Introduction: Dandelion Pincushion and Mini Sewing Kit
Need to add a little whismy to you craft room or sewing circle? Then there is no better way than the dandelion pincushion sewing kit!
This is a simple project that can be done in one evening if you find yourself with an hour or two of free time and a pinch of creativity. The supplies for this project are easy to find and cheap and most can probably be found around your house.
Lets have some fun and add a conversation piece to your craft room!
Step 1: Supplies
Project needs:
-Aluminum can
-Coat hanger
-Cotton
-Cloth
-Pearlized pins
-Large cork
-Jar
Basic needs:
-Hot glue gun
-Pliers with wire cutter
-Paint and paint brush
-Scissors
-Sharpie
Most of the things I found around the house. Coat hangers are amazing for many projects, its always good to have some around the house and any given time. I used aluminum by cutting apart a soda can, another easy way to get metal for projects. I used a bit of a t-shirt that had been thrown in the rag bin, you only need a little bit so you shouldn't need to buy an entire thing of material.
The pins, corks, and jar were all found at Michaels for a pretty cheap price, although most places should have similar items.
Step 2: Getting Supplies Prepped
I started with the stem of the dandelion by cutting out a random bit of the coat hanger. I just eye-balled it and went for it...no need for it to be precise.
You can keep the lid on the jar or maybe your jar doesn't have a lid at all....I decided I didn't want it on there so I systematically disassembled it. Now I have bits for new projects! The jar top looks like it would look great with something steam punk....
After cutting apart the soda can and cleaning it up I drew out an idea of the shapes I was going to cut.
-One disk for the base of the pincushion
-The spikey one will be the leaves that fall down from the top
-The leaves at the base of the plant (I made the leaves a bit small, I would make them bigger if I did it again)
-A strip of grass to put around the base of the jar
I spray painted the foil gold and then dry brushed some green paint to try and get a patina effect. Sadly I ended up adding a bit too much green, but it still looks nice.
Step 3: Assembling the Pincushion
Get a wad of cotton about twice as big as the cushion you want to assemble, you want it to be pretty tight for it to hold its shape and hold up the pins. Then I took a square cut of cloth and wrapped it around the cotton ball and a round disk I cut out of the aluminum can (to give it a base and keep the round shape).
First I wrapped it like a burrito and glued it into place. Then I folded in the remaining corners to make a square and again, glued them into place. Finally, I tucked all the remaining points in and glued it down, to make a nice little puff ball.
I added little dots of color with a sharpie in order to give it some color and texture. Its completely optional.
Step 4: Assembly!
Now that you have all your bits prepped, its time to put them all together and see your whismy blossom!
Notes:
-I put a bend in the top of the wire hanger to give it more surface area with the pin cushion
-I simply wiggled the hanger down into the cork
-I hammered a hole in the middle of the leaves with a nail
First I looped the leaves down to the bottom of the stem and glued into place. Then I glued down the top leaves followed by the cushion. All that is left to do...PIN IT!
Step 5: Pin It and Fill It!
I started in the top, middle of the cushion and worked my way down and around. Be careful to not get them too close or too bunched up...other than that the best advice I have is to just do and adjust as needed.
You can fill up the jar with a mini kit of sewing supplies so you can sew on the go while looking fashionable as you do it. Sadly my mini kit is a little sad at the moment as I seemed to have misplaced my sewing supplies. I'm sure yours will be much more useful.
Makes a great gift!
