Pincushion Ring

My oldest daughter decided to make herself a neat little 'traveling sewing kit' from a tin box that originally held some candy. She painted it, and added some really cute graphics and then put in a magnet strip to hold her pins and needles. After a bit, we realized she needed a small pincushion to use when she was making her emergency repairs. (being avid hunter and campers and traveling quite a bit, these things are often needed).

So I devised her a pincushion in the form of a ring, that fit in her box, and also was functional when she needed it. She wanted it to resemble a robin's egg in a nest and this is what we came up with.

It came out really cute (and functional) so I thought I would share the pin cushion pattern with you. :)



Here are the closeups of the pin cushion and the pattern for it is below. (Please excuse my wrinkly and un-manicured hand, lol.)


And here's the pattern for the ring pincushion. I just typed this out, so if you find anything confusing or any typoes or such, please let me know!

PinCushion Ring

Materials:

#10 Crochet thread in Robin's Egg Blue and Milk Chocolate Brown
Size 7 steel crochet hook
Fiberfill (or a couple of cotton balls)
Plastic from a milk jug or water bottle
Small piece of elastic (to fit around your finger)

Note:

I wouldn't leave out the step of adding the plastic to the pin cushion. That's what will stop the pins/needles from going through the cushion and stabbing your hand. Any hard plastic will work, I used a bit of a milk jug for it and it worked perfectly and is easily cut with any good pair of scissors.

If you use a different size of thread or a different size of hook, you will need to make the 'base' circle first, then use that circle to determine the size of plastic disc you will need. Using the materials listed above, a quarter is the perfect size to use to cut your circle of plastic.

On this pattern I chose to join each round with a slip stitch to the first sc of the round. If you are more comfortable working in continuous rounds, by all means do so.


Base Circle

Using blue:

Rnd 1: 8 sc in magic ring (8)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (16)
Rnd 3: sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc around (24)
Rnd 4: sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc around (32)
Rnd 5: sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc around (40)

F/O.

Top/Dome

Using blue:

Rnd 1: 8 sc in magic ring (8)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (16)
Rnd 3: sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc around (24)
Rnd 4: sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc around (32)
Rnd 5: sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc around (40)
Rnd 6-8: sc in each sc around (40)

F/O. (this part is going to appear to be much larger than the base, don't worry, it will fit)

Using a quarter as a guide, draw a circle on the milk jug plastic and cut out (make sure it's from a flat portion of the jug).

Sew the dome to the base in the back loops of the last rounds (leaving a 'free' loop to the outside of the rim). Insert the plastic disc to rest on the base circle and begin stuffing the 'dome'. As you continue to sew up the pieces, continue to add stuffing. When you have just a few stitches left to sew up, use a yarn needle or toothpick to ensure that the dome is very firmly stuffed and close up the cushion.

Frill:

Attach the brown thread to one of the 'free loops' at the base of the dome part of the cushion and ch 1. Sc in the same loop as you attached the thread, 2 sc in the next free loop, sc in next free loop. Repeat all the way around.

next round: ch 3, skip one sc, sc in next sc. *ch 3, skip one sc, sc in next sc* repeat from * to * around to first sc. Sl st to first sc and then into the first ch 3 loop.

next round: Sc in same ch 3 loop, ch 4, sc in next ch3 loop. *ch 4, sc in next ch 3 loop* repeat around and sl st to first sc.

F/O

Weave in all ends.

Taking elastic piece, sew to the flat bottom of the cushion checking to see that it will fit snugly around your finger (but not so tight that it's uncomfortable). Use the pictures as a guide.


This pattern is an original pattern copyright by Linda Potts (June 2009). You may link to this pattern. Please do not sell or repost this pattern as your own.