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Are you familiar with the little strawberry that comes along with the famous tomato pincushion? Do you know the purpose of that strawberry? It's an emery pincushion. Its purpose is to sharpen your pins and needles. It is filled with a mineral called "emery". Emery resembles fine metal shavings. It is used as an abrasive in industrial applications and also on many useful household items such as emery boards.
Well, that little strawberry pincushion just wasn't suiting my needs. I needed something larger, something that could sit on its own on my table. I searched high and low for a larger emery pincushion with no luck, so I decided to make my own.
The result? Here it is. This pincushion is small, as far as pincushions go, but large for an emery pincushion.
I'm offering these emery pincushions for sale and entering them into the Sew Useful contest because I feel they are so practical and they're just not available. They serve a great function for anyone that sews. There's just nothing else out there. I saw a need for something, both for myself and for others, and I've fulfilled that need. I saw a gap in what's available in the commercial sewing world, and I believe I've filled that gap with something handmade. What's better?
You can find my etsy listing for the contest at
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5992910
That listing isn't for sale until after the judging on June 18th. If you'd like to purchase a finished pincushion or the loose emery, you can visit my shop at http://dottyral.etsy.com . They're both available there.
You may re-create this pincushion for your own personal use. You may not sell pincushions made using my pattern.
Ok, on to the instructions....
Well, that little strawberry pincushion just wasn't suiting my needs. I needed something larger, something that could sit on its own on my table. I searched high and low for a larger emery pincushion with no luck, so I decided to make my own.
The result? Here it is. This pincushion is small, as far as pincushions go, but large for an emery pincushion.
I'm offering these emery pincushions for sale and entering them into the Sew Useful contest because I feel they are so practical and they're just not available. They serve a great function for anyone that sews. There's just nothing else out there. I saw a need for something, both for myself and for others, and I've fulfilled that need. I saw a gap in what's available in the commercial sewing world, and I believe I've filled that gap with something handmade. What's better?
You can find my etsy listing for the contest at
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5992910
That listing isn't for sale until after the judging on June 18th. If you'd like to purchase a finished pincushion or the loose emery, you can visit my shop at http://dottyral.etsy.com . They're both available there.
You may re-create this pincushion for your own personal use. You may not sell pincushions made using my pattern.
Ok, on to the instructions....
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Signing UpStep 1Prepare the fabric
Here is a list of the materials and tools needed:
muslin fabric, approximately 5"x5"
decorative fabric, approximately 5"x6"
emery
matching thread
sewing needle
sewing machine
scissors
You can make your pincushion any size and shape. The finished pincushion I'll show you today measures 2 3/4" x 1 1/2".
You're going to make the pincushion out of muslin, then cover it with decorative fabric. I do that because I don't want the tiny emery particles to escape through seams and pinholes.
Fold the piece of muslin in half. The fold is now on the left sie. Draw your lines as shown below. The muslin rectangle should measure 1 1/2" x 2 3/4".
Fold the decorative fabric in half, right sides together. The fold is on the left side. Draw your lines as shown below. The decorative fabric rectangle should measure 1 3/4" x 3".
Extend the vertical lines that you drew by about 1/2" inch above the rectangle.
The solid lines are your sewing lines. The dashed lines are where you'll fold it later.
muslin fabric, approximately 5"x5"
decorative fabric, approximately 5"x6"
emery
matching thread
sewing needle
sewing machine
scissors
You can make your pincushion any size and shape. The finished pincushion I'll show you today measures 2 3/4" x 1 1/2".
You're going to make the pincushion out of muslin, then cover it with decorative fabric. I do that because I don't want the tiny emery particles to escape through seams and pinholes.
Fold the piece of muslin in half. The fold is now on the left sie. Draw your lines as shown below. The muslin rectangle should measure 1 1/2" x 2 3/4".
Fold the decorative fabric in half, right sides together. The fold is on the left side. Draw your lines as shown below. The decorative fabric rectangle should measure 1 3/4" x 3".
Extend the vertical lines that you drew by about 1/2" inch above the rectangle.
The solid lines are your sewing lines. The dashed lines are where you'll fold it later.
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And here is dental supply company that has emery in smaller amounts.
I hope this helps
I think the photos are pretty self explanatory, though the crudeness might be a bit confusing. (Sorry, I had to improvise on materials.)
If Dottyral, or someone who's pretty adept wants to make this, you're welcome to write up an authoritative account. These steps are really vague and aren't going to be very helpful to someone very new to sewing.
(I hope the images will be accessible in full size...)
Here's what's going on in the photos:
Pouch of tiny metal rings == Pouch of emery
Green lens cloth == Foam block/pouch of packed poly-fill
Blue card == Scrap of stiff plastic (ex-credit card, etc)
Pink/peach tissue == Decorative outer cloth
Vague steps:
- Make a little emery pouch
- Make a foam block about the size of the emery pouch
- Cut a bit of credit card so that it's a little larger than foam/pouch
- Cut decorative cloth so it'll go around your wrist in one dimension, and around the stack of emery/foam/plastic in the other.
- Make sure stack and cloth will fit snugly, sew cloth shut on long side + one short side
- Stuff stack into center of pouch, sew on either side to hold
- Close final side of pouch
- Add velcro
Possible variations:
- Try tapering the long pouch at either end: it'll make the wristlet less cuff-like and give the velcro some reinforcement to hang on to.
- Put a broad swatch of velcro on one side to make the wristlet adjustable