I thought I had this great idea to make a pincushion with cute pictures of friends and family on it. Then, I realized that may seem a bit sadistic. So, I thought, who's face would I really like to stab pins into? Dolores Umbridge is the perfectly prim face of pure evil, so she was perfect!

Materials:

two colors of cotton fabric

white cotton fabric

scissors

t-shirt transfer paper

card stock printer paper

printer

iron

needle

embroidery thread

sewing machine

cotton thread

stuffing or fabric scraps

Step 1: Hexagons

Find an image of a hexagon, print, and cut out. You can see the general size of the printout I used from the image with the ruler over it. The size really doesn't matter as long as they are all the same.

Use the printout as a template to cut six hexagons from cotton fabric. Cut three each from two different fabrics.

Step 2: Dolores

Find a picture of Dolores Umbridge or some other equally evil character or person.

Print the image on T-Shirt Transfer paper, and iron it onto some white cotton fabric according to the product directions.

Cut a hexagon from the portrait and another from the white fabric.

Step 3: Sew Sides

Sew the six colored hexagons together as shown.

Step 4: Sew Top and Bottom

Sew the portrait into the center of the ring created by the colored hexagons. It helps to pin it in place like in the image of the white bottom piece.

Iron flat, but be sure to reuse the backing paper on the image so it doesn't melt onto your iron or ironing board.

Sew the sides of the hexagons together according to the notes in the first image.

Sew the last white hexagon onto the bottom, but leave one side open.

Step 5: Stuffing

Turn the pincushion right side out through the last un-sewn side of the bottom hexagon.

Stuff with fiber fill or fabric scraps.

Stitch up the hole in the bottom.

Step 6: Embroidery

I felt it needed a bit more decoration by way of some embroidery, so I decided to add a long armed feather stitch to each edge.

I also added a laced running stitch around the portrait later on.

Consult my Embroidery 101 instructables on the subject if you need further directions on how to do the feather stitch or a laced running stitch.

Step 7: Cinching

To give the cushion more dimension and even out the stuffing, cinch the sides by starting with a running stitch from the bottom to the top.

Then, stick the needle from the top, through the cushion, and back to where you started.

Weave the needle through your running stitch from the back to the front to create a laced running stitch, and push the needle back through the cushion to where you started once more.

Pull gently but firmly until it's cinched to your liking.

Tie off the thread on the back.