Tutorial: Wrist Pincushion

 (Yet another pincushion tutorial!)

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Something I’ve been intending to make for a while has been a pincushion that I could wear on my wrist. I realised that - especially when sewing bigger garments and projects - a wrist-mounted pincushion would be incredibly useful!

Pincushions themselves are simple enough to put together, so all I needed to do was add an elasticised wrist strap.

As before, I used leftover scraps of fabric and stuffed the pincushion with an old sock (I have tonnes of them!)

Here’s a how-to; the measurements used in this tutorial make a 6cm x 6cm pincushion.

Time needed: 30-45 mins (approx)

You’ll need:

Scrap fabric (1-3 different colours/patterns)

Stuffing or similar

Elastic

Button

Scrap card

Needle and thread

1. For the strap, sew a tube of fabric slightly wider than your elastic and long enough to slip over your hand in a loop, plus 2cm. Trim off excess and turn the right way.

Cut an 8cm x 8cm square of fabric for the bottom of your pincushion.

2. Cut a piece of elastic to fit around your wrist (don’t stretch it) + 2cm. Thread this through the fabric tube, pinning securely at either end so the elastic doesn’t slip completely inside. The fabric will gather as you go. Once the ends of the elastic are secured, smooth out the fabric down the centre of the strap.

Pin to the centre of the right side of the 8x8cm square and add two lines of stitches to secure.

3. Sew together the ends of the elastic. Turn in the ends of the fabric tube and sew together hide the elastic.

4. Draw out a 5cmx5cm template on a piece of card and use to cut out a total of four squares of fabric for the top of the pincushion. Sew these together with a 1cm seam allowance and press the seams.

5. Taking the bottom of the pincushion, pin down the wrist strap so it’s clear of the edges of the square.

6. Sew the top of the pincushion to the bottom, right sides of the fabric facing in. Be sure to leave a gap to turn the pincushion the right way around.

7. Turn the right way around. I found it was easier to pull out the pins holding down the wrist strap and then pull out the wrist strap first. Fill with the stuffing of your choice and sew up the gap.

8. Sew a button onto the centre of the pincushion, drawing the thread all the way through. Trim off any loose threads, and enjoy using your shiny new practical sewing toy!