Cactus Pincushion

Sew a quick and cute cactus pincushion using my free printable pattern. 

Tips:

1
You can use a sewing machine, or sew by hand.

2
I’m using a 2 ½ inch clay pot that was bought in a pack of three at the dollar store.

3
I also bought these shiny pebbles at the dollar store.

How to:

1
Print and cut out the free pattern (link above supply list).

2
Fold the fabric so it’s right-sides together, and pin the pattern face-up on top. Cut out the pieces.

3
Hand-sew two button eyes to the front of one of the pieces. (Be sure to leave enough room around the edges for a ¼ inch seam.)

4
Sketch a small U-shaped mouth between the eyes. Hand stitch a mouth, using a backstitch so you have a line of stitches with no gaps. (To do this, poke the needle up through where you want the end of your stitch to be. Poke down through where you want the stitch to start. Then start the next stitch by poking up where you want that stitch to end. Poke down right next to the previous stitch.) Don’t forget to finish with a knot on the back.

5
Pin the pieces right sides together. We’re going to leave the bottom inch unsewn, as these will be flaps that are hot-glued to the bottom of the pot. Sew around the perimeter with a ¼ inch seam.

6
Clip the seams, notching the curves. Be careful not to snip your stitches.

7
Turn right side out and poke out the seams.

8
Fill with rice. You’ll need to work the rice down into the arm.

9
Sew across the bottom, leaving a 1-inch flap. Backstitch across the entire length to ensure the rice won’t spill out.

10
Spread the flaps open and add glue to the underside. Press into the bottom of the pot.

11
Fill the empty spaces in the pot with pebbles. Wedge them in tightly. You could also hot glue these if you wanted.

12
Finally, I’m adding a felt flower. I cut mine free-hand but I’ve included a template on the pattern for you. I think red would probably be the best choice, but I went with white since I had it on hand.

13
Hand-sew the center of the flower to the top of the cactus. You might want to use a contrasting thread. Tie off the knot on the underside of the flower.

14
Add ball-head straight pins to your new pincushion!

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3 thoughts on “Cactus Pincushion

  1. Deon says

    Greetings I’m Xiomara.For 3 years now I am in Hong Kong as English
    as a foreign language teacher.I’ve just come upon your
    web page in search of present perfect for my upcoming class.
    I assume, I need to tweak this a little bit to
    suit perfectly for my little ones and this might be wonderful.Carry on the fantastic work and
    thanks for sharing with us!

  2. LadyD says

    Very cute! I’m going to make one of these soon… but I need to get myself a small terracotta pot first… or perhaps a plastic pot that looks like terracotta would be a safer choice in my environment…

  3. Emily says

    Aww that’s so cute my mom is going to teach me to sew so I might make one of these for my pincushion.

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