Is it Time for Tea?

About two weeks ago I went into my local Charity store to have a look around and see if there was anything I needed which I didn’t know I needed until I saw *it*. (what ever *it* might be).

Amongst the china were some little cups and saucers which someone had made into pin cushions. “One of those would be great to replace my current pin cushion, because the one I’ve got has really had its day!”  I said to Mr. Cobs.  So I duly bought said pin cushion and took it home.

The following day I found that this ‘pin cushion’ didn’t want to the job it was supposed to do at all.  The felt which the maker had used as the ‘cover’ was that thick childrens felt – and it just didn’t want to accept that it’s job was to allow pins through it.  After a week of trying to jiggle (force) pins into it, I was about to throw the whole thing in the bin in frustration,  but something told me I should try removing the red velvet ribbon around the rim of the teacup, and the white felt – along with whatever was inside that felt,   and, if the cup was still in an OK condition, perhaps I could re-make the pin cushion.  So I did.  And it was.  So I did!

Cleaned up nicely!

I cleaned up the glue and bits of velvet threads stuck to the cup by using an emery board, then gave it a wipe.  I then went and had a bit of a look through my bits of fabric box.  I found some bits of soft denim fabric from some old striped jeans I had and laid it flat on my desk and with a chalk pencil I drew around the saucer (and added about half an inch, just to be sure).  I then did a running stitch all around the circle of denim, and left a long thread at the end – but didn’t knot or over-sew the end as I wanted to be able to draw that circle together.

The cup itself (without the saucer) is just a shade under 6cm tall – which is around 2.25 inches.  Such a tiny little cup.

Then using some foam (from an unused sponge),  which I’d cut to shape (so that I could see that it fitted into the cup as I wanted it to do), and then wrapped a little toy stuffing (or cushion pad inner stuffing) around the outside of the sponge, to give it a bit of a filler to make it more ’rounded’ in shape.

I sat this wrapped sponge onto the middle of the circle of fabric and began to pull the loose threads, which in turn began to gather up around the foam.  This is a part that you have to do carefully, as you want to make sure that all the foam and stuffing are in the exact places you need it to be, and that it’s all encased inside that fabric.

After this, I re-threaded the needle with those threads and stitched the gathered up denim closed, so that it wouldn’t come undone.

The width of the saucer is roughly 10.3cm – which is around 4 inches.

I tested it in the cup to make sure I’d got it just right, then, using Pinflair Glue Gel in a syringe, I squeezed out a thin line of Glue Gel all around  (about an inch down)  the inside of the top of the cup, then carefully placed the denim ‘parcel’ into the cup,  and once happy, I gave a gentle press downwards, to make sure that the fabric actually was at the bottom of the cup, and that it had touched the glue gel, all the way around and so would stick & be held in place.

Then it was simply a case of decorating around the edge.  I chose some Jumbo Ric-Rac and some tiny dollshouse  Pom-Pom Trim in the same shade of pink as the Ric-Rac,  and hand stitched them around the edge,  to finish it all off.

This was SO easy to make that I think even Little Cobs (grandson) could manage this one.  And the best thing about this?   From start (removing the old ‘pin cushion’), to finish ….  the whole thing took me about 30 minutes!  One – Half an Hour craft project!

Handle to the left ….

Oh!  Hang on….  NO!!!  The  BEST  THING  about  this  is  . . .   IT NOW TAKES PINS!  It’s now a really real Pin Cushion!

. . .  and handle to the right!  …   A view from above, so that you’ve ‘seen’ all the way around it, in case you want to make one for yourself … or for someone else.

If you do decide to make one of these for yourself....  the day before you actually make it, glue the cup to the saucer with some strong glue.  Not crafters glue, or PVA.  Use something which is suitable for china.

If you have Pinflair Glue Gel, I’d guess that would do a great job – but remember to put enough glue on (which ever glue you use), because there’s a little rim around the bottom of a cup (normally), which will make the base of the cup stand proud from the saucer – so you need to put enough glue so that it makes a good grab onto the saucer and the cup.

And that’s all there is to it!

This was such an easy make that I wasn’t going to post about it.  I felt like a bit of a fake because I hadn’t sweat blood and tears over it.  But then I thought that maybe there might be someone who needed a pin cushion and so could make something like this in their spare time.  

Happy Thursday all.  Sending squidges to you, from me!

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