itself (that I encased in blue felt above) wasn't quite strong enough, so in the end, it was a fail and a one-off. I did try again with a Rainbow snap bracelet. I made a separate arched felt rainbow that was pulled straight when you wore it as a bracelet, but arched into the air between two clouds at either end of the snap bracelet when it was straight... But it had the same issues. I would show you, but I can't even find a picture!
Cupcakes were my next attempt. This was a better idea than terra cotta pots and cacti, because the silicone cups I used aren't breakable! Win!... Ish! Instead the issues I found were first that the glass beads I used for sprinkles aren't great when you're using it as a pincushion (they get in the way of the pins!, duh. Ugh.), and the glue I used to secure the cupcake into the silicone cup didn't hold.
I started getting warmer with this one! The Ice cream cone I glued into a wooden cone, and that worked great. The Glue held, and the wood was not fragile. Unfortunately, I made the same mistake with the glass beads getting in the way of pins.
This was a small hat I found in a craft shop, that was just begging for a little white rabbit. So I made it look like the rabbit was hiding in the hat and everything was so great! The hat is not breakable, the glue held, and there was no interference for the pins. However, I underestimated how disturbing it would feel to stab pins into the back of a helpless little magic hat rabbit.
Once I entered the world of disturbing, it was hard to turn back though. This one was built on a recycled bottle cap weighted with pennies. The beads get in the way, but it turned out well for what it is. Very few people seem to enjoy it the way I do, unfortunately.
Have you ever seen these cheapy little plastic pumpkins? I'm not sure what they're supposed to be fore, halloween party favors maybe?? But, I decided to try them for pin cushions! MORE EYEBALLS.... Maybe? Hmm, maybe not.
This one might be my favorite. It worked up quickly - a little piece embroidered like a brain. The glue held, the pumpkin isn't fragile...
And then I figured out that I prefer to keep my pins in a box.
Oh well.
