A Wooly Pincushion

A few years ago, one of my best friends presented me with a large bag full of thrifted wool sweaters. I added to it and then felted all of them and cut out squares to make a large, felted wool blanket for the bed. Later, I added a flannel backing and tied the whole thing into a quilt. That blanket is the coziest thing ever.

Well, I saved the bottom ribbed section from one of them to turn into a pincushion. Would you believe that I just now got around to doing just that? I never could quite get the look I wanted until now.

The ribbed sweater bottom was from a man's sweater, so even felted it was almost 3 feet in length. I rolled it up with each edge slightly lower than the last to form a domed shape. Then I sewed the edge to hold it in place.

I used thread from my large spool instead of color coordinating thread. I bring good thread with me, so I save it for special projects and a scrap pincushion did not make the cut. But, the visible stitches just give it a homemade scrappy feel that I actually like.

I cut a round out of another, thinner, felted sweater sleeve and rolled the edges as I stitched it to the bottom. The crocheted motif I used for the top, was a crocheted hexagon I tried to make that came out more circular. It has been laying in my scrap basket for a few years until I decided it would make the perfect pincushion top. I also added a small, crocheted flower to the top.

Finally, I sewed some recycled lace to the top edge and doesn't it look like a scrumptious albeit woolly cupcake? The moral of the story? Never, EVER, throw away scraps, because you never know when they will make the perfect addition to a project.

I'm really loving this pincushion, too. It's got a bit of weight to it that makes it stay put. Also, I don't have to worry about poking myself with a pin while I'm trying to hold the pincushion in place.