I love a little project to use the funky found treasures that have shown up on my work bench, and I always need more pincushions in more places! This particular design includes all sorts of things that make me smile- left over denim (never say no to used jeans!), bits of discarded embroidery floss, the jetsam of my sewing machine, a little lavender, some strong magnets, and a bottle cap (the solution to so many of life's little problems!)
🛠 Supplies You’ll Need
Maybe Found/ Stashed materials!
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4 ish square inches of some sort of medium weight woven fabric like denim, canvas, or toweling.
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Bits of extra thread
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Sort of soft stuffing material (Like the trimmings from your last knitting projects or extra bits of thread from your sewing machine- not laundry lint, (not satisfying) and also not packing peanuts (too bulky).
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STRONG 1/2" diameter round magnets (neodymium work great because they aren't bulky)
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A mostly unbent bottle cap
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BONUS dried lavender and/or other fragrant herbs or nice smelling oils
My favorite tools!
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A glue gun and glue
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A needle with a big enough eye to thread with embroidery floss
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Scissors
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Sharpie
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Roll of masking, duct or packing tape (for a template)
👩🎨 Meet the Teacher:
I grew up in the Eastern Washington desert—criss-crossed by rivers, punctuated with nuclear power plants, surrounded by a loving, auto-didactic family full of natural history collectors, gardeners and teachers. I developed a desire to recreate in expansive, pseudo-scientific ways by re-appropriating materials. I reside in Los Angeles in a ramshackle apartment bursting with plants and pieces of esoteric furniture- pigeons and parakeets on my shoulders, humming tiny tunes. missmollymacmacmac.org
👣 The Step by Step Project
Collect your materials and tools! I like to use the inside of of duct tape tube to measure a 4" circle- they are very consistent! You can use a sharpie to trace- you won't be seeing the line and they can write on almost anything! A slightly smaller circle is also fine (down to 3") but less convenient to stencil.
Cut out your circle and collect some assorted bits of left-over string.
I like to decorate everything with chain stitches. Thread your needle and knot the end. To start- find the rough middle of the fabric (this isn't science unless you want it to be) and pull your needle and thread through all the way to the knot. Then take your needle and poke back into roughly the same hole you just came from. Now tip your needle back up through the fabric to where you want the top of your stitch to end up and also through the loop of your thread before tightening down. Pull your needle through the fabric and catch your tightening loop on your next stitch. Repeat to make a chain, ending with a finished stitch on the top of your last loop. All this is just decorative so do as many or as much as you like! Or do some other stitch entirely! Or don't stitch at all!
Once you are done decorating the top of your cushion take a long thread and leave yourself plenty of tail to use as a tie behind your knot (3" is about what I left). Then take big bite (1/4") stitches around the perimeter of your circle between 1/4" and 1/8" from the outside.
When you tighten down it'll form a little pouch-like bundle called a Suffolk Puff. Now we stuff the puff with stuff!
Start with a layer of soft stuff (easy to stick a pin into) but then you can add lavender flowers (like I did) or secret messages or whatever you want to NEVER SEE AGAIN AND POKE WITH PINS (little voodoo doll action probably never hurt anyone) ande then top it off with more puffy stuff.
Now tighten down your pull thread tight and tie off. You'll want to kinda squish and poke it around until it's the round shape you like. You don't need it to be super tidy- all will soon be hidden.
Hot glue your magnet into your bottle cap by placing the magnet into the cap and then gluing around the sides. Next, take a liberal amount of hot glue and squish it into all the corners and nooks of your bundle before finally hot gluing your cap to your back and VOILA!
Add pins and you have a pincushion that can stick anywhere ferrous metallic!
‼️Important Notes, Tips or Tricks
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You can (and should) add dried lavender and/ or other dried herbs to the bundle. If not that then add a couple drips of your favorite essential oil into the middle of the packet to get a punch of smell when you pop in and out a pin.
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I end up almost always using 2 magnets because I want stuff to STICK. If this is something you want to try I suggest putting the magnets into the bottle cap and filling the extra space around the "teeth" with glue gun glue. Fun Fact: Bottle caps used to have 21 teeth but now almost always have 23. The original patents was held by someone named "Painter". No relation, sadly.
💬 Join the Fun & Share!
Did you try this project? Do you have your own magnetic pin cushion technique to share? Drop a comment below with your tips or show us what you made! We’d love to see your projects!
