Tea Cup Pin Cushion

Here is a quick and easy way to make your own version of the popular tea cup pin cushions you see.  First things first - find your tea cup.  You might have one that has sentimental value for you, or see a pretty little piece that catches your eye in a junque store or garage sale.  I find that I prefer a small piece - for one thing, if you're going to stitch a design for it, you don't want the stitching to become a major project!  

Other things you'll need:

- Pretty cloth (or a small stitched design that works well with the design on the china - I usually do this, and it makes a pretty little souvenir).  

- A skein of knitting wool the same color as your cloth (or at least, one that won't show through and change the character of your finished piece).

- Strong sewing thread - such as upholsterer's thread - any color - it won't show.

- Sharp needle.

- Scissors.

- Glue (not necessary, but sometimes helpful) - any kind will work - it's to hold your cushion in the cup in case it has a mind of its own.

 

This is a demi-tasse size - big enough to make a practical pin cushion - small enough to be dainty and easy to stitch.  I take a look at the pattern on the cup and saucer, and begin to plan my stitching.  I'll use a fabric that's the approximate color of the background china, and then choose a flower or motif from the pattern on the cup.  I stitch something approximating that design with dmc (after all, if I'm going to be sticking pins into it, I don't really want to use my good silk threads).  Root through your stash - you're bound to find the exact right piece on one of your charts. 

 

Now, you can begin the construction - as you can see here, I actually "deconstructed" one I'd already made for this tutorial, so we could go through it step by step.   I don't usually use up a large piece of stitching linen for the pincushion, because nothing shows but the top - so I'll cut out the motif and sew it onto a piece of cotton or muslin.

The hard part is figuring out how much fabric to use.  You can see here that the top of the cup has a diameter of not quite 2 1/2 inches. 

You will want to start with three times that for the diameter of your fabric circle.  (I didn't, and you'll see it's a pretty tight squeeze).  My fabric has a diameter of about 5 1/2 inches.

I drew around the saucer with a pencil to make a circle, and then cut out my circle outside that ring.  The key here is you want enough fabric - better to have to cut more off after you've closed up your circle than to have to fudge it a bit if you don't have enough (though that can be handled).

 

You can also see that you don't have to be exact and make the nicest circle - that won't show.  You also don't have to worry about sewing neatly with invisible stitches - if you had to do that, I'd never get it made!

Sew a running stitch around the outside of the circle,
 

and then begin to pull the thread to draw the edges of the fabric up around your ball of wool.  Ah - what ball of wool, you say?  Remember the skein of knitting wool?  Wrap it around and around to make a nice, round ball.  This is my "secret ingredient" - it lets you know for sure your finished product will have a good round shape.  I do use 100% wool, because it's good for your needles.

Wrap the wool as tightly as you can - you want a very firm ball.  You're finished when the ball of wool sits in the cup at the height you want it. You don't have to "finish" this in any way - just tuck the loose thread under another to hold it in place until you have it covered.

Now, place the ball of wool inside your fabric and draw the thread tight around it.

 

  

Here's where you take a little time and adjust the motif to the exact position you want it, and continue to pull the thread tight to enclose the ball.  When you have it just where you want it, sew the opening shut.

Take a few stitches right into the wool to anchor everything.  And then, if need be, go to the line where the linen meets the cotton and sew the linen into the wool as well, to do a final adjustment and get the linen and stitching to sit just right.

 

You can see, this is NOT pretty - but don't worry - it will look lovely. 

Trouble-shooting:  If you've got too much fabric, and your stitching around the outside of the circle leaves everything too loose, just stitch another ring of stitches closer to the middle.  You can gather the fabric around the ball of wool to see where this should be.  In fact, - you can do that to decide how much fabric to use in the first place.  When you're finished stitching it closed, trim off the excess fabric.

If you don't have enough fabric and the bottom of the wool doesn't get covered, don't worry about that - wrap your threads around the bottom, stitching in and out of the wool and the fabric until it's well-anchored.  It will be fine.

Now, you're ready to place the pin cushion in the cup. 

Move it around until you have it in just the position you want.  Then firmly settle the pincushion into the cup.  

 

Depending on the shape of the cup, and how you want the ball to sit, you may be finished here, or you may have to glue your cushion in place to make it stay.  If you do that - just put a little white school glue in the bottom of the cup and push the cushion down to be sure to saturate the bottom of it with the glue.  Place something heavy on top of the cushion (this may take a bit of imagination, because it has to be heavy enough to hold everything in place, but small enough to fit inside the top of the cup).  I believe I've used jars of pickles and such (unopened and not sticky! ) to do this.  Let it dry - 12 hours or so.

And now - stick a pin in it, because you're done!  Doesn't it look pretty?

More Pin Cushions

Oh, my, we do love pin cushions!  I don't think I realized how many I had, and Becky probably feels the same way.  We've been working hard on upcoming spring products so thought we'd fill this week's blog with a few more pictures!

Last week, I showed you some of my pin cushion dolls - here are some of Becky's:

 

 We found we had quite a few of the same ones.  We can both trace our love of the half-doll pin cushions to this little cutie below - a class we took.  Isn't she pretty? 

 I actually started with this fine fellow I purchased from the artist who taught the class.  His hat is my grandmother's thimble.

Becky loves all things from the sea:

 

  

And we both love Sailor's Valentines.

 

  

And we're able to find things in many of our favorite shapes:  Hands,

 

Houses,

 

Strawberries (most of these are emeries)

 

  

  

Of course, shoes.

And there are a few shapes we didn't know we loved until we saw them, like this adorable mouse that Becky's daughter made for her.

 

Some simply express an unabashed love of pins!

 

 

And we have a wonderful group of stitching friends.  Every time we meet, someone makes some little gift for the group, and these are often pin cushions.

 

One of my favorites is teacup pin cushions - I've made many as gifts and to keep:

 

  

  

This teapot is my favorite - the cushion looks just like the teapot lid, doesn't it?

This is such an easy project and one so many people seem to appreciate.  In the next couple of days I'll upload a complete tutorial on how to make one of your own.  Of course, the first step is to find a tea cup - the smaller the better - so start scouring those flea markets and garage sales now!  Look for a demi-tasse, or even one from a doll's set.

Other things you'll need:

Pretty cloth (or a small stitched design that works well with the design on the china - I usually do this, and it makes a pretty little souvenir).  

A skein of knitting wool the same color as your cloth (or at least, one that won't show through and change the character of your finished piece).

Strong sewing thread - such as upholsterer's thread - any color - it won't show.

Sharp needle.

Scissors.

Glue (not necessary, but sometimes helpful) - any kind will work - it's to hold your cushion in the cup in case it has a mind of its own.

I'm working on those instructions now, as I'm teaching a workshop on this topic in a month or so for my guild, so this is a good time for me to get all my notes together.  I'll put them up by tomorrow.

Cushy Job!

We belong to a local needlework guild - The Pacific Northwest Needle Arts Guild, or PNNAG, and we wanted to do something fun with them, so we sponsored a pin cushion contest!  People were invited to bring in their entries early in January.  An independent judge chose three winners from the assorted pin cushions we received, and we awarded the prizes earlier today!  We wanted a lighthearted title for the contest - perhaps a little irreverent - so we came up with "Poke Me Baby".  Our Grand Prize Winner titled her cushion "Poky Baby" - such a cute idea!

We had two "Best of Category" winners as well - this ingenious flower is titled "One of My Favorites", and is fashioned after a favorite flower that grows in the maker's garden.  

The second is "House of Pins" - a rug-hooked cottage adorned with chintz flowers!  

Thank you to all the entrants - what a fun contest this was!

With our minds on pins and pin cushions, Becky did some research:

As you can tell from our business, Julie and I love all the toys of the needle worker...especially anything you can stick a pin in!  So many needle work techniques lend themselves to creating pin cushions and it seems this last year there has been a resurgence in interest in creating these small tokens of affection.

Pins have been used throughout the ages and were once very precious, as they were expensive and hard to come by, so containers and safe homes for them have been popular as well. We have many verses and stories that involve the pins, needles and cushions they live in.   I decided this week we would share some of what we have found on the history of the pin cushion!  The internet is just such a wonderful resource these days when you decide you want to know about something.  So away I went to my friend Google and typed in "Pin Cushion History".  Not only did I get information on the pin cushions I was looking for and many beautiful sites creating unique pin cushions, I found human pin cushions, 

acupuncture and of course pin cushion cactus.  

There was also a band called the Pincushions.

Now here is the problem with the research on the internet, who do you believe? One article says the first pin cushion came in during the Tudor period of  the 15th century and another states they became popular in the 1700's. During the 1800's pin cushions began to be made commercially as well. They would commemorate events and were popular souvenirs. 

Before pin cushions, pins were carried in containers of bone, ivory, silver.... 

Simple shapes of beautiful silks gave way to ones greatly enhanced during the Victorian era.  Pin cushions found themselves mounted on stands and adorned with trims, tassels and laces. Many were formed in shapes of shoes, fans, animals, fruits and vegetables....

I read that the small stuffed elephant that Stieff stuffed animal company is so well known for began it's life as a felt pin cushion and that is what started the company, that grew into the beautiful animals we know it for today. 

 

  

So why is that tomato pin cushion so popular and why has it lasted through time? Well maybe it started in Italy where the tomato was so precious and important in their welfare and their food? In Italy there was a time when a tomato was displayed on the mantle over the fireplace to bring prosperity and good luck and to the home owner. They were also believed to keep away evil spirits.  At certain times of the year, tomatoes were hard to come by, they could not be grown and they also rotted easily, so they were created out of fabric to replace the real tomato for this symbol of good luck and to be used on the mantle of the home. They were filled tightly with sawdust and were then also used as a pin cushion. 

Another article I read on the pin cushion tomato informed me that the reason they have been around for so long, is that they are really useful in their design. The sections of the tomato pin cushion were used to place the different sized pins and needles, to keep them in order. Also the special strawberry emery used to keep the precious pins and needles sharp. So why do you think this tomato has been in use for so many centuries?

 

Layette pincushions were another type of popular gift during the time between 1170 and 1890. The beautiful satin forms with verses spelled out in the heads of the pins " Welcome Sweet Stranger", " Sweet Babe"....were special gifts for mothers to be. 

This is a nice article if you favor these treasures.

This site is my favorite for showing and telling interesting history of various types of pin cushions. It is a must to take a stroll through, if you enjoy pin cushions.


Here is a fun story - "The Letter on The Pincushion".

I love the "Make Do" pincushions we see from some of the colonial times into our current day, where people take something that was once something else and maybe a part is missing or such, but they turn it into the base for their pin cushion. We see many of those in various forms of needlework and quilting arts. 

Then the popular Biscornu has taken the needlework world by storm this last couple of years, in all the unique designs we see created in this 8-sided wonder. 

But I am really wanting a beautiful pin ball, one that once hung from a ladies' chatelaine to be added to my collection one day.

I hope you have enjoyed this quick walk through the world of pin cushions and that you and your friends will continue the tradition of giving these tokens of friendship to one another. 

Here is a free chart  from Brookes Books, to cross stitch a pin cushion.

And here is a wonderful online version of an old book on the subject!

A few pictures of Julie's pin cushion collection:

 

  

 

  

 

Adam and Eve again

We are so excited - I told you we "had our eye" on a couple of Adam and Eve samplers - but they ran away and hid.  Actually, we were bidding on one of them in an online/regular, live auction in Chicago.  Luckily, we had set a firm price we couldn't go above, because it really is hard to rein in your enthusiasm while the bidding is going on - something "else" just takes over!  But that Adam and Eve decided not to come to Seattle to play.  Little did we know that two days later we'd find one that DID want to come to Seattle!  

If you love antique samplers and would like to see some that are for sale, go here.  Madelena Antiques is a favorite company for us to go and drool and very occasionally buy!  And buy we did the other day.  We won't show you the whole sampler, but here's a little "taste".

 

Don't they look like a fun couple?  We're thrilled.  We actually found TWO samplers we couldn't live without on Madelena's site - you really ought to check it out!  If you look here you'll find an article on samplers at the bottom of the page.  And if you email Madelena Antiques at sales@madelena.com you'll be able to get on their email list - a notification every week when new samplers are put up for sale!

Adam and Eve

While we continue to wait for books on mermaids to arrive,  we've been spending some time thinking about another of our favorite sampler themes.  Adam and Eve Samplers, it seems to me, are especially engaging. Many times, the child who stitched the sampler shows the pair (with apples of all different descriptions) being tempted by the serpent. Eve is usually on the right side of the tree, and it is usually she toward whom the snake is facing. But little girls will add their own interpretations, and it is fascinating to see all the different Adam and Eve depictions and how they may be dressed (or not). Over the last few years, Becky and I have collected a few Adam and Eve samplers (and have our eyes on another couple!) Each has its charms, and the more we see, the more enchanted we have become!

Needlework depictions of the pair usually show the couple facing us, reaching for an apple (or holding one), and wearing some version of a fig leaf. The bible states that Adam and Eve sewed together fig leaves and made themselves aprons. The variety of dress or undress of the figures is quite fascinating. It must have presented quite a challenge to the stitcher to portray Adam and Eve historically correct without clothing, but be conservative at the same time according to the custom of their time. Some samplers depicting Adam and Eve appeared to take on the dress customary to the fashion of the day.(and don't we wish we had one of THOSE samplers!

You can see above that Ann Wilson managed to indicate everything except the apples! Adam and Eve were the first biblical characters to be depicted on needlework samplers, though many biblical stories were illustrated over the years.  The Tree of Knowledge (as it is almost always referred to, rather than the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) is treated with a great deal of liberty in design. This is where the stitcher could get really fancy. Some branched out all over the samplers, with other motifs attached to the ends of the branches that had nothing to do with the scene. The number of apples varied from 5 to 30. The average seemed to be about 15. An odd number was usually used to allow for a balanced tree with one apple on top, although many stitchers took several liberties with their designs, they seldom left a space blank to show where the offending apple had been. 

In some American samplers seven apples were used to signify the seven deadly sins. The Tree of Knowledge is usually portrayed as an apple tree, but in fact, the bible doesn't specify the fruit as apples. As you will remember from our pomegranate discussion, some people speculate that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was, in fact, the pomegranate. Many times,the Tree of Knowledge is identified as the Tree of Life, to the extent that there is little difference made of the two these days. The most simple differentiation is that the Tree of Knowledge allows humans to be Godlike, in their knowledge and understanding of good and evil. Eating the fruit of the Tree of Life would allow them to live forever. 

Animals appear in many of the scenes, usually a symbolic statement. In 1738, I.R.S. depicted an owl, presumably to represent knowledge. Many samplers show a squirrel at the bottom of the tree. In early northern symbolism the squirrel represents mischief so although you will find squirrels in lots of samplers, it takes on a new meaning pictured with Adam and Eve in the fall from grace.

Whereas Eve is usually depicted holding or reaching for the apple, in my stitching, I had a different idea. While Adam was all too willing to blame Eve, he wasn't exactly blameless!

The first documented appearance in the American colonies of samplers depicting our first parents was in 1741 although they had made a previous appearance in England in 1709. While they were still a popular motif of their English counterparts, Adam and Eve were rarely seen after 1810 on American girl samplers.

By the end of the 18th century, Adam and Eve lost prominence on the pictorial sampler, giving way to the shepherdess and the fishing lady. The serpent was a major figure in most of the samplers. Frequently it was as large or larger than Adam and Eve, dwarfing the tree. It was more reminiscent of a large fat earthworm rather than a snake.

Sometimes the embroiderer added stripes and dots to the serpent, giving it even more pictorial importance, and usually it was coiled one to three times around the tree. 

By the first decade of the 19th century, the Adam and Eve theme had lost favor with the girl’s schools and was rarely used, although there are examples that can be seen continuing to modern times. It is a universal theme that has endured for nearly three centuries of embroidery.

We love the Adam and Eve theme so much, we've used it for many of our products.  We've used it twice for Boxed Sets, and right now still have about two boxes left before they are retired!

Have a great weekend - we DO hope to bring you some very interesting thoughts on mermaids soon! 


Much of the information in today's blog came from reading articles written by Darlene Anderson, or hearing her speak on the subject.  Thank you Darlene!