No Sew Pin Cushion Tutorial

I recently participated in the Instagram Pin Cushion Swap where I had to make a pin cushion for my secret swap partner. My partner had selected a Woodland theme and when I saw these owl Babushka style measuring cups in Typo I just knew what I had to do. Turning these into a fun and functional pin cushion was so easy and quick and required no real sewing at all.

The technique I used can be done with any vessel that has sides (do you know how hard it is to describe the various cup/bowl type of things that can be turned into a pin cushion?!?!). Once you’ve learned how easy it is to do you’ll be raiding the cupboards, op shops and school fetes for all manner of things that can be turned into a pin cushion. 

What you’ll need

• Item that you’re wanting to turn into a pin cushion
• Fabric cutting scissors
• Fabric
• Polyester fill (the kind you use to make stuffed toys)
• Hot glue gun
• Needle and Thread
• Thread cutting scissors
• Bread plate
• Fabric marking pen

 

How it’s done

1. Iron your fabric and on the wrong side trace around your bread plate.

Tip: Depending on the size of the opening of the item you’re using you just need to cut a circle that is twice the diameter of the opening. Example, if the diameter (the distance from one side to the other as you pass through the centre of the circle) is 3″ you’ll need to cut a circle with a diameter of at least 6″.

2. Trim fabric on the line you’ve drawn. It doesn’t have to be super neat so don’t worry if your circle isn’t perfect.

3. Thread your needle and tie a knot with both ends of the thread joined together so that it’s double threaded. This will give you a little more strength to the thread when you come to pull it tight later on.

4. Using a running stitch (where you create folds in the fabric and push your needle through – see photo for help) stitch approximately ¼ inch of the way in from the edge all the way around the circumference of the circle.

5. Once you’re back to the start pull the thread ends together causing the circle to close up on itself much like a shower cap.

6. Stuff the shower cap of fabric with the polyester fill. I like a really full pincushion so put as much polyester fill in there as you can handle. Once done pull the threads tight again to close the hole.

 

Tip:  Before putting hot glue in the container you might want to pop the pin cushion in there, open side down, and just see where it’s going to come to on the side of the container. You may even want to use some non-permanent way to mark the sides so you know where not to put hot glue.

7. Using your hot glue gun put glue around the sides (but not above the line of where your pin cushion will sit) and put a generous amount of glue over the bottom of the container. Make sure you don’t get any hot glue on the lip of the container if you’re using a vessel that has a lid, don’t want the lid getting stuck in place!

Tip: If you’re using a plastic container it may pay to do a bit of test run of the hot glue gun first to make sure the hot glue doesn’t melt your container.

8. While the glue is still hot tip the pin cushion upside down and push into the container. Use your fingers to push the fabric into the glue so that it’s fully secured when the glue dries.

Bob your uncle, you have a pin cushion ready to use and unlike any other pin cushion out there!

I loved using these measuring cups because once they have their lids on you have no idea what’s in them so they act as a great way of keeping sharp pins out of the hands of curious little people that might find their way into your sewing space. They also make it really handy to pop your pins in your bag if you’re doing a class.

If you’re going to use a container with a lid as a pin cushion make sure that the fabric of the pin cushion won’t stop the lid from closing properly. For example, the lip of the own is raised and the cup fits over the outside of this lip which is great as it keeps the fabric out of the way and doesn’t hamper the lid being closed.

This was so much fun to make and I hope my partner really gets a kick out of them. I know I’m going to be keeping an eye out for more containers that I can turn into one-of-a-kind pin cushions. They make the perfect gift for swaps and presents.