Cactus Pin Cushion!
…Cactus Pin Cushion!
Hello everyone! Hope you’ve all been having a good week so far, I’ve just had my first week out of supernumerary and it’s been great! This week I’m bringing you a fun little make, and a serious upgrade for me, a cactus pin cushion!
I love cacti and succulents, mostly because they don’t need too much watering and I’m not best at keeping other plants alive! Luckily for me, this one doesn’t need any watering at all.
You’ll need green, grey, brown and red felt, (or any other colours you’d like really), stuffing, and you can also use rice or lentils to weigh it down, but I haven’t in mine. To begin, you need to make a small pattern piece in the shape of a leaf, mine are oval with a flat edge, but you could also do a circle which I think would look just as cute! Cut 6 of your shape out of the green fabric. Pin them together in pairs, then sew around the edges to make a pocket.
Then lay them over the top of each other and pin them all together on either side. You’re then going to sew up the middle, through them all, don’t worry if it’s not completely symmetrical, because what cactus is?!
Use your stuffing to pad out each segment of the cactus, then sew the bottoms up to keep the stuffing in.
For the pot, cut a rectangle of the grey felt, or if you want the pot smaller at the bottom and wider at the top, cut it in a rainbow shape. You’ll also need a circle piece, circumference a little smaller than the length of your rectangle/rainbow. Fold the long piece in half and sew up the two ends, then pin the circle to the smaller opening (if it’s a rainbow) and sew up the bottom. Then turn it right sides out.
Pad the pot with some more stuffing and cut out another circle, this time out of brown felt, and unless you know some magical method of machine sewing it together I don’t know about, you’ll need to hand stitch the brown onto the top of the pot. I've tucked the edges under so it looked like it had been sewn from the inside. I’ve sewn mine about ¼ of the way from the top so I have a bit of felt to turn down to create the rim of the pot. Some more hand sewing and you need to attach the cactus to the pot by stitching under each segment, into the pot and around through into the segment (sounds more complex than it is, you’re basically going around and around).
I didn’t like the rim of my pot, so I cut out another thin rectangular strip to further embellish to pot.
Finally, for the flower on the top, cut 2 floral shapes and a small circle, then hand sew a cross stitch on the top to secure them together, then into the top of the cactus.
Pop you pins in, and you’re done! The perfect cushion for your spiky tools!
I think we’ll all agree its definitely a step up from my previously rushed pin cushion…
This will certainly be a highlight of my sewing basket from now on! I hope you enjoyed this simple little make, I’d love to see your own custom pin cushions!
