Gift this sweet pin cushion to the sewer in your life! This quick DIY will keep your pins safe and looking stylish.

Fun Fact: I had the idea to make this cushion one day before I was induced into labor with my daughter… and it was a great low-stress distraction from the waiting!

Materials

• Wool Batting for majority of the pin cushion.

• Felting Needle(s) – I used a 36 gauge needle to shape the wool batting, then 38-40 finer gauges for applying the colorful roving and details.

• Needle Felting Foam

• Wool Roving in your favorite colors.

When available, I love buying supplies from Benzie Design. They have impeccable quality and service, and I highly recommend all of their products.

Tutorial

1. Take a large handful of batting and shape into a ball.

2. Begin poking/stabbing your coarse felting needle into the batting from opposite directions until the shape begins to form. Then work in sections, poking, hand-shaping, shrinking your ball shape.

3. To achieve a flat bottom, shape gently with your hand as you continue to poke. I like to lay the pin cushion onto my needle felting foam, poking the lower sides to create an edge.

4. Continue poking until your desired level of firmness. I prefer a quite firm style, that doesn’t budge much when I squeeze in my hand.

5. Once the general shape, size, and firmness is achieved, switch to a finer needle if desired and add your colorful roving in the design of your choice. I had fun with polkadots!

6. Add your pins, and set on your sewing shelf for a photo-op!