Patchwork pincushion

As I said in my last post, I'm currently in the process of making some patchwork cushion covers, but to get myself into the patchwork making swing, and the fact I needed another pincushion, I decided to make a patchwork pincushion first.  Rather than just do a plain square patchwork I used hexagons as I already had some backing papers cut for this shape, which I needed as I was going to do it all by hand.

My tin of hexagon papers

When I opened the templates tin there was also some fabric in there that had already been cut for a long ago completed project, so rather than look a gift horse in the mouth I decided to use these for the pincushion. All of the fabrics are vintage Laura Ashley ones. 

To make the pincushion, the first job was to decide what the overall pattern would be, i.e. what patch to go where, first as I had more fabric than I needed, then I tacked each piece of fabric to one of the papers.


Patches, papers and patches already tacked on to papers.

The next job was to sew the pieces together. I laid the pieces out in the way that they would go together. It's best to do this so you can keep a track on what piece goes where.


Patches laid out in the design.

To start to sew the pieces, I took the middle patch and placed it together, right sides facing, and oversewed the two pieces of fabric together along the one side. I then added in the other pieces until one side of the pincushion was completed. Then I did the same with the other side.

Second side nearly completed.

I joined the two completed sides together, again by oversewing, leaving one side undone so I could turn it inside out. Before I could turn it the right way round I needed to remove the papers from each of the patches. 

The back of the completed pincushion.

Once the pincushion was the right way round, I stuffed it with polyester stuffing and sewed up the final side. Voila one completed pincushion.


Completed patchwork pincushion.

If you want to try patchwork yourself, this is an easy project to get started with.

To get yourself started you need to complete a card template, a square would be the easiest shape to start with. For a pincushion with nine pieces per side a 5cm square would do. Use this 5cm template to create the papers, use a thickish paper or thin card, that the patches will be tacked around. You'll need 18 in total.

Next create a 5.5cm template out of card and use this one to cut out the patches from the fabrics you've decided to use. Again, you'll need 18. To create your pincushion, use the same method I've outlined above.

Have fun.
TTFN
Louise