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Shabby Chic Pincushion (In-the-Hoop)

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Make sewing time even sweeter with this adorable in-the-hoop pincushion! Stitch each piece separately, then assemble and stuff. We'll show you how!

Supplies


Project Needs & Notes:

- 1/4 yard of linen or quilter's cotton
- Tear-away stabilizer
- Temporary spray adhesive (such as Gunold KK100)
- Polyester fiberfill
- Needle for hand sewing or fabric glue.

Designs featured in this tutorial include:
X13899, Shabby Chic Pincushion (In-the-Hoop)

Finished Size:
Small: 2 1/8" wide x 1 1/4" tall
Medium: 2 1/2" wide x 1 3/4" tall
Large: 3" wide by 1 3/4" tall

Special note:
In this tutorial the pincushion is sewn together by hand. If desired, you can also use fabric glue to assemble the pincushion. Simply make sure to hold the pieces together until the glue completely dries for best results.

Designs Used

When you download the Shabby Chic Pincushion design, you'll find four files. Two are embroidery files, and the other two are dieline files, marked with the letters DL. Dielines are used to cut the fabric to the right shape and size.

Open each dieline file with an embroidery software, and print it. If you do not have embroidery software, Wilcom TrueSizer is a free program to use.

Cut around the paper dieline shape for piece "a", and spray the back with temporary adhesive. Then smooth it onto the right side of the fabric.

Cut out the shapes, and remove the paper dielines from the fabric.

Hoop a piece of tear-away stabilizer tightly, making sure their are no wrinkles. Madeira E-Zee Tear 1.5 oz. or Floriani Tearaway Medium are good choices. Those brands are more fibrous, less paper-like, and will tear more cleanly.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load the full embroidery file "a" (not the dieline files).

Use a size 11 or 75/11 sharp sewing needle, rather than an embroidery needle. A sharp sewing needle has a smaller, finer point than an embroidery needle, so that will make smaller perforations in the stabilizer.

Embroider the design. The first thing to embroider will be the dieline. This marks the area on the stabilizer where we'll place the first fabric piece.

Remove the hoop from the machine, but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Spray the back of the fabric piece with a temporary adhesive, and place it right inside the sewn dieline.

Attach the hoop back onto the machine and continue to embroider the rest of the design. A tack down stitch will sew next, binding the fabric in place for the remainder of the design. Then the inner detail will embroider followed by the finishing border around the edges.

When the embroidery is finished, unhoop the stabilizer and gently tear it away from the edges. Make sure to leave the tear-away stabilizer on the back of the fabric piece as this will add a little bit of structure to the pincushion.

Repeat the previous steps to embroider the base piece (labeled with a "b"). Once it is finished being embroidered, tear away the excess stabilizer.

To assemble the pincushion, take the top piece (piece "a"), and pick one of the five darts. Fold the piece along the dart, and line up the two opposite edges with the wrong sides together. Using a hand sewing needle, stitch the two edges together.

Repeat to sew all of the other darts.

After all the darts are sewn, take the base piece ("b"), and line up one of its straight edges with one of the straight edges on the top piece ("a"). Make sure the wrong sides of the two pieces are together, and hand sew along the straight edge to connect the two pieces.

Repeat to sew together all but one of the straight sides around the pincushion. Make sure to leave one side unsewn, so that an opening remains for stuffing the pincushion.

Stuff the pincushion with polyester fiberfill.

Once firmly stuffed, sew the opening closed.

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