Picture-Perfect Pincushion A picture frame pincushion is a cute and crafty addition to decor, and a useful one too! The frame highlights beautiful embroidery, while keeping pins and needles close at hand. Project Needs & Notes - Picture frame - Small piece of lightweight quilter's cotton or twill - Medium-weight (2.5-3 ounce) cutaway stabilizer - Air-erase pen for marking - Polyester fiberfill - Small piece of corrugated cardboard (cardboard inserts that often come with frames work well) - Hot glue and glue gun Designs in this tutorial include J5288, Flower Cameo -- Poppies and D9988, Filigree Sewing Machine 2. When choosing designs and frames, make sure the design will fit in the frame opening, and leave 1/2" of extra space between the edges of the design and the edges of the frame opening. This project was featured in the following: For the Love of Craft Lookbook Remove the back from the frame, and the glass.
Cut a piece of quilter's cotton a little larger than the frame. Place the frame on top, and trace the frame opening on the quilter's cotton with an air-erase pen. A template, or printout of a design, is an excellent tool to help with placement. Print a template of the design from your embroidery software. If you do not have embroidery software, Wilcom's TrueSizer is a free program to use. Center the template inside the shape that you drew on the quilter's cotton. Make sure there is at least 1/2" of space between the edges of the design, and the edges of the frame opening. Mark the center and the vertical and horizontal axis lines. Draw lines connecting the marks. These marks will be used when hooping.
Hoop the fabric with a piece of cutaway stabilizer, lining up the marks on the fabric with the marks on the hoop. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so the needle is right over the center point, and embroider the design. After embroidering, cut the stabilizer away from the back. Trace the frame's opening onto a piece of corrugated cardboard. If the frame came with a cardboard insert, you can use that.
Cut out the shape, but cut it 1/8" larger. That extra 1/8" will make the pincushion a little larger than the frame opening, and prevent it from falling through the opening. Measure and mark 1/2" out from the original oval shape. This excess fabric leaves room for fiberfill stuffing inside the pincushion. With the fabric piece wrong side up, line up the side of the cardboard with the outer line traced on the fabric. Put a drop of hot glue on top of the cardboard on that side, wrap the fabric around, and press it in place. Glue the other side of the fabric to the cardboard.
Glue the top and bottom fabric edges to the cardboard. To hold the pins, stuff the space between the fabric and the cardboard with fiberfill until firm. Finish gluing the fabric to the cardboard, adding drops of glue to the cardboard and pressing the fabric in place. Pinch and fold the fabric as you go to make it lay as flat as possible.
Put the pincushion into the frame from the back. Add the frame's back piece behind the pincushion to hold it in the frame. The above example shows the technique with frame that has an oval opening. Here is an example with a rectangular opening. The process and steps are the same.
These framed pincushions are a picturesque addition to the sewing room, and are a fabulous way to corral your pins and needles. Questions or comments? Let us know! Send an email to us; the address is stitch@emblibrary.com.