Pin cushions

Pin cushions are an essential part of a sewing kit. Yes, you can manage without them, making do with the box they came in. Or even a card. But it is more difficult to pick them up and put them down, which slow2020s everything up.

You will notice I said pincushions, because it is useful to have one in every room where you will sew.

There are various factors influencing the success of a pin cushion:

It needs to be thick enough so that the pins don’t go straight through, leaving points exposed to scratch you or the furniture.
The thickness will vary with the length of the pin, and the number of pins you will need. Most sewing tasks might need several dozen pins, if only to ward off the chance of running out. Hat pins, on the other hand, need a thicker base, sometimes mounted in a vase, but the surface can be smaller, as not so many are needed.
The stuffing needs to be firm enough to hold the pins (and sometimes the shape of the pin cushion).
In some climates, you have to guard against he possibility of insects eating your stuffing, or humid atmospheres reacting with any metal.

Various types of stuffing can be used:

Probably the easiest and most readily available is polyester wadding. It is cheap, doesn’t cause allergy problems, and is easy to manage.
Where a bit of weight is needed, rice or lentils can be used. It is said that over time, the pins will break this stuffing down, causing the volume of the stuffing to decrease. I used a combination of rice and lentils to stuff my circus tent I made about three years ago, from an idea in a magazine. I must say I haven’t noticed a problem yet. It is a very heavy cushion, and it took far more than I expected to get the right effect.
Emery powder is a traditional filling. Emery is made from powdered rock, and is what is stuck on to sand paper. It polishes the pin every time it goes in or out of the cushion, keeping it sharp. I used to have one of these, but the covering fabric wore out, and it began to leak.
The same theory applies to sawdust. This is easier to get hold of, particularly if you have a friend who is keen on woodwork.
The final traditional stuffing is crushed walnut shells. These have a polishing effect, but as the pieces are larger, they are easier to manage. The hardness means they are less likely than some of the alternatives to break down.

For my patchwork pin cushions, I decided to give the walnut shell option a go. So far they seem to be working well, but as so many people have allergies these days, I also make them with a polyester stuffing. And the nut stuffed ones have nice clear labels, and are kept in a separate box.

Of course, pin holders don’t have to be the traditional cushion. You could make a more complicated sewing organiser, like the wine bottle doll shown here. You can buy the pattern from my shop.

My new sewing room friend

About a year ago, I made a doll who sits by the sewing machine and holds bits and bobs. I’ve been really pleased. She is a good worker.

But there is a problem. Gradually, all the pins are moving into the sewing room. I sit somewhere else to get myself organised, then I go into the sewing room, and put the pins in the doll’s pincushion when I take them out of the fabric.

So I needed to recruit another one so they can job share. The plan is that when the doll in the living room runs out of pins, I can swap her with the sewing room doll, who will have accumulated loads of pins.

I’ve had an old book for a long time abut the different ways children can make figures out of scraps. One idea in that book is to get a large bead, or a small ball, and glue it onto the top of a milk bottle. You then draw a face on the bead and make clothes out of paper. And you make hair by sticking knitting wool on the bead. This is all very well, but it reminds me of the time Blue Peter encouraged us to make a Dougal from an old washing up liquid bottle. Draw a face round the nozzle (nose), and stick knitting wool over the top and down the sides of the body. Except ours didn’t stick down the sides of the bottle. That was the end of Blue Peter makes for us. Anyway…

I’ve developed that idea, by using a wine bottle as a base, and adding a head and arms made of fabric. I’ve used some jelly roll strips that I’ve had in my stash for a while. I’m really pleased with the result.

I decided to write down what I did as I worked, so I’ve put the pattern on my Etsy shop.

A new helper in the studio

Following my trip to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC recently, I have a new helper.

According to the instructions that came with her from The Quilters’ Trading Post, her name is Dawn.

I’m not sure about that, because so far she has been too shy to say anything.

Anyway, as you can see, she is making herself jolly useful around the sewing room and the studio, holding bits and bobs, and being a nice cheerful presence.