Free Needlepoint Pattern for Pincushion

This little pincushion is quick to make as a useful gift for a special friend. A long time ago I made a slightly larger one for a dear friend. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited her years later and noticed the pincushion on her work space filled with pins and assorted needles all trailing little bits of thread and obviously well used.

Use a variegated thread for a pretty effect. Here is the link to the free needlepoint pattern. Click on the printer icon for your printer friendly copy. I'd love to have any feedback from you, positive or negative.

Sewing up a Needlepoint Pincushion

These two small canvas work pincushions were worked on a small scrap of canvas I had left over from another project. I bound the edges of the canvas with masking tape to prevent the threads from snagging as I worked and then I marked the centre of each pincushion with a tacking thread.  I didn't bind the top because its the selvage and it won't snag.

The threads I used are Caron Watercolours. Its a 3 ply thread and I split it and used 2 strands for the pincushion on the left, and only 1 thread for the outer rows of stitching on the other pincushion. You can see a close up picture in my previous post 'Canvas Work Pincushion'.

To finish off the pincushions I chose a cotton patchwork fabric for the backs.

Sometimes when I make up a canvas work pincushion I prepare it by doing an extra round of half cross stitch. I do this once I have finished embroidering the design. The idea is that when you stitch the canvas to the backing fabric, you 'stitch in the ditch' between the the last row of the design (which is satin stitch on these pincushions) and the row of half cross stitch.

When the pincushion has been turned this extra row of stitches helps to stop a line of bare canvas from showing around the sides of the pincushion.

I trimmed the canvas and cut off the corners before I turned it.

Then I stuffed the pincushion with a polyester cushion stuffing and stitched it up using ladder stitch.

And here they are...

It's a quick, fun little project to do. It's also ideal for you if you haven't tried doing needlepoint before. I will post a free pattern with a stitch guide in my next post if all goes according to plan.

Canvas work pincushion

I haven't posted for a while but the family have now left us and are on their way to settle in Australia. How sad we were to see them go but wish them only happiness and success in their new life over there.

Back to stitching. I always like working on little projects and a while ago I began been trying out some new threads on two small canvas work pincushions. The joy of these small projects for me is that they are quick to do and give a lovely sense of accomplishment when they are so soon complete. 

I stitched the pincushions on a 14 count mono canvas. The thread is a 3-ply cotton from the Caron Watercolour Collection, a thread I haven't used before. The variegated colours are so tantalising to look at and I loved the way they blend as you go along. It really is a visual treat to work with such beautiful colours.

It is recommended by Caron that you split the three threads and use only two of the three strands for a 14 count canvas. As I stitched with the two strands I separated them with my needle and plunged my needle into the canvas between them as you can see in photo. This helped to keep the two strands looking neat and stop them from twisting.

I did however find that the two strands gave quite a bit of resistance when I pulled them through the canvas and I decided half way through the second pincushion to try using only 1 thread. It certainly was easier to work with and more gentle on the fingers. The canvas peeps through in places if you look hard but I think the coverage is adequate. If you look carefully you can see that the small pinkish cushion stitches and the outside round of satin stitch look thinner than the centre of the pincushion where I used two strands.

 

I have put the two pincushions together and will post photos in my next post. I am also charting the design and will include it as a free pattern for you to download. 'Till next time happy stitching.