Rustic Tomato Pincushion
A few pins, a bit of fluffy roving and some brown embroidery floss later, my pincushion is a reality. Believe it or not, my knitting experience came in handy with the seaming of the two woven pieces. Originally, I thought I was going to use back stitch to put the pieces toether. Then I remembered that the backside looks different from the front side, and that the back side doesn't look neat enough when it's going to be exposed. So I ended up using something that reminded me of mattress stitch for seams.
It's a very rustic -- the woven fabric is rustic, the cross stitching in rustic, the backstitching is rustic, the seaming is rustic. But what could be better than turning my own handspun into something useful? This little pincushion has been the gateway to a lot more than just doing cross-stitch again. It made me realize that when I combine my hand spun with my Weavette I have almost endless possibilities for creating templates for small cross stitch projects. Now that indigo dyed wool/silk skein can become a blue background for a small project. I can spin a finer yarn or single and create a template that is less rustic. For someone who almost never sews fabric, it was pleasant to discover that I could work out a way to solve my problem and get the result I was imagining in my head with the few rudimentary skills I acquired when I was in my early teenage years. And this template can be used for more than just pincushions. I can also imagine a pretty little pillow sachet for a lingerie drawer. Add a ribbon and some cedar stuffing and it could be a decorative means of discouraging moths in a closet.
So there you have it. My entry in Julie's May Pincushion Challenge featuring
Pincushion details:
The foundation is made up of a hand-woven fabric that I created using a 4" x 4" Weavette loom and some of my hand-spun two-ply wool/silk yarn. The tomato was cross-stitched using 6 strands of with DMC embroidery floss and back-stitched with 3 strands of DMC embroidery floss. The inside of the pincushion is lined with a light weight muslin fabric to provide structure and to prevent the stuffing from escaping. It's stuffed with a little bit of lovely and cushiony moorit CVM roving. I seamed the woven pieces and the muslin together usin 2 strands of the same brown DMC floss as I used to backstitch the tomato.
Rustic!
Just lovely - and so practical. Well done! I have a patchwork pincushion that I made in infant school over 30 years ago which I still use. :-)
Really good job there.
I love the use of the Weavette. Really neat stuff!
Very cool. I've been resisting the urge to buy a Weavette for a while now. This isn't helping my resolve.
I really love the pincushion. It's very rustic and lovely. It almost makes me want to break out my cross stitching again. Almost, but not quite.
Nice work - I particularly like the irony of a picture of a pincushion turned into a pincushion. Sort of Magritte-like, if you know what I mean.
Thank you to both you and Julie! I have been busy with my Weavette as well. I'm thinking I might turn some of my 4" squares into little sachets for the lingerie drawer or closet. I may even have some cedar shavings from my FIL lying around so I could make some to keep all those handknits moth free!
Yeah! I love your pincushion! And I really like the idea of the sachets too. My lavender is really looking good this year (finally on year #3!) and maybe I'll get some that I can use for that purpose. The cedar chip idea is a good one too. I think the "got soap" lady had something that might have been cedar shavings with other natural anti-moth stuff added. I got a bag last year at MS&W to stick in my yarn closet. Must check her site to see if it's available online.
What a beautiful pincushion!
Wow! It is so cool to have made something so entirely "from scratch"!
What a great one-of-a-kind pincushion! You should be proud of it!
It's great! I really like the scalloped edges from the loom selvedge.
You win the award for Most Creative Use of Handspun.
Great pincushion! I'm tempted to get a weavette now. :)