Mini Charm Pack Pincushions...

Brynwood Mini Charm Pincushions

 

I played in the studio for a little while yesterday. I made pincushions from Moda™ mini charm packs. In the interest of full disclosure, this is an idea that was shared with us by Lisa Bongean at our once-a-month Sit & Sew group at Primitive Gatherings. It was such a great idea, that you know I had to share it with you, too.

Lisa showed us the one she made - and gave us each a mini charm pack of one of her fabric lines, at our last get together. I knew I was going to make some of my own when I got home. Here they are (along with a little tutorial so you can make your own)!

Assembling Mini Charm Pincushions

If you sew or quilt, I know you have at least one mini charm pack. They're 2 1/2" squares representing a designer's full assortment of any given line. To make these pincushions, you cut 3/4" strips from each piece. Of course, this means you'll still have 1 3/4" left to make more!!

For my first one, I cut a 3/4" strip off every single square in the assortment. Then, using a 1/4" seam, I joined them all together by color from light to dark (or dark to light). Once they're all joined, give them a press with a steam iron and trim to square them up, if needed.

Adding Twill Tape To Mini Charm Pincushion

The newer twill tapes that Moda™ uses to tie their jelly rolls have a design that looks like measuring tape, but mine are still binding my unused jelly rolls. I do have some that I've saved from the rolls I've already used, so I pulled them out for this project.

Center the twill tape along the length of your joined fabrics, and sew along each side of the tape. Once the twill tape is sewn to the fabrics, choose a nice backing fabric for your pincushion. Sew them front to back, right sides together, but leave at least 1" of one end open to add your filling of crushed walnut shells. 

Turn right-side-out and press, including the area you'll eventually sew shut. Fill with crushed walnut shells and hand sew the opening closed.

 

Finished Mini Charm Pincushion

It's that simple! If you use the entire assortment in your mini charm pack, your finished pincushion with be looooong! There were three prints in each color for this one. So, I decided to play a little longer.

 

Little Version of Mini Charm Pincushion

The next one I made was only one of each color (with the exception of the gold one on the left end). It's a mini mini charm pack pincushion! (Of course, you could make it "mini-er" by using fewer colors.)

Three Sizes of Mini Charm Pincushions

 

In no time at all, I'd made three different lengths. The longest one used three of each colorway, creating a pincushion that was just over 14" long. The middle one used two of each colorway and ended up about 10" long, and the last one with one of each colorway was about 5" long. I still have enough 3/4" pieces of some of the squares to make one or more, depending on how many colors I use.

 

Added bonus? Well, I'm so glad you asked! Because each strip of fabric sews up to 1/4" long, you can actually use your pincushion as a pretty close estimation of a ruler! Four strips equals 1". Cool, right? 

 

Well, what are you waiting for? Grab your mini charm packs and get sewing! If you make your own, please take a picture and post it on my "Brynwood Needleworks" Facebook page. (Just ask to join if you're not already in the group.) I'd love to see what you make!