Pin Cushion Cuteness!

I just made the niftiest little sewing accessories for my mom-in-law and myself!  Hobby Lobby's facebook page recently posted a link to a PDF containing several delightful crafts using canning jars, and I fell in love with a few of them.  This is the first one I tried, but I am SURE there will be more in the future :-)

We had some pretty tiny canning jars (I think officially jelly jars, maybe?) hanging around from the gifts we gave our fathers and grandfathers for Father's Day, so I used those.  (Have I shown that project yet? I ought to. Whoops.  Back on topic...)  I think they would probably work out better using larger jars, but I'm still kinda enamored with the ones I made!

Gather your materials, and if you have jars (like me!!) you should pretty much have everything laying around.  My FAVORITE kind of project!

• Jar(s)
• Fabric... can be pretty scrappy, you only need a bit.
• Glue gun and glue
• Poly-fill... just a small glob will do.

Cut a rough circle a little bit bigger than the flat piece of the lid.  (Anyone know what that's called?)  It doesn't have to be pretty, but make sure you have in the neighborhood of an inch, inch and a half extra fabric all the way around.

Put a sting of hot glue most of the way around the lid.  Unless you're sitting under your in-laws' ceiling fan, in which case this gets a little bit more complicated :-)  And be careful... I yelp a lot when I'm using hot glue.  Or an oven.  But, I digress...

Stick the fabric to the glue!  Yes, the fabric changed between shots.  Sometimes I get so excited about a project, I finish it up and forget to take pictures of the steps!  Bear in mind that the looser you leave the fabric, the more room you'll have for poly-fill, and the poofier your pin cushion will be!  It is kind of hard to remember not to pull it snug and smooth...

You're going to have a little opening, where you should be able to stick your finger between the fabric and the lid.

Yay!  Now stuff a  wad of poly-fill in.  It will hold a little bit more than you probably will expect... but pack it nice and tightly.  A firm cushion will hold pins and needles more securely.

Glue the little gap closed.  Stick the newly-cushy flat thing into the ring.

 Screw the lid on!  Easy as that! 

With a jar this tiny, I'm picturing it as the perfect container for cross-stitch Christmas ornaments.  I can cut my canvas, pop it in, pop in some skeins of embroidery floss and a pattern, have some pre-threaded needles in the cushion, and have my own kit ready to go when I wanna grab a project for a doctor's waiting room or car ride, or whatever!  With a bigger jar, you could store bobbins, spools, pins, chalks, bias tape, zippers, buttons... sky's the limit!  

This would make a darling gift for a sewing enthusiast, or especially a sewing rookie!  Never too early to start on Christmas gifts, you know... :-)

Always,

Katie