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Elizabeth’s Fabric Focus
Each month Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson! shares a new project featuring one of our current fabric collections. Don’t miss her series of excellent, free tutorials on Oh, Fransson! and PDF patterns in Elizabeth’s Etsy shop. Today’s Pincushion Organizer Project is a free PDF download for you to enjoy.
From Elizabeth: This month we’re focusing on the Moondance collection by Jenean Morrison. Moondance combines subtle warm neutrals and soft pastels. These small to medium size prints feature all manner of interesting circle-centric patterns resembling everything from sand dollars to Spirograph drawings. I think they would look great paired with solid twill to make a Spring bag or skirt! I can also see them making a beautiful gender-neutral baby quilt.
My favorites are Galaxy Brown, Miranda Tan and Oberon Green and I’ve used all three to create a handy little pincushion organizer. My lightweight pincushion and small tools like my seam ripper and thread snips were constantly being swept off my worktable, so I designed this pincushion to keep them in one place.
The weighted pincushion holds a little pocket for my small tools and a removable scrap bag for gathering loose threads. The pincushion is an oblong rectangle so it can easily fit between your sewing machine and the edge of your worktable, or on a chair or sofa arm.
I also tend to lose my needles among the pins in my pincushion, so I added a little wool-felt strip to keep them in one place.
So far this new pincushion is working out wonderfully for me. Hopefully some of you will find it useful too. Don’t forget to share photos of anything you make with the Moondance collection or this free PDF tutorial in the SMS photo pool!
Brilliant! Thank you.
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Girl – you are crazy busy! I’m making this first thing tomorrow morning…I’m forever leaving pieces and parts all over my living room. Thanks for the great tutorials.
I found my next project! Can’t wait to get started.
Beautiful!
I love this pin cushion – I made one similiar with a small bag for scraps – I think I will redesign mine – I like how this one buttons on – how smart is that – thanks for the wonderful ideas and the inspirations – Susan
Wow- Elizabeth. What can’t she do? She’s currently hosting a quiltalong and she comes out with this? Fantastic!
Wonderful!
This is fabulous – just what I need!!!! Thanks!
Thank you for this project! I am looking forward to making these items for gifts!
Oh, thanks so much! I already have some colors in mind….
Oh I need one of these! Thanks!
That is so great. Love those fabrics.
I love this. So unusual.
That is a neat project! I will definitely have to make it at a later date! That material though… OMG… I think I found the collection I am going to covet.
This is so great!
i love it!!!
I have been eyeing these on etsy but I wanted to make one so I can pick the fabric. Thanks for the tutorial.
I adore this Elizabeth. You are one clever woman!
I love this so much. I love “caddies” and “organizers”. The little scrap bag makes me miss my grandpa. He used to have little paper lunch bags, the edges turned down, that he’d carry around to pick up random garbage where ever he went.
Great idea! I love it! it looks so cute in that earthy fabric, too! I love the blend of colors.
[...] threads and all my sewing notions strewn around. Guess what my next sewing project will be? Get the tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew [...]
This is a great pincushion ! Thank you.
Cecile
This is a great project! I was just having that problem last night. This is going to come in handy!
Really cute. Love the fabrics. I just posted about how my Great Grandmother used to stuff her pin cushions with hair.
Beautiful fabrics! And a pretty ingenious organizer!
Very clever project!
Oddly, I’m currently quilting along with Oh, Fransson!, and I’m using the MOONDANCE series of fabrics.
The quilt-along is challenging, but Elizabeth’s tutorials are perfection. I’m learning so many techniques from Elizabeth and my fellow quilt-along-ers. The moondance fabric rocks! Each print is an independent work of art, and the term “moondance” is pretty cool.
I’m having a great time quilting-along, and I dig the moondance
Great little project and such lovely fabrics.
I love the slim design, and the felt needle keeper is genious. Thanks Elizabeth [I am also an avid reader of your blog] and SMS.
that is very cool, I need to make one of those for sure!
I love the thread catcher.
I love this! What a great way to use up some scrappy fabric too. I’m going to make some of these up for our Project Linus volunteers. Thanks for sharing!
So great! Thank you!!
This is fantastic!
Such a wonderful idea. I could really use one of these! So pretty too.
I am really loving this! I can never seem to find my needles, or seam ripper when I need them. And the threads all over the floor drive my husband batty.
What a cool project! Love it!
This is great! I know I’ll have to make at least two.
Clever! This would really help me with the lost-pin-in-the-couch/floor/bed situation. And, it will lessen the “I can’t find my #$%^ __insert small sewing notion here__” Thanks, Elizabeth! Between this and the quilt-along, I am convinced you don’t sleep.
This is exactly what I needed! My rolling chair will appreciate all of the threads not being on the floor. I’m bad about missing the trashcan! This is so cute. I can’t wait to get started.
Thank you so much for sharing. A friend of mine was looking for the pattern for one of these just last week.
Quilty Hugs!
Nancy
I’ve been totally looking for something like this. I love it!!
That is so cool!!!!!
[...] the all day sewing marathon, no toddler caring involved. It’s Elizabeth’s project for Sew Mama Sew. I know it’s dangerous to tempt a toddler with a hanging pocket filled with a scissor, seam [...]
A million thank yous!
oh my oh my hope to get going on the quilt along and now this…I don’t know what to do first. But one thing is for certain I have a MIL and SIL that are sewers and this would make a wonderful Mother’s Day present. Thank you so much Elizabeth. Just got to get outta this spring fever and start looking for fabrics, holiday is just around the corner.
this looks great! I am going to give this a try.
Awesome idea!!!! Gotta make this one!
thank you so much for this tut! I’ve wanted to make one of these for ages and I love all the little things you’ve added to it. It is on my list of things to make THIS WEEK now!!!
thanks
This is a really good idea. I have a small car vac which gets filled too quick from the floor.
I am not real good about making it to my trash can.
what a wonderful idea. i have a patter for a scrap keeper that i wanted to make but this thing does so much more. thanks!
I love this fabric! It is exactly the feel I am looking to use in a special project!
This is fabulous – a much improved design over my current pincushion/thread catcher bag combo. I’m heading off on retreat in 2 days and am going to my sewing room to make one asap. I will be the envy of all retreaters this weekend!! Thanks so much.
I love our scrap bag! That’s a great addition!
-Sarah from Create Studio
http://www.createstudio.blogspot.com
Ooooh, awesome. Thanks, Elizabeth. So, I love this and want to try to make it, but two of the fabrics I want to use are in fat quarters. Is there a way I can shrink the dimensions to fit fat quarters without messing everything up? (Sorry if this is a stupid question. I just started sewing recently and I can’t always wrap my head around the fabric math yet).
Rachel,
This project is pretty small already, so I’m not sure it would be a good idea to shrink it. If you’re having a hard time envisioning how to cut the pieces from your fat quarters, it may be helpful to cut the pieces out of paper (basically making pattern pieces) first and lay them out on your fabric before you cut.
There’s only one piece for this pattern (the one for the Pocket) that’s too long to be cut from a standard fat quarter. You could either cut this piece from a different fabric or sew a couple of pieces together to make a big enough piece. (The bottom of the pocket — 3.75″ including seam allowance — is probably a good place to “hide” a seam like this.)
I hope this helps!
Very helpful, thanks for the quick answer!
Wonderful – thank you so much!
I tried to download the PDF file for the pincushion organizer and received a notice that
the file was damaged and I was unable to download the instructions. Could you please
advise.
It is just the design that I have been looking for. Thank you.
Love Love Love it. I have been wanting something like this and cannot wait to create it.
Very handy and a must for most if not all sewists.
Thank you for sharing the tut, i desperately need to make one.
This is a really good idea , thank you so much for this tut and for sharing.
This is great! Just a little improved from the standard pincushion/thread catcher that I currently use. Thanks for posting it!
Just lovely !!
lisa
I absolutely love this I have been looking for a cute pattern for a scrap bag/ organizer and this is it! even better, it’s free!! Yay! I am SO very excited. I will be making this tonight!
it’s a very good idea! thanks for sharing this tut: I love it
You can also add a magnet strip to collect hand and machine needles when you change them out on your sewing machine.
Thank you for the .pdf. I have stopped “losing” ripers, needles, etc. since this option became more common on the net. The button is a grand idea. I would be losing everything not nailed down if I had to turn the entire unit up-side-down to empty out. Cordially, nehmah
Gosh, what a wonderful design. I was wondering about adding an emery bord or similar to help keep my pins sharp? Would like your opinion and also (as I can’t think of the words – damn getting older) what would be better than emery – something like a kitchen scourer?
Thank you very much for the “pdf”
I’m french and don’t speek very good english
Kisss & thanks a lot
Rolande 57
I really need to make one of these!
I’m new to quilting and have wanted one of these pincushions, but the required sand weight was undesirable. Rice is the perfect substitute. Best of all, is the concise, easy to comprehend tutorial. Something near and dear to a novice’s heart. Thank you, Elizabeth!
This is a wonderful pattern. So useful.
Instead of sand or rice, you can use CRUSHED WALNUTS (found at pet stores in the bird section). Birds use the crushed walnuts to sharpen their beaks, and it will also sharpen your needles. I got this tip from Quilt Granny’s Shoes—
quiltgrannyshoes.blogspot.com (she stuffed her beautiful chicken pincushions with it).
Brenda (in Texas)
This looks wonderful, but I cannot seem to download the pattern, I get a message that the file is damaged and could not be repaired! It may be my poor internet skills, so I’m curious as to if I’m alone or this has occured for others. Thanks
Thank you so much for this pattern. I was forever leaving threads and needles all over my house. I didn’t mind until my little one became mobile. This pincushion has been a life (and feet) saver. Thanks again.