pincushions

have i mentioned here that i teach a monthly class at work called “needlereads”?  it’s open to both teens and adults (and we get a lovely mix of both) and the idea is that each month we pick a project (usually from a sewing book) that we can complete from design to finished item in the two-hour time allotment.  i love this class.  i love being able to show people how easy sewing can be if you just don’t stress out about it looking perfect.  i love the “aha!” moments that i get to witness.  i love the pride everyone has in their finished items.  i love that the teens and adults in this class interact as equals.  and i love that i get to do sewing projects as part of my work at the library.

for the april meeting, the group asked that we make pincushions.  fabulous!  i’ve been needing a new pincushion anyway!  but i’ve never really made one, so i decided to do some pattern testing first.  the pincushion that inspired this request was the cupcake pincushion from simply sublime gifts by jodi kahn.  this is a great little book with some really cute and quick projects, but… i’m not a big fan of the cupcake pincushion pattern.  i’ll go ahead and teach it to anyone who wants to try it, but it’s all hand-sewing (making it almost impossible to complete in-class) and the angles of the “frosting” are really tricky.  my final “frosting” looks considerably different than the picture in the book and i tried it several different times with pins before i just gave up and sewed it the best i could.

i thought i’d try a few others to see if i liked them better, so the second pincushion i made was from last minute patchwork + quilted gifts by joelle hoverson.  i liked this pattern much better.  actually, i’ve loved all the patterns i’ve made from this book.  i learned a few things about how best to do the thread overlays, but i’d be happy to teach this one in class.

does anyone else have a favorite (quick) pincushion pattern they’d like to suggest?  it could be from a book, or a website or even just a flickr photo.  we’ll take inspiration wherever we can find it!

p.s. i had no idea how hard it would be to photograph pincushions!  the pins really throw off your depth of field.

p.p.s. if you’re local and interested in attending a needlereads class, they are on the last monday of each month (usually) at 7:00.  if you need more info, contact me!