Pin Cushion Jar Tutorial

Last month I bought Super-Cute Pincushions by Kate Haxell.  On the cover they had pincushion jars, a brand-new concept for me.  

I just had to make my own versions.  

Her jars were filled with ribbons and trims.  I used that for one jar, but in the others I used beads, fabric scraps, and jewelry.  Any kind of small collection, like sea glass, would work well.  The larger the jar, the more creative you can be.  My jars are about 4" tall (excluding the pincushion) and 3" across.

Her pincushion tops were funnel-shaped, so they were pointy.  I made mine circular so they would be flat.

She had a decorative pom pom right smack in the middle of the pincushion, which I thought would get in the way of the pins, so I left that off.

First thing to do is pick out the fabric for your pincushion.  It's OK if you use scraps and piece them, like I did here.  I bought this 3" strip of fabric as a remnant and had forgotten about it.  When I bought it, I planned on using it for a binding, but the pincushion got there first.

To make the pincushion, cut a circle out of cardboard or mat board the same size as your lid.  Then cut a circle of fabric at least twice the diameter of the lid.  I like to cut circles with this template.

Make a running stitch around the perimeter of the circle.  Grab a generous handful of fiberfill and stuff it.  Put the cardboard circle on top of the stuffing, since it's going to be the base.

Pull the stitching tight and tie off.  Cover the lid with an ample supply of Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I like it much better than hot glue.  After I put the pincushion on the lid, I put a heavy book on top to squish it down so it would stick good and tight.  I left it sitting on there for about an hour.

Now the fun part - make a piggy pile with all your trim, fabric tidbits, and beads.  Start loading up the jar bottoms and pick coordinating trims and notions to decorate the jar lid.

This first pincushion is the one we've been looking at so far.  It was the simplest.  The jar is filled with trims and an enamelled-daisy pin from the 1960s.  Just one ribbon around the lid, and regular old stick pins.

This one is filled with fabric scraps.  There are three trims on the lid - yellow pleats are overlaid with a striped ribbon.  Both of them were affixed with Aleene's Tacky Glue.  The pink rick rack is just tucked in afterwards.  

There are four buttons (two orange and two yellow, but the same design) glued on the jar rim, and that was kind of tricky.  It was easy enough to cut the shanks off with a made-for-that-purpose tool I bought at JoAnn.  (They had it in the button aisle.)  But it was trickier to get the glue to stick because the buttons were applied to a vertical surface.  If I had done one at a time, with the jar laying on its side, that would have worked better.  But that would take too long and I wanted to see how cute it was immediately!  So I periodically had to press them tightly over the course of their drying period.

Plain daisy pins looked good on this pincushion.

The jar is filled with large beads and sparkly beaded ribbon trim.  Two types of trim liven up the lid - big old round pom poms covered by a length of geometric, checkerboard ribbon.  

Some of the pins are pearl-topped.  I bought them because they're so pretty, but the pins are very thick so I don't use them.  I was happy to at least use them as decoration here.

The bird pins are buttons.  I cut off the shanks and glued them to a flat-headed daisy pin.

Lots of shiny going on with this pincushion, between the beads, pearl pins, shiny ribbon, and angles of the jar.

This one is filled with fabric scraps.  The lid has just one ribbon trim with two buttons.  The shiny one nestles just right into the pink one and provides a nice contrast.  The tiny row of buttons on the jar cover up a date stamp.

Making these pins was my favorite part of this entirely fun project.  The flamingo is a button glued to a daisy pin.  Again, cut the shank off before gluing.

The "hatpins" are beading needles that I never used.  They are really long, and open up in the center.  I don't even know what their original purpose was, but I'm glad I found a use for them.  I wrapped a tiny bit of soft metal wire around the needle to act as a brake so the beads wouldn't fall down.  Then I added an assortment of beads.  For the pink one, I used glue between each of the beads, but for the other two I only used glue on the top two beads.

I like pincushions to look at, but not to use.  It takes too long to pull the pins out and stick them in again.  I always put my pins in shallow bowls or dishes.  Lately I've been using this plastic serving dish from the 1950s.  I love these little relish trays.  I have another one that I use for my office supplies.

I'm looking forward to trying some other projects from that book.  And I'm also looking forward to finding different kinds of pins.  I'll have to make a new pincushion jar every time I find new pins.