Tomato Pincushions

When browsing the internet, deciding what kind of pincushion to make for my girls, I found lots of pictures of tomato pincushions. I'd actually never seen one before, but have since learned that many original pincushions were tomato shaped, and many people still have tomato pincushions passed down through generations of sewers!

So not only are they a traditional type of pincushion, but I also learned that a red tomato at a window helps ward off evil spirits, and one on the mantel piece attracts wealth and abundance! (Source)

So this definitely seemed a good choice of pincushion to make for my girls.

I found this brilliant video tutorial from Martha Stewart showing how simple it is to make one. Take a look...

Aren't they just the cutest, simplest pincushions ever?

I made one each for my girls 

as part of sewing kit bag gift sets that I made for each of them

I gave them these gifts to say thank you for being such awesome pattern testers for my new e-book.

Have you ever seen a tomato pincushion? Or do you have one of your own perhaps?

I shall be linking this post to many of the fabulous linky parties whose buttons and links can be found on my linky party page.

Personalised Needle Book - A Tutorial

I made these needle books for my girls as part of a sewing kit gift I made to say thank you for pattern testing the tutorials in 

my new e-book.

They are super simple to make. I used denim scraps from old jeans (white and blue) which makes the needle cases nice and sturdy.

To make this needle book you will need,

1 piece main outer fabric 16 x 10 cm (6.25 x 4")

1 piece inner fabric 20 x 14 cm (8 x 5.5")

Scrap inner fabric and fusible webbing for initial

2 pieces felt for pages 12 x 8 cm (4.75 x 3.25")

1 piece stitch in velcro 2.5 cm (1") long

First iron your fusible webbing to your fabric scrap, draw the mirror image of your initial letter, cut out and place on your main outer fabric piece. 

Fold this piece in half to find the centre of the front cover. Iron then appliqué stitch into place.

Now place this outer rectangle face up on top of your main inner piece which should be facing down. In this case your fabrics should be wrong sides together.

Double fold the inner fabric over the edges of your outer fabric like this. Pin into place.

Continue this all the way around. At the corners, fold one side in as shown in this photo, then continue to double turn the edges on the next side.

Pin then stitch this 'binding' in place close to the inner edges.

Add your velcro

First cut your velcro in half lengthways. 

Then lay one side each on the inner edges of your needle book cover. Pin then stitch into place.

Stitch around each velcro rectangle twice to make sure it's secure. The stitching will get tugged every time the book is opened.

The pages

Fold your main book cover in half and place a pin in the centre.

Then take your two felt rectangles and fold them in half both together and place a pin in the middle.

Now place your felt pages inside your needle book cover, matching up your centre pins.

Stitch into place along the pin lines.

That is your needle case finished and ready to add pins to.

I used the same fabrics as the girls sewing kit bags for these needle cases, so that everything matches.

My girls love their sewing kids and needle cases - I'm looking forward to doing lots more sewing with them!

This tutorial is also available as a free PDF download here.

If you want to see how to make the sewing kit bag shown in the picture above, you will find that tutorial here.

If you liked this tutorial - there are over 100 sewing tutorials for all kinds of things and all levels of sewing ability. Do take a look at 

My Free Tutorials Page

I shall be linking this post to many of the fabulous linky parties whose links and buttons can be found on my linky party page.

Sewing Kit Bag - A Tutorial

This year, my girls have been doing more and more sewing, and recently they spent some time pattern testing the tutorials for my new e-book (Teach your kids to sew with a pair of Jeans).

So I wanted to make them something to say 'Thank-you' and something they could use in the years to come when they sew.

I decided on small boxy bags, made from denim upcycled from jeans, filled with sewing things including special little personalised needle cases and cute tomato pincushions.

Both girls loved their gifts, and so did I!  I think I might have to make myself one too!

This one is my younger daughter's.

And this pink and white one is my elder daughter's.

Here's how to make your own, if you'd like one of these personalised sewing kits - either for yourself or for a friend or perhaps for your child to encourage them to sew!

The Sewing Kit Bag 

You will need,

2 main outer pieces of fabric (I used denim) 34 x 20 cm (13.5 x 8")

1 piece outer fabric for the strap 18 x 10 cm (7 x 4")

2 inner pieces of fabric 34 x 20 cm (13.5 x 8")

1 zip longer than 34 cm

Fusible Webbing

Fabric Scraps for appliqué

First your appliqué

You can choose to add any kind of pictures or lettering you like on this bag. I chose to add an initial letter on one side,

 a sewing machine on the other side 

and on the top, a pair of scissors and a needle and thread.

I just drew these pictures freehand - the template of my drawings can be downloaded here if you're interested!

Choose the designs and the fabrics you want to use. Then iron your fusible webbing to the back of your pieces.  Draw your designs as a mirror image on the paper side of the fusible webbing.

 Cut the designs out then peel off the backing and iron onto your main outer fabric rectangles.  

The fabric will be split into thirds when the case is finished. The top third, side third and underneath third.

Appliqué or zig zag stitch around the edges of all your letters and pictures to secure them in place.

Now to put the bag together

Lay one of your outer fabric pieces right sides up. Put the zip face down on top of this at the top, then one of your inner fabric pieces face down on top of the whole thing. The fabrics should be right sides facing.

Line up the top three edges and pin then stitch into place using your zipper foot.

Pull both fabrics back from the zip and top-stitch close to the zip teeth. This is to prevent the fabric catching in the zip when you open and close the zip.

Now the other side. Place your other inner fabric piece face up, then lie the part you just made with the zip face up on top of that and finally your other outer fabric piece face down on top. Basically you want your inner pieces right sides together and your outer pieces right sides together.

Pin then stitch across the top with your zipper foot.

Then once again pull back the fabrics from the zip and top stitch close to the zip teeth.

Now flip your fabrics so both outer fabrics are facing right sides together on one side of the zip, and both inner fabrics are facing right sides together on the other side of the zip.  Match up the raw edges and pin then stitch them together.

Turn your bag so that it is inside out. Lay it flat with the zip in the middle at the top and the centre seam in the middle on the bottom.

With the zip open, pin both short sides together, and stitch across both ends.

Trim off the excess zip and the edge of the seam with pinking shears to help prevent fraying. If you don't have pinking shears you could run a line of zig zag stitching close to the seam and then trim with regular dressmaking scissors.

The Strap

Take your strap piece. Fold the long sides into the centre like this.

Then fold the whole thing in half to hide the raw edges.

It should look like this.  Top stitch down both long edges to hold in place.

Box out the corners and add the strap

Pinch one of the corners of your bag and flatten it to a triangle shape.

This is where your strap will be attached, inside this corner!

(This picture shows where the strap will sit, but you need to push it inside as shown in the next picture)

The strap is now inside, pushed right up as far into the corner as it will go.

Stitch across the corner about 

2.5 cm (1") from the point of the triangle)

Take the other end of the strap and push it into the other corner near it as you pinch that into a flat triangle too. Make sure the strap isn't twisted!

Stitch across that corner as you did with the other one.

Then pinch, pin and stitch the other two corners in the same way. This makes the nice box shape for your bag.

 Cut each corner off using pinking shears again to prevent fraying.

Turn your bag right sides out, and it's done!

This tutorial is also available as a free PDF download here.

So there you have a complete personalised sewing kit bag.

I made each of my girls a personalised needle case and a tomato pincushion to add to their sewing kits. I also added dressmakers scissors, threads, needles, pins, a white marking pencil, a thimble, a tape measure, a quick unpick and some safety pins.

Over the next couple of days I will share how I made the needle books and the tomato pincushions.

This would make an ideal gift for someone - together with

 my new e-book.

I shall be linking this post to many of the fabulous linky parties whose buttons and links can be found on my linky party page.