What you need
Felt -light green and dark green, you’ll need less than one sheet of each
Embroidery thread – black and red
Air soluble fabric marker or chalk pencil
1.5″ terra cotta flower pot
Polyfill, or stuffing of your choice.
Strong glue
Embroidery needle
Pins
Scissors
Card stock or paper
Pen or pencil
Optional:
Something to weight the bottom of your pincushion like kitty litter, stones, glass marbles, etc
Label or sticker to cover the hole in the bottom of your flower pot
Instructions
Cactus Pin Cushion Supplies
1. Using the photo (figure 1) below as a guide, draw a template on the cardstock and cut it out. It should be roughly 5″ x 1.5″ (12.5cm x 4cm). The top should be rounded on each side and come to a point. (The shape is pretty forgiving so it doesn’t have to be exact, but you should try to make it symmetrical.)
Cactus Pin Cushion Pattern
2. Cut out 4 pieces of felt using your template, 2 light green and 2 dark green.
Cactus Pin Cushion Pieces
3. Draw your cactus face onto one of the light green pieces of felt with your fabric marker. Remember that you’re going to need room on the edge for the stitching.
4. Separate the strands of your embroidery thread. Thread the needle with 2 strands held together. Embroider the face, following the outline you just sketched out. I use satin stitch for the eyes and mustache and backstitch for his mouth.
*If embroidery isn’t your thing, you can always paint his face or cut the features out of felt and glue them on.
5. Take 2 pieces of felt – 1 light green, 1 dark green. Pin the edges together on one side only. Thread your needle with 2 strands of black embroidery thread again. Sew the entire length of that side, using either a whip stitch or folk art stitch.
*Hint: The smaller you make the stitches, the rounder your cactus will be. If you make the stitches large, he’ll have ridges at the seams.
6. Repeat with the rest of the fabric pieces, alternating a dark green piece with a light green piece. You’ll end up with a cylinder with a dome at the top.
*Don’t worry if the bottom looks uneven or untidy, it’s going to be hidden inside the flower pot.
Cactus Pin Cushion Pot
7. Stuff your finished cactus all the way to the bottom. Remember that he needs to fairly firm in order to poke pins into him easily. If you’re not sure if you’ve stuffed him enough, just give him a test poke.
8. Cover the hole in the bottom of the flower pot with a sticker or a piece of tape that’s cut to size (from the inside). Put another sticker over the hole on the outside of the pot. Fill the pot about halfway with kitty litter. Remember to leave enough room to plant your cactus!
* Weighting the bottom will make it harder to tip him over. If you’d prefer not to, skip this step and put more stuffing in the bottom of your flower pot.
9. Squeeze a generous amount of glue around the inside of your flower pot, near the top. Plant your cactus in the pot. Make sure he’s in there deep enough to be sturdy. Check from different sides to make sure he’s standing up straight. Once the glue dries, it’ll be too late to fix him.
10. Finally, stick him full of pins! Trust me, he loves it.
Cactus Pin Cushion With Pins
This project was contributed by kristen from Morbidly Cute
i love this idea! the spikes of the cactus as the pins.. FAB, am making it tomorrow!!
So cute. And LOVE THE MUSTACHE. This gave me something to do over summer 🙂 thankyou!
What a great idea! ANd so easy to follow with the pictures. Thankyou so much!
this is so cute simple and quick, and your instructions and pictures are the best. thx for shareing.
A cactus! Of course! It is so cute and pins look just right in a cactus! Good, understandable directions and illustrations. Thanks!
This is too cute, and what a great way to use up scraps!!
Thanks.
I’m Making this for my sewing teacher!
the cactus is soooooo cute. i am actually looking for one so that my class can try to make one.
I think this would be a good project for a bazarr or 4-H
He’s so cute! I just started taking up sewing as a hobby and I’ve just finished. For a beginner I’m real proud! haha HIS NAME IS CHIVES.
choice! – Slashie in the Sticks
I love it! I made one and I would love to share a pic…if I knew how!
*gasp* *whispers*…”mini mustache.”
Adorable! simple, easy and cute!
It was easy to sew
and nice to add to my sewing room
Love it! He is so cute! 🙂
That’s so adorable! I wanna make it right now! Thanks for sharing!
I made these at Brownies as a kid – oh my goodness, that was about 25 years ago!
hehe, he so cute!!
😀
I think this is so cute! My mom has a western themed living room so i think i’ll be making this for her =) Thanks!
I collect pin cushion patterns and think this one is great! I can’t wait to make it. Thank you!