A Bottle Cap Pincushion Done

When I completed the embroidery for the milk bottle top pincushion, I looked back at my previous post here and realized that I forgot to include a photo of the plastic milk bottle tops I'm using.

I found it interesting that the bottle caps I collected in Cape Town seem to be identical to those on the 2 litre milk containers here in Brisbane. Perhaps the machines that produce the plastic milk bottles and their tops are made and sold internationally. If so, it's no wonder the bottle tops are the same.

You can see in the photos that the strip of embroidered felt that forms the side of the pincushion is quite a bit wider than the height of the bottle top.

Don't worry, it will be supported when the top of pincushion is fitted into place. The circle for the top is filled very firmly and tied off leaving about a 2cm gap.

I rather like the closed buttonhole stitch, a variation of blanket stitch, that joins the embroidered strip to the top and bottom of the pincushion. Although I'd seen the stitch a few times in embroidery stitch books, it didn't seem like one that I'd want to use. When I tried it out on the pincushion, it was just the right stitch. It gives the effect of a narrow braid joining the top to the side. It defines the embroidered band nicely too.

Till next time, happy stitching!

Bottle Cap Pincushions and the Bayside Stitchers

I made some bottle cap pincushions a few years ago. It's a nice small project that you can tuck into your bag and take with you to stitch when you want to keep your hands busy but not work on a large project or something that needs more concentration.

I've joined a local craft group at the Sandgate Library, but more about that later. I wanted a little portable project that I could stitch while getting to know some of the local stitchers. I have been meaning to stitch up a few pincushions to keep in the cupboard as small gifts. These little pincushions are just the thing.

I've cut out the small circles of felt to fit the milk bottle caps, a strip to cover the sides and a large circle for the top. The big round of felt will be stuffed and form the top of the pincushion.

What I really like about the pincushions is the freedom to stitch whatever comes to mind, like flowers, or simple line stitches that lend themselves to the narrow band of felt. The other aspect is an opportunity to use a variety of threads and colours, often small lengths of thread left over from other projects.

Many of us use a pattern to embroider and keep to that quite closely. Or we have a definite plan of what we want to stitch. These little pincushions are a holiday from those constraints and are a fun little interlude to the more serious embroidery. There wasn't much to show after my first morning of stitching but I did enjoy it.

Back to the library. I've been to just a few meetings of the Bayside Stitchers craft group which take place in a cozy corner of the library, but 'times they are a-changing'*. The library is going to be refurbished. Both the layout of the library and the hours will change and it will no longer suit the group for our meetings. As a temporary measure we hope to move to a nearby community centre and then will decide what to do in the future.

It is sad that the group which started seven years ago will probably have to move permanently to a new venue, and also that it may not be in our little town of Sandgate. The new, demolished and rebuilt, Bracken Ridge Library which opens at the end of November is a possible alternative.

For those in the Brighton or Sandgate area who would like to recycle bottle tops like milk bottle tops or coke bottle tops, take them along to Dunne and Dusted. Its the little coffee shop in Nathan Street. The bottle caps which are a good quality plastic are being collected for making into prosthetic limbs using digital printing and the limbs will be donated to charity. Things certainly are a-changing.

Till next time, happy stitching

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* Bob Dylan 1964