on its way

I had a blast making a few things and while most are obvious, the long thing is a plastic bag holder we all have so many of...

I hope she likes everything!

Pincushions Sent

By now I think most of the pincushions are on their way and things are coming to an end with our pincushion swap. I hope you had a good time with this swap. I know I did! In fact I had so much fun that I can't wait to show what I made for my partners.

My first partner Shawnee likes matroyshkas. I'm a fan of matroyshkas too! I wanted to make a set of nesting doll pincushions that would fit inside each other, but couldn't figure out how to do that with fabric. Instead I made her a matroyshka pincushion with a matching matroyshka button can. They don't nest but since matroyshkas come in sets I thought this pincushion would need a friend.

I also created this wooden shoe pincushion for a special friend. I had a pair of these cute little shoes until our adorable but completely naughty puppy knocked one off my desk and proceeded to chew up the toe. Sorry friend, thanks to Chunk, you'll only be getting one wooden shoe!

Lastly, I just mailed this pincushion off to my second partner today. Donna and I partnered up late so we moved our ship date back into November. It won't arrive in California until Wednesday but I was too excited to wait to share pictures. I just love how this pincushion turned out. Donna loves vintage items and all things tea so I made this saltbox house landscape pincushion for her and put it this vintage container. I'm not sure if it's a cup, a sugar bowl or something else. I originally bought it at a thrift shop for myself because I love blue willow dishes. I knew it would make a great landscape pincushion. I used bits of wool for the base and the house. The trees are wool scraps attached to pins so they can be moved if Donna wants to re-landscape. This was my original inspiration. http://www.etsy.com/listing/25453698/pin-cushion-pattern-pdf-tiny-world Of course true to my form I thought I could figure out how to make it on my own and didn't purchase the pattern. Though in hindsight, I'm sure the pattern would have made it much easier to create. But where's the fun in that?

With all this pincushion fun, I think making pincushions could become my new hobby. I had so many ideas and not enough time to try them all, so I see some more pincushion creations in my future. I also see another swap in the future for us. Check back after the holidays for our next swap. I'm thinking owls.

Felt Pincushions

Those of you who know me, know that I love to use felt and recycled felted wool for my sewing projects. Pincushions are no exception. This summer I made three pincushions from felt or felted wool.

I made this Eiffel Tower pincushion for my nephew. He loves the Eiffel Tower and needed a cheer up this summer. He likes to sew with me so he picked out the project and I made it. My inspiration was this pincushion. Unfortunately it wasn't a downloadable pattern and we were in a hurry. We couldn't wait for the pattern to be mailed, so I had to improvise and make my own. It's not as good as the original, but my nephew liked it so that's what counts.

I also made this little froggy pincushion for my August YOE (Year of Enchantment) partner. I added magnets to the bottom so it would stick on the little metal tin. I found the pattern for this pincushion in a children's sewing book and tweaked it a bit.
Before that, for the YOE July Theme, I made a mermaid pincushion for Kerry. Here are shots of the front and back of the mermaid pincushion.

All that pincushion fun this summer made me want to host this pincushion swap. Now that the swap has started, I have a bunch of ideas(not all of them involve felt or felted wool.) I need to narrow my ideas down and start creating. It's going to be fun! I hope you think so too. So let the pincushion making begin. Have fun, be creative and most of all enjoy making your pincushion. I know I will!

Pincushion Patterns and Tutorials

Here are some pincushion patterns and tutorials. I thought these might provide some inspiration and get your creative juices flowing. I can't wait to see what you all create!

http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-all-gone-pear-shaped.html

http://www.marthastewart.com/267628/teacup-pincushions?autonomy_kw=pincushion

http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/2011/05/scrappy-pincushion-tutorial-lapel-stick.html

http://veryberryhandmade.co.uk/2011/05/30/quick-pieced-pincushion-tutorial/

http://www.craftpassion.com/2010/04/sewing-tutorial-turtle-pincushion-with-pattern.html

http://natsprat.blogspot.com/2011/04/cupcake-pin-cushion-tutorial.html

http://www.stamps-and-stitches.com/2010/01/cupcake-pincushion-tutorial.html

http://www.heatherbaileydesign.com/HBSquareDeal.pdf

For more pincushion ideas, check out these PDFs and links:

http://lilatuellerdesigns.com/pdf_files/LilaTuellerDesigns-MushroomPincushions.pdf

http://www.thediydish.com/promo/theDIYdish_Season3_Ep1_BirdPinCushion.pdf

http://www.thediydish.com/promo/theDIYdish_OwlPinCushion.pdf

http://thelongthread.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/mouse-pincushion-revised-instructions.pdf

http://tipnut.com/pincushion-patterns/

Pincushion Partners

Pincushion partner information has been e-mailed to everyone. Please take a minute to double check and make sure I paired everyone up correctly. If I made a mistake let me know. Partner assignments are below:

Val & Melinda

Barb & Laura

Ruth & Gayle

Kerry & Joanna

Shawnee & Jill

Don't forget to e-mail me to confirm you got your partner information. I'll send blog invitations out tonight so you can post inspirations, thoughts and pincushion goodness. Thanks for participating in the swap!!!

Crafty Bits Swap Spot Pincushion Swap

Yes, it's a pincushion Swap!

Sign Ups:

Sign Ups will start today and end Saturday September 24 @ 11pm.

Mail Deadline:

Mail by no later than Monday October 24th.

You must use tracking and delivery confirmation if mailing with-in the US. Please send me the tracking number.

Swap Details:

Swappers of all skill levels are invited but you must have a blog to join. This swap is open internationally. If you prefer to swap in the US only please be sure to let me know. This will be a partner to partner swap so feel free to contact your partner and make friends!

What we're swapping: This is a pincushion swap so we are swapping:

1. Pincushion of your choice. There is no specific theme for your pincushion. Pincushions can be hand stitched or machine sewn but should be handcrafted not purchased. Be creative, have fun, and create something that you would love to receive!

2. Two sewing bobbles/goodies to go along with your pincushion package.

Cost:

This is meant to be a fun and inexpensive swap so let's keep the expense between $5 and $10. This price includes your materials for making the pincushion and your two sewing bobbles/goodies. (Costs of postage/shipping is not included in the amount.)

Other Details:

Pincushion materials: Any combination of materials and mediums may be used to create your pincushion. For example assorted fabric types, yarns, recycled wool, batting, recycled materials, plastic, wood, glass, tin, or ceramic containers. You name it and with a little creativity it can probably be made into a pincushion.

Pincushion Filling: When it comes to filling your pincushion, there are lots of available fillings. Cotton, polyester, wool fabric, yarn, sawdust, crushed walnut shells, sand and/or rice could be used. Some swappers may be sensitive to some of these filling materials. If you have allergies to anything that could be potentially used as a filling please let me know. I want you to to have a usable pincushion that won't send you to the emergency room in anaphylactic shock! Along these same lines when you mail your pincushion please let your partner know the materials you used when making and stuffing your pincushion.

Remember - be creative, have fun, and create something that you would love to receive! Need some inspiration? Ideas for all kinds of pincushions can be found all over the internet. Check out Google images, ETSY, Flickr, Yahoo images, etc. for ideas. Need a pincushion tutorial? In the coming weeks I'll be posting links for some great pincushion tutorials.

Want to sign up???

Have I talked you into participating yet? Good! Go fill out the form Here to sign up. You must fill out the form on WUFOO to participate. Just leaving me a comment doesn't sign you up(though I do love to read comments so feel free to fill out your WUFOO form then come back and leave a comment!)