From that .........to this.

I love turning something one would normally discard into an item that is useful again.
I found this beautiful antique cup at a junk sale and knew straight away what I was going to do with it. Its been sitting around on my to-do shelf for a while, waiting for the right fabric. I have just revamped my kitchen which included new curtains. These curtains were too long so I trim off the ends. Yes you guessed it, the fabric was perfect for my antique cup. I made the missing handle from a piece of old wire off some silk flowers and now I have another pincushion to add to my growing collection!

In the Pink -mini teacup pincushion

I have a collection of slightly chipped or broken teacups and saucers too pretty to just throw away.
Today I turned a pretty mini teacup/saucer into a "in the pink" pincushion. The pretty button roses are quite old ones with a lovely luster to them. I knew I would find a use for them one day. I love doing these and have quite a few already, now I can't wait to start the next which will be "Blue, blue, your heart is true". Will show you when its done.

Plump Strawberry Pincushion in Pot

I made these early in the morning to go with my strawberry linen cloths for the Farmers market craft fair. In the early morning light they looked good enough to eat.
The strawberries sit in a little white aged pot surrounded by flocked leaves and real dried moss.

Pumpkin Pincushion.

Want to know how I made my mini pumpkin pincushions using a bottle top:-
well read on.
What you need.
A bottle top
Wool fabric or other suitable
Hot glue gun
Glue stick
Stuffing (polyfil)
Strong thread & Needle
Small button.

Cut a circle three times larger in diameter than bottle top. You will also need another small bit for circle at bottom of pincushion.
My top is 3cm and circle 9cm.
Grab a piece of stuffing large enough to make a ball so that it overflows when placed inside the top. Roll stuffing up into a ball, holding loose ends together.
Glue inside of top and push stuffing in with loose ends first. Pack stuffing in as much as you can.
Get your fabric circle, place top upside down in centre of circle.
To fold fabric over top imagine you would divide fabric circle into four equal parts.
Holding top down firmly, glue a little bit on top of bottle top. Pull first ¼ of fabric up and glue down. Now work on the opposite side and glue down 2nd quarter. Then repeat for 3rd and fourth. You should now have fabric attached to top with four corners left. Now work on your corners. Take each corner one at a time, flatten and glue, making sure fabric is pulled as much as possible.
Next step is to neaten by covering all joins with a small circle of fabric.
Thread you needle, make a good knot and starting in centre of pumpkin make eight segments. To make a segment, go in through centre and out with your needle as far down side of pincushion as possible. Then take a teeny tiny stitch and come right out near bottom of pincushion. Now bring thread up and back to centre and start again dividing pumpkin into eight segments. End thread in centre with double stitch.
Glue small button to centre and add a few pins and your pumpkin pincushion is completed.
Variation./ideas.
Add green leaves, vine.
Make a garland of pumpkins.
Make a whole bunch and fill a bowl to display.
Make a pumpkin for each of your friends who visit though the autumn season.

A Spring Break!

I am soo busy with my Autumn creating that I thought a little Spring break would be a good idea. Here is my Spring bouquet, made in a vintage glass bowl. The pincushion is a lovely hand dyed velvet, the flowers are all vintage velvet with french wired ribbon bows.

Something from nothing

I love to create something from nothing, nothing in the sense that it is something you would normally throw away. Something that no longer has its use, empty jars, tubs, a broken piece, empty cardboard rolls, broken globes, bits of fabric, selvage ends of fabric, old pieces that have rusted, bottle caps and so on. I have a collection of "nothings", pieces that will suddenly inspire me as to what they want to become. It gives me such satisfaction to put them back into use, to create a make-do.
Are you a "nothing" collector/creator too? Care to share some of your creation?
Here is my latest something from nothing.
Easter pincushion from an empty body butter tub.

Vintage Flower Garden ......in a demitasse

This describes one of my latest pincushions, a little blue demitasse turned into a vintage flower garden. I love making these! This one has a ring of pale blue vintage flowers and a touch of pink posies with a little vintage bunny pin peeping out.
These are sooo easy to make. Here is what I did.
Find yourself a pretty cup. Add a little stuffing inside cup, to about halfway up and set aside.Draw and cut out a circle of felt, 1 to 2 inches larger than the cup, depending on how high you want the pincushion to end up.
With a strong thread, sew a small running stitch just inside the edge of circle.
Pull up thread until the felt circle fits just inside cup, secure your stitches. Stuff felt circle well, making sure all creases are puffed out and pincushion is firm. When you are happy with the shape, run a thin line of glue around inside edge of cup and turning your felt pincushion "upside down" (open end faces into cup), glue to cup.
Trim around edge of cup/pincushion, decorate top and add a few pins and you will have a pretty pincushion in a cup. Enjoy.
If you're interested in this little pincushion and other items, take a look at my Whimsical Wandering Wednesday.