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How To Make A Cactus Pin Cushion

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I can’t tell you how many times I have been sewing and I need to either quickly remove or access my straight pins. If they are in a container it’s hard to grab just one, and if I dare to lay them on the table you can bet that somehow they magically find themselves on the floor. Well, those days can be in your past with this simple How To Make a Cactus Pin Cushion sewing tutorial!

How To Make A Cactus Pin Cushion

A pin cushion is an essential accessory all sewists should have. That doesn’t mean it has to be boring, though. This pincushion is not only super functional; it is also very cute and requires only a few materials! It will take less than half an hour to complete! This cute little cactus will keep your straight pins safe and accessible for all your future sewing projects! Another great thing about this pincushion is that you can make it as big or small as you need. It is completely customizable you can make them different colors or even patterned if you like.

What You’ll Need to Make a Pin Cushion:

Materials for Cactus Pin cushion

If you are like me and craft often you will have all these things on hand and readily available. The only thing you may need to buy is if you want a specific color or pattern for the fabric you use on the pin cushion.

How To Make a Cactus Pin Cushion

The nice thing about this project is that it is super quick. To get started, you won’t have to worry about washing and drying your fabric beforehand. Also, there is no need to iron unless your fabric is especially wrinkled! This project will be contained in the cute little pot, so you’re more concerned with function over form on this one.

Measure and cut fabric for Cactus Pin Cushion

Start off by measuring and cutting your fabric. For this demonstration, we will cut a square of the material so that the mouth of the flowerpot can fit 4 times (in 2×2 format). You can adjust what size you cut to make your cactus pin cushion as big or as small as you like.

measure size for Cactus Pin Cushion

In order to measure your fabric, place your pot in the top right corner.

Fold that size strip of fabric over and measure pot again

Now, fold that strip of fabric over the width of your pot and measure pot again.

Cut your measured fabric for Cactus Pin Cushion

Once you have that, you can cut your measured fabric using fabric scissors. You can use any scissors you have, but I have found over time that fabric scissors keep their cutting edge better and last longer than normal ones.

Fold fabric in half twice

Next in how to make a cactus pin cushion, fold your fabric piece twice in half, so that you get a square.

Trim the corners for Cactus Pin Cushion

To make it round, trim the corners where the material opens. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round. Just having the general shape here is fine. Don’t spend a ton of time.

Use a basic stitch to sew around the circle

Start to sew the resulting circle shape along the edge with a basic stitch.

Gently pull the thread to gather

When finished, carefully begin to pull together the material until you get a nice little pouch. You’ll be stuffing this in the next step, so keep that in mind here.

Fill with filler to make Cactus Pin Cushion

Stuff the pouch you just made with the filler. I used a poly fill blend, but you can use cotton fill or whatever fill you already have on hand. We don’t recommend using anything besides an actual fill, so the pins stay secure and the pin cushion holds uniformly. You are about half way finished with your Cactus Pincushion Tutorial!

Pull thread to close

To close up your pin cushion, pull the material together completely by pulling gently on the thread. You may have to kind of work the filling material some to get it to fully close.

Stitch closed and tie off, do not cut

Once you’ve got it all cinched up, stitch the cushion closed and tie it. BUT do not cut the thread yet!

Turn over and insert your needle into Cactus Pin Cushion

The next step in how to make a cactus pin cushion is to turn the cushion ball over and insert the needle into the center and pull it through.

Repeat this process by dividing the circle into 6 sections

Repeat this process, dividing the circle into 6 sections. Here again, it doesn’t have to be perfect. As long as you get 6 generally similar sections, it will be fine.

End the thread

Now you can end the thread. Just do a final tie and cut it off.

Stick a little ribbon around the pot for Cactus Pin Cushion

To make the pot cute, you can stick a little ribbon around the pot and glue in place. You can also draw cute shapes on the pot if you like. If you make some as gifts, you can write the person’s name you are giving it to on there as well.

Glue the cactus into the pot

Time to put them together. Glue the cactus into the pot. Try to keep the majority of the pin cushion visible so that it is as cute as it is useful.

Finished Cactus Pin cushion

You’re done! Now that you have a finished Cactus Pin Cushion, you can fill it with your favorite straight pins and use it for your next sewing project to have your pins ready for use! This adorable DIY makes a great gift for beginners learning to sew. I gave some to my kids to help them be more organized and safe while sewing. You can make these so quick and easy, it really is a great one to crank out a bunch with. We hope you enjoyed this sewing tutorial and that it helps you on your own sewing journey.

How To Make A Cactus Pin Cushion

If you liked how to make a cactus pin cushion, make sure to pin it to your favorite Pinterest board or share it with friends on social media. If you decide to make this cute and simple project on your own, make certain that you take a picture afterward and tag us on social media as we love seeing the fabrics and color choices that people use!

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How to Make a Cactus Pincushion

Cactus Pin Cushion Create Card

Do you need a fun and functional way to keep your straight pins safe and ready for easy access when you need them? This cute and simple Cactus Pin cushion can be an easy solution. It requires a few materials and only about 10 - 15 minutes of your time. It's so fun you might want to make a couple!

Active Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $3.00

Instructions

  1. Cut a square of the material so that the mouth of the flowerpot can fit 4 times (in 2x2 format)
  2. Fold it twice in half so that you get a square.
  3. Trim the corners where the material opens.
  4. Start to sew the resulting circle shape along the edge with a basic stitch.
  5. When finished, carefully begin to pull together the material.
  6. Fill it with the filler and pull the material together completely
  7. Tie it but not cut the thread yet.
  8. Turn the ball over and insert the needle into the center and pull it through.
  9. Repeat this process by dividing the circle into 6 sections, then end the thread.
  10. Stick a little ribbon around the pot.
  11. Glue the cactus into the pot.
  12. Enjoy your Cactus Pin Cushion

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