Sunday Sew-Day: DIY Pin Cushion & Storage Jar

Look at this. This is boring. This is messy. This is a sewing injury waiting to happen.

Now look at this. Much cuter. Much safer. Much more organized.

To make it, I first collected my supplies...

I was going for a scrappy look, so I didn't bother measuring or creating pattern pieces. I just started by sewing two of my fabric pieces together and then pressing them open.

Then I added a third piece and pressed again.

I sewed my three other pieces together in the same way.

Next, I put the two sections together. I tried to line up the points in the center, but clearly, I'm not that adept at piecework yet. Oh well, it just adds to the scrappy look, right?

I trimmed my fabric into a circle a couple inches larger than the inner piece of my jar's lid. (If you wanted to only use one piece of fabric for your pin cushion, you could just start here.) Then I basted all the way around the edge.

I stacked the outer ring of the lid (top side downward), then the fabric (face down), then a wad of stuffing, and finally the inner lid piece. As I drew up the basting thread to gather my fabric, I gently pushed the wad of stuffing through the lid ring. I tugged on the edges of the fabric a bit to make sure everything was nice and taut. Then I tied my thread in a knot to keep it from loosening. I simply hid the ends of the thread inside, but you could use a piece of thin cardboard (like a cereal box), cut the same size as the inner lid, to cover the cinched-up fabric. Just slap it on with some hot glue and you're good to go!

Finally, I sorted through my pins and stuck each in its corresponding colored fabric. This way, if anyone needs to borrow my pins, they'll know exactly where to put them back.