Tutorial: Old sock pincushion

If there’s one thing I have lots of, it’s socks. Ankle socks, knee socks, over-the-knee socks, stripy, spotty, heart-print, cute characters--I like them all!

The only problem with socks, like other items of clothing, is that they wear out. And there’s only so much patching and sewing that can be done before a sock is no longer wearable.

Usually, once a sock is too worn out to wear anymore, I’ll either put it in textile recycling or I’ll keep hold of it and use it for stuffing small projects.

But sometimes the print is too cute to stuff into a lavender-scented heart, so I tried to find another project to use up an old sock, and came up with this pincushion:

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I only bought these socks at Halloween, so was disappointed they wore out so fast!

This was so simple to make that anyone can do it, and makes use of a whole pair of socks.

So grab your holey old (clean!) socks, wield your scissors, and check out this quick tutorial!

Time needed: 5-10 minutes (approx)  

You’ll need:

Old socks

Scissors

Needle and thread

Sewing machine (optional!)

1. Cut off the foot of the sock just above the heel and also the band at the top of the sock. Put these two pieces aside.

2. Turn the centre section inside out and sew up both ends, leaving a gap of a few centimetres at one end in order to turn the cushion back the right way.

3. Trim off the trailing threads and turn back the right way. Use the remaining sock pieces and other sock of the pair to stuff the cushion.

4. Sew up the gap by hand, and you’re done!

 

When I first came up with this, I wasn’t completely sure whether it would work, but it turns out that old sock is a great base for a pincushion! The pins slide in and pull out easily, without snagging or falling out. Success!

Come back again to see the other pincushions I made recently--because yes, a girl really does need more than one!