How to Make a Pincushion by Hand

Let me start by saying that this pincushion could be whipped up in about 5 minutes on the sewing machine.  If you are into the speedy quick just make sure to cut your triangles allowing for the seam allow- ance in the first place & you’ll be done before we finish hand piecing the first two triangles.  

BUT…this is a valuable skill to have.  I learnt to quilt by hand & it’s always nice to know the theory.  Even though I’ll say check & double check all the way through this “how to” it’s really not necessary for this project as your centre points will be covered with a button & it’s only a pincushion after all.  

Finally, when hand piecing for quilting purposes you need only use a running stitch.  However, as we are stuffing this we want the seams to be nice & firm so we’ll be using backstitch.  

Gather Supplies 
Pattern (DOWNLOAD PDF HERE), pins, fabric of choice, 2 buttons, pencil, needle & thread,    scissors, stuffing.    

Begin 
Cut out template pieces & trace around them with pencil on the wrong side of the fabric.  You want this line to be visible.  Don’t be scared.  Once traced, cut out fabric pieces.  Don’t forget to add your seam al- lowance (1/2 cm)

Lay out your pieces as you want them to appear in your finished    pincushion.  We are going to hand piece this cushion in two halves & then piece the two halves together later.  So set aside one group of three pieces.

Working with the middle triangle & one of the other triangles carefully pin to each other.   You want to pin corner to corner so that the triangle points match up.     

Pin all the way along the seam making sure to pin along the pencil lines on both fabrics.

Back stitch along the pinned pencil line.  You want this to be nice & firm so that you can stuff it well It’s going to be in daily use.  

Keep checking your work to make sure that your stitches are  running along the pencil line on both fabrics. 

Your finished line of back stitch should look something like this.  Just finish off the line of stitching with a couple of extra back stitches & then knot the cotton off.

Working with the centre triangle & the third piece pin & stitch as previous.

Once complete your three pieced triangle should look like this.

Lay out your pieces for the second half of the hexagon.  

Pin & stitch as for the first half.      

Your two halves should look like this.  

With right sides facing carefully pin point to point of the  triangles.  Backstitch along the first triangle. 

When you hit the seam you’ll need to back stitch exactly on the point of the triangle    

Now pass your needle through the seam allowance as shown (you’ll need to do this for both seams).  

Carefully backstitch the remainder of the joining seam. 

Your pieced hexagon should look like this on the wrong side   

And this on the right side.      

Carefully press the wrong side of the fabric so that the seams lie flat. Flip the bag over & do the same thing on the other side.

Now pin your pieced hexagon & your cut out hexagon with right sides together. Begin one side of the triangle you intend to leave open (for stuffing) and backstitch around the remaining 5 sides of the  hexagon.  It isn’t really important to keep checking both pencil lines.  Just make sure that you stitch along the pencil line on the pieced hexagon. 

Your hexagon should be stitched along 5 triangles with one left open for stuffing.

Turn your hexagon in the right way. 

Stuff firmly.

Whip stitch opening closed.  You could add a decorative stitch here if you like. 

Choose 2 buttons & sandwich the pincushion between the two of them before attaching.  This will plump the cushion even more & give the cushion a more stable base.  

Finished in a couple of hours by hand & about 15 minutes if you’ve used the machine!