book excerpt: softies pin cushion
Here’s an sample project from the new book, Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals by Therese Laskey. It’s a simple pin cushion, and it’s the perfect way for you softie newbies to get started in the craze. All you need is a few scraps of felt, some filler and sewing floss. And for those of you already softie masters, be sure to enter the awards contest at the author’s site, Softie Central.
Click through to the next page for complete instructions, and visit amazon to get a copy of the book!
Scattered Flowers Pincushion
what you need:
embroidery stitches — French knot, blanket stich
materials — scraps of light pink felt for flowers, one sheet of hot pink for pin cushion
floss — light pink
other — weighted filler
cut from pattern — 24 light pink flower shapes from felt
cut from freehand — two hot pink pieces (top and bottom), three inches square inch
and 1 hot pink side band, 1 3/8 by 12 inches.
sew
step 1. embellish the pincushion top
a. Stack two flower pieces, offset slightly so that they’re no perfectly aligned and attached the pair to the pincushion top piece with 3 to 5 French knots using 3 strands of floss for each knot. Continue stacking and attaching pairs of flowers, creating a random, scattered look by placing a few flowers close to the edge so that they seem to be about to fall off.
step 2. mark and attach the side band to the pincushion top.
a. Starting on one long side of the side band’s corners, measure and mark with a pin every 3 inches; these marked points will become the side band’s corners. Attach the side band to the top of the pincushion by matching up a corner of the top with a corner of the side band, and pin each corner and the side band in between the corners in place. Be careful to keep your tension even as you sew around the corners or you may run short of fabric. Or simply cut the side band piece a little longer and trim it when you get to the end.
b. Stich the top ends of the side band together at the fourth corner, timming any overlap, or tucking it under before joining the two ends.
step 3. Attach the side band to the pincushion bottom
a. Sew the bottom piece of the pincushion to the side band using a blanket stitch, leaving one side of the square open.
step 4. stuff the pincushion
a. Stuff the top three-quarters of the pincushion with fiberfill.
b. Add weighted filler to fill in the remaining space in the pincushion.
step 5. finish the pincushion
a. Sew the last side of the square closed, using a blanket stitch.
b. Manipulate the finished pincushion with your hands, shifting the stuffing as needed to make a nice square shape.
