March PPP - Carrot Pincushion Tutorial

These pincushions just make me happy! I love carrots.


This should be a fast, easy, and painless tutorial. (if I don't talk too much)

1. Make yourself a carrot template. You want a pie shaped piece. The angle of this triangle is about 45 deg. The sides are 9 inches long and the top is about 7 inches across. These are abouts. You want to make sure that the top side is curved like a pie piece though.


2. Cut out your carrot.



3. Fold the carrot in half and stitch along the long side. 1/4" seam allowance.



4. Turn the carrot right side out. To get the point you are really going to have to dig it out with a pin or something. Be careful and don't push too hard and rip you carrot tip.



5. Stuff the carrot. Start by putting tiny pieces in there and packing them in tight. You can then add bigger pieces but pack them in tight and keep squeezing and re-shaping the carrot as you go. You really want it tight.


6. Take strong thread and make a gathering stitch across the top of the carrot. Pull it tight and stitch it in place and tie it off.



7. Tear off a strip of green fabric about 1" by about 12". Fold it in half and knot it near the ends.



8. Stitch the carrot stem in place securely.


You're done!

Year of the Mouse - PPP - Pincushion

Year of the Mouse 2008

This year is the year of the rat/mouse. I thought I would do something with that theme. Then I realized that I am a rat/mouse born in 1972, so is my son Joe born in 1996. You can check out the links to information. It was a fun read.

On to the tutorial. As I have said before, this year my tutorials are going to be PPP's, pincushions, potholders and pies. I started in on this project the day my dad had his heart attack and now I finally have a free minute to get back to it and finish it.

Mouse Pincushion

Materials:

6 inch square of fabric

felt scraps

yarn

stuffing

black purl cotton

Instructions:

1. Take the 6" square of fabric and cut the corner off. I measured in 2 3/4" from the corner in each direction and cut it off.

2. Fold the square in half to for a triangle and sew along the long open edge. Turn right side out and poke out the tip with a sharp object.

3. Fold the top edge under and stitch by hand with a gathering stitch.

4. Stuff firmly with batting and draw the gathering up tight.

5. Insert the tail and stitch in place. If you are not able to stitch the hole up tight you can cut a scrap of the felt and tack it in place.

6. Cut out some little ears from the felt scraps. Stitch them to the head and add eyes and whiskers with the black purl cotton.

You're Done!