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Craft this vintage teacup pincushion with
odds-and-ends for a perfect Mother's Day present - and try the matching
card!
I don't know how we got the idea to make a matched set of an elegant
teacup pincushion and Mother's Day card. But they were both so simple,
and as long as you have the glue gun warmed up...
We found our porcelain teacup at the Goodwill
Store for $.25 - pure white with a graceful raised pattern around the
bottom. The fabric was a faded floral flannel left over from a quilt
project. Together they have a vintage charm.
The vintage image of a mother holding her baby
comes from the
cover of a piece of 1921 sheet music, "Mother's Lullaby," by Milton
Weil. Click on the vintage image link in the list of
materials below for a FREE PDF download.
This
craft is so easy, we ended up
with only one instructional photograph. Once we started, our teacup
pincushion was done
before we could reach for the camera.
On a separate page, we have instructions for
making the matching Mother's
Day card. The teacup pincushion and card make a wonderful
set to give to your mother this Mother's Day!
Materials
for this Teacup Pincushion
-
Vintage
Images
(FREE PDF download), printed on clear adhesive label paper.
- Clear 8.5" X 11" adhesive label paper
for inkjet printers (we used Avery 18665).
- Decorative braid, 50", burgundy (see Tips).
- Porcelain or ceramic teacup, plain white.
- Decorative embroidery scissors (these are part
of the gift!)
- Coordinating fabric, 12" square. We used a
blue-on-blue floral flannel.
- Needle and heavyweight thread, any color.
- Polyester fiber (pillow stuffing).
- Hot glue gun.
- Tacky craft glue (like Aleene's).
- Fabric scissors or pinking shears.
- Small scissors like embroidery or manicure
scissors.
Instructions
- Cut
a circle of fabric to a diameter 6" larger than the diameter of the
teacup rim. Our teacup was 3" across, so we cut our fabric circle
to 9" in diameter with pinking shears.
 Sew
a running stitch all around the edge of the fabric, 1/2" in from
the edge, loosely gathering the fabric as you stitch.- Stuff the cushion with the polyester fiber
until it is very firm. Pull the gathers tight and tie off the thread
with a
French knot. You should have a round cushion. Place it in the cup to be
sure it fits securely.
- Apply a bead of hot glue all around the inside
of the cup, about 1/2" below the rim. Insert the cushion and
press until the glue dries.
- With the glue gun (or tacky craft glue), adhere
the braid around the base of the cup and the top edge of the cup
against the cushion (see Tips).
- Print the vintage image on to the clear
adhesive label sheet and cut it out with small scissors. Peel off the
paper backing and apply the image to the front of the cup, or apply
an image to each side. Press it on firmly with your fingers through
a a tissue to avoid damaging the image.
- Tie a 20" length of the braid into a loop with
a
double knot. Insert one end of the loop though the cup handle and pull
the other end through the loop to knot it. Repeat this on
the other end of the loop through one handle of
the embroidery scissors.
- Could that have been simpler?
Stick some decorate
pearl-headed or jewel-headed pins in the top and you have a lovely,
decorative
teacup pincushion for mom!
Tips
- Decorative braid comes in various sizes and
colors. At your fabric store, compare the braids for sewing (usually
with the trims) and the upholstery braids (usually with the tassels and upholstery fabrics). Choose the size braid
that fits with your teacup. Also, keep in mind that you will be tying
the embroidery scissors to the cup, and some braid may be
too heavy to work with. You may want to buy a thinner coordinating braid for
tying on the scissors.
- Braid can be frustrating stuff,
because
as soon as you cut it, it begins to unravel. You can spare yourself
this
grief by untwisting the braid slightly where you want to cut, placing a
couple of drops of fabric glue between the braids with a toothpick, and
twisting it tight again until it dries. Then cut through the dried glue
- no unraveling!
 Now,
why not make a matching Mother's
Day card to go with your teacup
pincushion? You already have most of the material lying in front of
you and your inkjet printer is warmed up.
Our exclusive
Mother's Day card design uses the same fabric and a larger version of
the same vintage image. We particularly like the aged look you can
achieve with a light application of distressing ink to the edges of the
cut paper. Distressing ink is a translucent dye-type ink on a raised
ink pad. You can apply the ink directly by rubbing the pad on the edges
of the paper, or you can use an applicator. We used our favorite
applicator - foam cosmetic wedges.
We want to acknowledge that we first saw the basic design for
this teacup pincushion in the Butterick publication, 101 Crafts Under $10.
For more vintage Mother's Day images, be sure to visit our Vintage Image Download Gallery!
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