Annie's Pincushion!

Hello Everybody!

How have you all been? I hope you are all

crafting!

I bet you think that I forgot about you, but that

is not so. Sometimes it takes me a while to put

something together. Sometimes what I have

planned does not always look right or go

together, so I scrap it and move on. That

generally takes me on hunts.

This is the last of my half- doll pincushions that I

will make for a while. I have more half-dolls that

need pincushions, but my aim here was to

show you how I make and put these pincushions

together. Believe me anyone can do this.

Do not worry about ever washing these pincushions,

because there is no way to do so unless you take

them apart and remake them. When you purchase

an old one from the net because it has not been

washed in about 50 years or longer, then it is

time to renew the pincushion and update it all

to your liking!

However some of them are vintage and are so

sweet that perhaps you just want a vintage one

sitting around. Nothing is wrong with that folks!

Just spray some Febreeze on it if it smells!

I love vintage also!!

After this listing, next month I was going to post

little patterns on different sizes of the cushions.

But there is not any need for that. If you read here

about the strips, (further down), then you will see

that you can

make the strips as wide or as tall as you want.

I will post pincushion patterns for these

half-dolls that are unusual. I love unusual and

different as they show character to the pieces.

By now, everyone that enjoys making these

pincushions know how easy they are. The

directions for Annie's Pincushion is simple,

and some of it you can refer back to the other

Pincushion directions, if you do not understand.

ALWAYS REFER BACK TO MY PREVIOUS

PINCUSHIONS DIRECTIONS, ALWAYS LINK
BACK!!! THANK YOU!!

Annie's Pincushion will be sent to her by the end

of this week. It must go to England!

She turned out lovely - don't you think so!

The height of Annie is 7 to almost 7.5 inches tall.

Front of Annie!

Back of Annie!

This is the fabrics that I had planned for Annie. All

of these fabrics blended so well with her blouse.

These worked up so nicely. I only had problem with

the fabric on the left. It was so stiff and stood out

like a pumpkin. As you can see, I did not use it!

I scrapped that idea and opted for a lovely stiff

lace to go around the bottom of the dress and the

same lace to go around the waist.

The inside of the fabric was a lovely Barbie gown

that I used because I could not find anything that

matched the way that I liked.

The other 2 surrounding fabrics were brand new.

I started out with 4 pieces of the solid green fabric.

Each of the 4 strips measured a little over 2.5 inches

wide X 7 inches tall to accommodate the seams.

If you want this fatter or wider, then merely adjust

the strips by cutting them taller or wider.

SUPER EASY!!

Next, sew them by the machine for

strength into a tube! Try not to make

your seams too big as this will cut

down on the size of the pincushion

that you are trying to make.

This is by far my most favorite of making these

pincushions! I love to turn down a hem to the

inside on the bottom and top.

As you can see, just turn under a small piece of

the top and hand sew it all around. I use quilting

threads with small quilting needles. To give the

thread even more strength, double it up.

After you sew it all around, gather it up tightly and

knot it off. You want a small hole.

Take some cardboard and a template of some kind.

I use a lid here that measures almost 3 inches around.

I am using cereal boxes, so I cut out 2 pieces of

this cardboard and glue together for strength.

Let dry for a couple of hours before proceeding on.

I have inserted the cardboard inside of the tube.

This is a big zip-lock bag full of cotton stuffing.

I use cotton batting for all of the pincushions.

It is better for the needles. I cut it up and put

it into the bags and use it when I need it.

This is easier for me. The bag is generally

really stuffed with the cotton batting, even

though you cannot tell it!!

Like I have said many times, stuff your pincushions

really hard. Things settle over time.

Once you have finished stuffing, turn under a small

piece of the fabric and hand sew all around the edge.

Knot it off and gather it tightly,

She is finished. Only thing to do now is to even

out the pincushion with my hands by pushing and

moving the cotton stuffing around.

Here is the top.

I will not go into attaching the half-doll onto

the pincushion again, as by now you probably

know how to do it. If not just take a look back at

the other pincushions.

Annie is now attached!

Also I did not add any directions here on the

skirt, cause the other dolls show how to do so.

Annie before anything is added to her skirt!

A picture underneath Annie's skirt!

I only had a little bit of the lace for this doll's

gown. I hand sewed it on. When doing this, do

not cut off any lace, wait until you finish sewing

it on before you cut off any excess.

Sewing around!

Almost finished sewing!! When you come to the

end always leave about an inch of the lace before

cutting off the excess so that you can turn under

the raw edge. Afterwards I folded in the sides

of that raw edge and hand stitched down

the length of the lace to the bottom edge so that the

lace did not just stick up.

The pincushion dolls always need something

around their waist to finish them off.

 I was lucky to have just enough of the lace to

gather up and affix around her waist. I then took

a long length of lovely ribbon and tied around

her waist tightly. Then I tied it into a lovely bow. 

It is evident that the dress needed something more!

It took me a while to find something that had a lining

attached to it.

I ended up using a child's slip that I think was vintage!

Hey, I remember wearing them!

Anyway the slip was 2 pieces, an overskirt with

an underskirt. This was perfect!!

So, I cut off a piece of the skirt. Cut off bigger

so it gathers. A good rule of thumb as to how much

or how wide to cut off of an existing skirt is, that

you need a good width for fabrics that are thin.

Cut off at least 12 inches wide and measure the

height of the pincushion and add about an 1.5 inch

for the top. Turn down a hem to the inside and in

my case here, you must try to keep the overskirt

bottom lace edge even with the underskirt hem as

good as you can. It is slippery!

Pin it or keep it even as you go with your fingers

and hand stitch down as you go keep adjusting

it as you stitch around.

Again I always use quilting thread and a quilting

needle. Always double the thread when gathering

for strength.

Be sure to leave a long piece of thread when you

finish sewing the hem down. Cut it off and then

knot it.

Put the skirt on over the pincushion and draw up

the threads tightly and knot it tightly about 3 times.

Then cut off the threads leaving a half inch tail

behind. Then take your fingers and lightly smash

in the gathers around the doll and under her if

possible. Always refer back to the previous directions

for the half-doll pincushions as each one tells

you new tips that I have learned along the way.

A view of the top of the slip.

Annie is all finished!!!

 A peek of her 2 slips or underskirts!

The back of Annie!!

Enjoy!!

Thank you for visiting me!

A Sweet HALF-DOLL PINCUSHION (WITH TUTORIAL) FOR LYNDA

Hello Everyone!

 

Sure hope you all are well. Gee, time

flies quickly when you are busy.

I did not realize that it had been that

long!

I know it only seems that I am going

to make these pincushions forever, but

I assure you that I won't be. I have

other things planned to show you once

these are finished. I have one more

pincushion with tutorial after this one

and she also has a different pincushion

base.

 

Anyway this Pincushion is easy to make.

If you have been following the tutorials

on how to make these darling pincushions

then you can see how easy they are to

make.

 

Here is another TUTORIAL, but this one is

done a little differently.

 

Be sure to read directions first before attempting

to make. I cannot give you cloth amounts because

I love to recycle anything that is lovely!

This is the 5th Half-doll Pincushion that I have

made. I try to make each pincushion a little

different for you.

 

I have not named this Pincushion because it will

go to Lynda. It will be her right to name her!

Front View

 

A close-up!

 

Back view!

 

Close up of the back.

 

Here is the cute little half doll that I was able to

get for $5.00 a while back. Isn't she sweet!

She is little. Lynda loves blue!

I have cleaned her already for this project. If

you have not done so, clean your doll before

you start. Also as you can see, there are not

any holes on this doll, so you must use a piece

of dowel. I will get into this further down!

 

Here is the back of her. All clean!

 

I am not giving you a tutorial on how to make

this because I believe that there are already many

tutorials on how to make this on the internet. Just

type in 'how to make a round tomato pincushion'.

If you have never made one before, you will see

how super easy it is. It is also very quick to make!

I have used terry cloth to make this one with. I

have sectioned it off with blue floss in 8 equal

parts! For this project it is okay if the floss does

not line up in the middle because we are going to

make a hole there.

 

 

OKAY - LETS BEGIN IF YOU HAVE
FINISHED THE TOMATO PINCUSHION!

 

I bought a dowel that fit the inside of the

half-doll really good. You do not want a dowel

that is skinny. Make sure that the dowel fits the

opening really nice and is as snug as you can get.

This is what I have done here. Just fitting the

dowel to her. Carefully insert one end of the

dowel into her body and go all the way up as far

as you can go with the dowel. Mark it below

with a pen as I have shown here.

 

As you can see I marked

a little bit beyond the doll.

This is okay.

 

I had a photo to go before this one, but it was too

blurry to use.

So, as you can see one end of the dowel that goes

inside of the doll has been whittled away to a

point. Try the dowel back into her cavity and see

if it fits okay, and also recheck your measurement

to see if all is okay.

For my pincushion this is the length of the dowel

that I will be using. You might be using the same

size, that is up to you and the pincushion that you

made.

 

(sorry another photo was too blurry to use).

I did snip the terry cloth so I could insert the dowel

in the middle. Be careful and do not snip the floss.

You must take out some of your stuffing but not

much. This dowel must go all the way to the bottom

of the tomato pincushion. So twist the dowel so you

can flatten some of the fiberfill, use some pressure

or force to wedge it down in there. It must stand

straight up.

Once you have done that, the line that you drew

on the dowel will be and should be close to the

pincushion.

The bottom of the dowel should rest on the inside

of the terry cloth and not go thru to the other

side. If your dowel is too long and sticks up

to high, then you must trim it off, but keep

checking to make sure that it is good before

you cut any of the dowel off.

Mine was just right!

 

The bottom of the doll

should rest on the pincushion.

As you can see I have not finished shoving it in.

 

Now, once you are satisfied with the placement

of the dowel, you can remove it.

I have taken the dowel out of the pincushion,

to show you the hole. If it is bigger than your

dowel then you better add some fiberfill, cause the

hole should be the size of the dowel only.

 

If everything looks good, then you can proceed on.

Next, butter up the side of the dowel that goes into

the doll. You do not have to put the glue on the tip

because chances are it will not reach or touch the

inside of the doll head. It might not go past the neck

of your doll.

 

Insert the dowel into the doll and make sure that

it does not lean or wobble. It must stand straight.

Place it away somewhere to dry where it will

not get hit and let it dry.

I let mine dry for 2 days before I went back

to it, cause I was busy.

 

Before you do this next step, make sure that all

is well by inserting it back into the tomato

pincushion. If it fits good then proceed.

 

Now, you can butter up with lots of glue on the

remainder of the dowel that is to be shoved into

the tomato pincushion.

 

Here is the hole again.

 

Place the dowel down into the pincushion. See

how far she goes down. The bottom of the doll

should rest on the pincushion.

I have taken 2 rubber bands and anchored it to the

doll on each side.

Make sure she stays straight up!

 

See how I did this. See, mine is standing straight!

Let her dry for 3 or 4 days just to be sure before

you take off the rubber bands and proceed any

further!

 

The half-doll is thoroughly dry and ready to be

dressed.

From here on, you know how to dress the doll

from the other tutorials.

Dress her just like the others, a slip if you want

one and then your dress. And then perhaps an

over dress.

 

I fell in love with this little shabby chic cotton skirt.

The colors were perfect for the little doll. So this

is what I am using. There is a little bit of crochet

around the bottom edge. There are not stains or

tears on this skirt. I wash it very well with Tide and

Clorox 2.

 

As you can see, I have made the dress and put it

on the doll already. Isn't she pretty!!

 

See her lace slip underneath!

 

I glued a little blue flower rose to the bottom of

the pincushion. It does not hinder in any way of

the doll standing upright. Just a little finishing touch

here on the bottom.

 

I decided to put an overskirt on top of the shabby

blue skirt. This is cotton lace and I could not

resist using it. This lace came from a lace shirt

that I owned. I used

the back of the shirt so I would have enough. I just

cut it to size and gathered it around her just as

I did the slip and the blue skirt.

 

Lastly, I cut a long piece of voile ribbon and tied

it into a bow in the back and cut the ends into a V.

 

Isn't this lace beautiful!!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial for this pincushion!

 

THANK YOU FOR VISITING ME!!