Free tutorial: Rainbow Pin Cushion 🌈

Matti Zunec
Dec 18, 2022
3 min read

Today I thought I'd show you how to make a Rainbow Pin Cushion. I've made several, they are easy and fun to make, and really useful to park your needles and pins while you're working. They look pretty too.

You can use any fabrics you like, look through your stash, use remnants of any colour or design. There are 8 segments on the wheel, so you will need at the most 8 different fabrics. I chose rainbow because it's bright, and colours make me happy. And I needed cheering up with all this cold and grey weather going on.

Here's what you will need:

Rotary cutter and mat, ruler.

Scissors, pencil, hand sewing needle

Sewing Machine

Buttons

Toy stuffing ( or you can repurpose the insides of an old cushion)

Fabrics:

You will need to cut:

8x 3.5"x 3.5" in fabrics of your choice

4x 3.5"x 6.5" for the backing

With this method you will make not just one, but two pin cushions! All in one go, with no waste! One for you and one to give away!

First, choose your fabrics. Best ones are cottons used for quilting, but you can use anything, linen, poly or mixed fibres, as long as it's not stretchy or too thick.

Decide in which order you will have them going around in the circle. Now you have four sets of two squares.

Pair your squares, facing right sides of fabric together.

You will end up with four sets like on the picture below. Draw a line diagonally across the four sets. You can use a chalk pencil, or just soft pencil (my favourite is B4, I love writing with pencils, and it is good to use on fabrics too)

Or just a Biro, if you can't find a pencil.

Now to the sewing machine. You can use any one of the colours for the thread. Seams will not show, so just go with a medium value. I used some blue and pale orange.

Set your stitch length to short stitch, on my machine it's about 1.5-2.

🧵 Here's a tip: always test your stitch length and tension on a scrap of fabric first. It will save you time in the long run, in case your sewing machine has a tantrum.

Stitch next to the diagonal line that you have drawn, on both sides, about 1/8"-1/4" away from the pencil line. Then cut the fabric exactly on that pencil line.

Now you have lots of pretty half squares!

Press the seams to one side.

🧵 Always press your fabrics as you go.

Don't skip this, your project will thank you.

Arrange your design the way you want colours to go around in the circle.

Now you have two fronts of the pin cushion almost ready.

Stitch all squares together.

Always press your seams to one side befor continuing stitching.

This is how they should look front and back.

Now cut your backing fabrics. You will need 4 pieces of 3.5"x 6.5"

Sew them together on the long side, leaving a gap of about 2.5" in the centre of the seam. Make sure you backstitch on each side of the gap. Press seams open.

At this point have a well deserved tea break, have a wonder round the house and find something circular roughly the size of your lovely new squares.

I used an embroidery hoop, but a small plate, a round lid, anything circular will do.

This will give you a nice template for your circle. You can just wing it and free cut, I just know that mine would end up looking like a potato, and I didn't want that.

So, draw around it. This will give you the final shape of the pin cushion. Pair your two fronts of pincushion to the backs, right sides together. Pin. Sew around that circle, leaving about 1/4" seam allowance on the outer edge. Cut off the excess outside fabric.

Now turn your pincushion inside out through that gap you left in the middle of the back panel. Use your fingers to smooth out the edges. Press.

And there you have it! Two perfect rainbow pin cushions!

Stuff them with toy stuffing, or anything you want really. I wouldn't recommend real feathers as they would go everywhere except inside that cushion, plus the chicken/duck/goose that grew these feathers would much rather keep them for herself thankyouverymuch.

I used toy stuffing that you can buy in any craft shop.

Now to the hand sewing bit.

Sew up the back opening with slip stitch. Or whip stitch. Choose your fighter.

Choose a button to sew in the middle and sew it on with a thick thread, going through all layers. This will make your fab new pin cushions even more squishy.

That's a great word, squishy.