Vintage Pincushion

My grandma gave me this vintage pincushion that she had for 70 years. The cushion itself is pretty cute and has a nice design on the front. I like the different pins in the cushion—they’re so interesting. My favorite is the elephant one.

DIY: Voodoo Doll Pincushion

I saw different voodoo doll pincushions online and thought it would fun to make my own. I made voodoo doll pincushions (and travel sewing kits) for Christmas gifts. 

SUPPLIES

• Felt fabric (I used cream and black)
• 2 buttons (I used different sizes)
• Embroidery floss
• Thread
• Needle
• Pins
• Paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Water soluble pencil/chalk
• Stuffing

DIRECTIONS

— 1 —
Sketch out desired voodoo doll shape on paper. Draw where the eyes and mouth will be. Draw the heart as well.

Note: I added about 0.25 extra space around my initial drawing of my voodoo doll—this was to compensate for the edge stitches on the outside of the doll that took about 0.25 inch. I initially didn’t do this, and I felt my doll looked too “thin.”

— 2 —
Cut out the paper doll. Also draw a heart and cut it out from the paper.

— 3 —
Cut two pieces of felt that is a little larger than the height and width of the paper doll.

— 4 —
Place the two pieces of felt on top of each. Pin the paper doll to the felt.

— 5 —
Cut around the paper doll. Remove pins and paper doll. If necessary, smooth any rough edges of the felt doll pieces.

— 6 —
On one of the felt doll pieces, mark where the eyes, mouth and heart will go. (Keep in mind the space the edge stitching will take up, so don’t get too close to the edge with anything.)

— 7 —
Sew the buttons to the doll. (I used the embroidery floss to add a pop of color.)

— 8 —
With the embroidery floss, sew the mouth. For the horizontal line, I made three stitches across, trying to keep my stitches close together so there was a minimal gap. Then I made about five vertical stitches across the horizontal line.

— 9 —
Using the paper heart as a template, cut out a felt heart. Then cut it in half in a zigzag line.

— 10 —
Place one heart piece on the doll piece and sew it. Repeat for the other half of the heart.

— 11 —
Pin the front and back felt doll pieces together. Use a blanket stitch to sew the two pieces together, leaving an opening of a couple of inches.

— 12 —
Stuff the doll.

— 13 —
Finish blanket stitching the opening. Voodoo Doll Pincushion complete.

This is the completed sewing gift I made. I sewed a simple drawstring bag to put the Travel Sewing Kit and Voodoo Pincushion into. I didn’t create directions for a bag here, as there are many places online to find instructions.

Vintage Pincushion and Wool

My grandmother gave me a vintage “pincushion” from the late 1800s. Many scrap pieces of fabric were sewn together to create this little pillow.

It has different bits of embroidery throughout the piece. It’s interesting to look at and I appreciate the amount of craftsmanship that it took to create this.

And a cousin gave me some wool fabric from she had received from our grandmother. She had had the wool for years, but eventually came to the conclusion that she wasn’t ever going to get around to using it, so she gifted them to me. There are four different fabrics (with different yardage), and all are cute plaid patterns. I’m not sure what I’ll do with any of them yet, but it’s all very nice fabric.