How To: Make a Pincushion Jar

Of all the things I own in my crafty stashes, I didn't own a pincushion.  You can imagine... this resulted in a lot of lost pins later being found by my feet, and in even worse scenarios, the palm of my hand.    What I really wanted was a pincushion jar, so I could put my safety pins along with my needles and stick pins.  Try as I might, I couldn't find anything like this in my local hobby stores.... so it had to be DIY'ed!

This project is relatively simple, and a beginner could easily do this!
You will need:
A scrap of fabric, mine was about 4"x4"
A jar - I found mine half off at my hobby store for less than $1
A piece of cardboard
Thread and needle
A pen
Ribbon
Stuffing
Hot glue

Most of the things I had on hand already, and the only thing I had to buy was the jar - so this project cost me less than $1!  It would be easy to make this project completely free!  You could always save a jar from the trash when you finish up that pasta sauce or jelly, save some cardboard from a box you are going to throw away, or save those sad beat up stuffed animals that your kids murder and reuse their stuffing (yep, I do it!).

My lid wasn't like one of those mason jar lids that come apart into two pieces, but if yours is you can skip this step and just use the inner part of the lid as your cardboard piece instead.  Take your lid, and trace around it onto your cardboard, then cut it out.  It should fit on top of your lid without going over the edges - trim it down if you need to!  We aren't looking for perfect, just no overhang.

Next, we want to add our stuffing so our pins have something to punch in to.  I took a wad of stuffing and balled it up as tightly as possible.  I like my pincushions very very firm!  Then you'll take your scrap fabric (be sure it will fit all the way around the fluffings and all edges will hit underneath the cardboard!)  and cover the stuffing.

For me it was easiest to put the fabric over the stuffing, then flip it over so that I had access to the bottom.  I began sewing with a running stitch, first hitting each corner, then going around again and again, each time gathering the fabric in tighter by putting the needle and thread through loose areas of the fabric.  I probably went around about three times before I was satisfied.  This doesn't have to be pretty!  Just strong enough to hold it together.  Flip it over and voila!  Pincushion top!

Now you'll want your hot glue.  Center your top onto your lid, and glue that sucker down really well.  Be careful if your lid is metal, it will conduct heat from the glue while it cools and you don't want to burn your fingers!

Now, you could technically be done.  But I like my work to have a pretty, finished look about it.  I didn't like that seam of space between the cushion and the lid.  I took a drop of hot glue and attached the end of the ribbon to the lid near the seam between the lid and cushion, then wrapped it tightly around twice.  I made sure all the metal was covered, then I ended the ribbon at the same area where I began wrapping.  Cut and glue!  To hide the ribbon seams, I made a small bow, and attached with glue.

Now you're done!  Super cute, right?  This has come in so handy, and I have been using it for about ten weeks now with no wear or tear on it.

Thanks for looking - and have fun crafting!