Long a staple of a woman’s sewing box, pincushions have served as more than a handy place to coral leftover pins and needles. Dating back over 40,000 years, needles were first made of wood, bone and ivory, later out of brass and bronze in the time of Moses, then steel from Spain up to the 1650s, in modern times of oil and emery polished hardened steel and today out of high carbon steel wire, nickel- or gold plated for corrosion resistance. In the 14th and 15th centuries needles and pins were highly sought after and a pincushion was a necessity to keep them from getting lost, rusty and dull. Pincushions were stuffed with bits of lanolin-rich wool to lubricate the needles and pins and fine emery to keep them sharp.
There are estate inventories and wills dating from this period that included needles and pins. Needles and pins were once so valuable that women may have had just one fine needle with which to do all their hand sewing. Besides pincushions, needles were kept safe in elaborately made needle cases.
Pincushions, often made of pewter or silver in various shapes, were once displayed on fireplace mantels to bring their owners good fortune. Pincushions were also on display on dressers during Victorian times so that women could keep their hat pins as well as sewing pins at hand.
Pincushions remain a charming addition to any sewing box, are easy gifts to make and personalize, and always appreciated. A few of the nearly thousands of websites displaying contemporary pincushions, with picture tutorials or how-to text instructions are offered below:
Patchwork Pincushions from Better Homes and Gardens, Family & Crafts
Stickin’ it to the pincushion from multi-author craft blog WhipUp
Pincushion 1,739 images from Group Photo Pool of 695 flickr members
Acorn pincushion by Marie Browning
Make Do Pin Cushion from the Art and Craft of Mimi Kirchner
Sunbonnet Pin Cushion from Sunbonnetsue.com by Kim Bunchuck
Pincushion Tutorial from blogspot Abyquilt by May Britt
Wrist Pincushion Tutorial from craft blog Craftybits @ PlanetJune.com by June Gilbank
"Homegrown" Tomato Pincushions from MarthaStewart.com
Tea Cup Pincushion found at EverythingSewing.net originally from Sew-Whats-New.com
Very Easy Pincushions from Purlbee.com
Felt Rosebud Pincushion from wikiHow.com, various authors
Strawberry Pincushions from MarthaStewart.com
Punchy Pincushions by BerninaUSA.com
Pincushion Sewing Kits from blog Monkeyroom by Lori
Make a bottle cap or ring pincushion that fits on your finger:
General instructions - make two holes in the bottom of a plastic bottle cap. Use very narrow flat elastic or elastic cord that would fit around your finger plus an inch. The elastic is then inserted into each of the holes, knotted and secured with a dab of hot glue. The pincushion is made much like a fabric yo-yo – cut out a circle, approx. 4-1/4 inch diameter, use a running stitch 1/4" from the edge of the entire circle, draw-up the thread gently to make a cup shape, then fill with wool scraps, or fiberfill, pull the circle closed tightly, knot securely. Glue a decorative lace edging inside the bottle cap and then put a generous amount of hot glue inside the bottle cap center and press the completed cushion into the bottle cap. An alternative is to leave off the ring elastic, add a hook and loop tape dot or square to the back of the tiny pincushion and one to your sewing machine. The pincushion will dress up your sewing machine and add a handy place for those pins and needles to reside while you sew. An example of the ring pincushion can be found on AllFreeCrafts.com
Pincushions and their accompanying needle cases offered sentimental as well as functional value. They continue to enjoy an immense popularity among sewers and crafters. Make a few to give away as gifts or cherish as whimsical keepsakes.
Sew happy, sew well.
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