We have seen a lot of quick and easy projects for leftover fabrics here on the blog. But when you keep making quilts, you keep ending up with lots of scraps. Of course, you don’t want to throw them out. Even the littlest of bits and trimmings can come in handy.

You can also donate your scraps to sewing classes. Maybe your local school can use them for art projects or learn the kids how to sew. Quilt guilds that make charity projects are happy to receive any fabrics from us as well. Or you can make something for yourself or for a friend.

Finding a scrap-worthy project

However, it’s not always easy to find just the right project. That’s why I keep on looking for you on the internet and I have come across yet another perfect one. So if you have only a handful of scraps, and I know everybody has them, then these pincushions are such cute, easy, and quick items to make. You might even get addicted to them!

Making some cute pincushions

From the Spring in Paris quilt, I had a couple of triangles left. These were perfect for pincushions like these. I found a free YouTube tutorial on how to make them. There is no real template for cutting the triangles, but the tutorial shows you how you can make a template yourself easily. 

First, you draw a circle using anything round from your sewing room or even your coffee cup. Then split that circle into parts. You get to choose if you would like a 4-part, 6-part, or maybe an 8-part pincushion. 

I chose to make mine a 5-part pincushion. I split my circle into triangles with an angle of 72°. So 5 triangles x 72° makes 360° full circle. You can do this math for whatever pincushion you would like to make. Just divide 360° by the number of parts you want your pincushion to be and you get the angle you need your triangles to measure. 

Filling your pincushion

Some people use their scraps as filling, but I filled my pincushions with left-over batting, which I cut into little snippets.

And to add that little extra I made a fabric-covered button for placing on top. For my pincushions, I refrained from the floss suggested shaping the stuffed pincushion like a pumpkin. I liked mine better without but that of course is a matter of personal taste.

Other ideas to make with this tutorial

Speaking about pumpkins, another great idea using this tutorial is making actual fabric pumpkins. Imagine creating a bunch of orange-colored ones with this floss, add a kind of stem to each, and use it as a pumpkin decoration for the fall season. You can make little ones, big ones, and some in between. Place them around your home and you can use them for years to come. 

You could also make one pincushion with different colored solids for the triangles. Once finished, you pin your extra sewing machine needles (70/80/90/jersey/jeans/leather) in the pincushion. Each size has its own segment, so they are all well organized. Make a little note so you know what color each size needle has to make searching for the right size needle as easy as possible.

A nice gift

As you can see I have made a bunch of them because they are fun, cute, and such a quick project. I love adding a pincushion like this once in a while, to little packages I send my friends. I bet you would love to make some for yourself, your home, or your friends as well.

Happy sewing!