March 4, 2009

tutorial - baby food jar pincushion

Finally! After so many months of procrastination I managed to finish this tutorial and share it. A few of you were begging to hurry up and post this tutorial already, sorry about the delay ladies.

OK, let's go directly to work. For this pincushion your will need...

Any size baby food jar (empty and clean of course. I like the tiny ones), glue gun, thread and needle, poly fill (that is how is called, right?) or fluffy pillow stuff, a piece of fabric cut in a 5" diameter circle and some ribbon (enough to cover around the jar lid).


Make a knot at the end of your thread and needle so it does not come off the fabric. Take needle and tread and sew around your fabric circle over the edge, DO NOT finish off. Use a simple stitch because you will be pulling the thread to close the circle. While you do this your glue gun should be getting hot and ready to use.


Place the handful of fluffy pillow stuffing in the middle of your fabric and gather by pulling your thread with the needle.



Use you hand to squish the fabric and stuffing to give it some shape and to continue sewing around.


Secure with a knot, and finish off. Cut your thread and the top of your pincushion should look like this.


This is how you will place the pincushion over the jar lid (please ignore that pink thread coming out from under the lid).


With your glue gun ready, pour enough glue on top of the lid. Be careful because the lid gets hot (I know, my poor glue gun looks disgusting. I will get a new one, I promise)


Immediately after you put some glue on your lid, place the pincushion on top (stitched part down)and press firmly to glue it to the lid. Keep pressing until the hot glue has cooled down and the pincushion stays on there neatly.


This is how the jar and lid should look after gluing the pincushion part.


To conceal the messy part of the pincushion and lid, we are going to glue some ribbon around the lid. Use a wide enough ribbon so it covers part of the lid and part of the pincushion edge too. Work this part little by little to make a neat finish and be careful with the hot glue.



Glue all the way around the lid, secure and cut the excess ribbon.


Voilà! Our pincushion is finished :)


I hope you enjoy this tutorial. If you have any questions or there are some typing mistakes, please let me know.
Thanks for stopping by!

114 comments:

Jenn said...

This is ADORABLE! Thanks for the tutorial

Anonymous said...

omg, i love it!! the ribbon you used is so adorable! i might have to make one of these!

Lisa Pidgeon said...

clever - now i know what to do with all to with all those little jars i have stashed in my pantry!

Michele Reed said...

Just so stinkin' cute!! I wish I had kept some baby food jars...my littlest one hasn't had jar food in years and years though...sigh. (Sad, on both accounts, the fact that he is so big, and that I don't have jars!) Great tutorial!
Michele
LittleRedCottage.etsy.com

Unknown said...

I knew I was saving my baby food jars for something. This is so cute. Thanks for putting the tutorial together. I just got my ballerina stamp and LOVE it.

Anonymous said...

Woah that is crazy cute!!

Karin said...

Thanks so much for this tutorial!!

Ruth said...

Thanks for this - this is definitely the next craft project for my two children - they have each have a tray of 'sewing' work in progress, with lots of loose pins on it, so they will love this!

Apryl said...

adorable.. love the ribbon its very sweet.

Geisslein said...

Thats so great! Thank you so much for this turtorial!!!

Anonymous said...

That looks so much more involved than I would have thought! Great tutorial, thanks!

Anonymous said...

GREAT tutorial! I'm going to make one when I get home tonight. :)

Cessan said...

What a great and easy tutorial!Thank so much!

Anonymous said...

what a fab idea and a lovely pin cushion thank you so much for the tute!!

Anonymous said...

This is the most wonderful thing I've see all day. Thanks!

the 6 o'clock stitch said...

Great way to repurpose! I've thrown away more of those jars than I care to count! Feel free to share a tutorial at Make & Tell Monday! Here's the link to this week's post.

http://the6oclockstitch.blogspot.com/2009/03/etsy-deals-and-craft-tutorial-party.html

Jump in every week if you like!

Tami (Pixeltrash) said...

I love your blog so I've given you an award! It is the 3rd entry on my blog.

Anonymous said...

It's so pretty...well done!

Silvia LGD (Little Green Doll) said...

Very nice! and it seems so easy to do!

Emily said...

Love this! I have a ton of jars on my desk from my 6 month old. Now I know what to do with them all.
Thanks.

Claudia said...

I just LOVE this idea!! And your tutorial is perfect! Can´t wait to do one for myself!!
Thanks a lot!

Babs said...

Thank you for this tutorial. I just happen to have a little grandson who may be able to share some of his jars with grandma - yay!

rachel johnson said...

Adorable tutorial. I shared a link to it on the Swap-bot blog today (http://blog.swap-bot.com/). xoxo

Bette's Bags said...

Honestly the cutest thing I've seen in a while. Thanks for sharing!

CocoJ126 said...

Super cute and extra handy...I have been wanting to make a pin cushion and saw this on Whip Up today! ! !

I am posting it on twitter...and will blog it too after I make one.

Thank you so much!

Corrie
http://twitter.com/CoCoJ126
http://cocojdesigns.blogspot.com/

by - lish said...

I came via Sparklethot's blog. Thank you for sharing such a useful craft! And your glue gun def looks better than mine. hahaha.

Anonymous said...

Complimenti il tuo tutorial è davvero molto bello.
Ho fatto un post nel mio blog proprio su di lui.
ciao
Moni

Anonymous said...

I'm so going to make this =) Right now the only baby jar I've is being used to put some buttons =) Double task is amazing ^^

Unknown said...

So cute! I will be using this for sure!

Anonymous said...

thank you for a great tutorial!
here is what i made. still needs to improve but i like the result.

http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/ViewEntry.asp?EntryId=1432937

Regiane Artesanatos said...

Hello, my name is Regiane and I'm from Brazil. This tutorial is fabulous, thank you so much!!! (sorry, I don't speak english very well....)

Celia said...

Wow! This is fun!

Anonymous said...

That is so cute!! I just had a baby last month and when she starts chowing on baby food, I know what I am doing with the jars! Thanks for a great tutorial!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Aww! This is so cute! I would love to photo link to it if you didn't mind.

Katie said...

EEEEEEK!!! I am SO doing that!!!

I have a zillion jars, so I know that these will make great gifts too. SO adorable, and now I have a reason to showcase my vintage buttons. Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

Very cute! fiber fill also tends to dull needles so I go the hardware store and get steel wool pads and use those to stuff it with some fiber fill in the center to round it out. It does keep them sharp.

Snicky Peppermint said...

I did this exact how to on cut out and keep a while ago and on craftster. your pictures are cute though..

Anonymous said...

thanks for the great tutorial, we are linking to it from our greek crafts site - http://www.ftiaxto.gr/content/view/620/57/
:-)

Karin said...

Just wanted to let you know that I blogged about your tutorial today, I hope you don't mind. Thanks again!

APO (Bem-Trapilho) said...

lovely!!!

Anita said...

Oh my, this is so wonderful, thank you so much for sharing! I will try it out immediately when I get home tonight!

Best wishes, Anita

Sónia said...

What a great idea!! The jar is adorable! Thanks a lot for the tutorial. I will try to do it at home, for sure.

Lovely blog and amazing crafts! Congratulations!!

Becky said...

I made my own version following your tutorial. You can see my project here:
http://daturarose.blogspot.com/2009/03/baby-food-jar-pincushion.html

Mina said...

It´s the cutest pincushion I´ve ever seen!!! Thanks for the easy to understand tutorial!!!

Jessica Lonard (The Crafty Librarian) said...

Adorable. I don't have a baby but I'm more than committed to the cause and will eat some stewed apples :o) Such a hardship!

SewDelish said...

Very sweet. Love it!

dapan said...

thanks for the great tutorial!
! i made my own.
http://idapan.blogspot.com/2009/03/pincushion_20.html

RedFenyx said...

So cute and sweet!
Thanks for sharing this tutorial!
Have a lovely day,
RF

Anonymous said...

oh! great! :) so cute work...
I'll make one too...

Anonymous said...

this is so very very cute! i saw your blog on a Flickr! discussion and I'm glad I dropped by.

imri said...

hi thanks for the great tutorial i use it for a swap! tanks!!!
http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/ViewEntry.asp?EntryId=1440488

jasminduft said...

I love your pincushion! Great tutorial! Thanks a lot for sharing!

MooBear Designs said...

Awww fantastic!! I found you through CO&K. I would love to make one of these with my daughter and add it to my blog and link it to you of course!!! http://createsomethingnewtoday.blogspot.com

Heather said...

I got this link from One Crafty place. WOW, how sweet!!! I will be making a few of these as gifts! Thanks for sharing! ;-)

craft said...

nice.. thanks for your tutorial..

la chipie said...

génial !!!!

Nubia Patchwork said...

Muito bem explicado os paps..ja vou correr fazer meu alfineiteiro..lindo amei.Vou levar o seu link para por no meu blo e se quiser fazer uma visitinha, seja bem vinda..o endereço NUBIAPATCHWORK.BLOGSPOT.COM

Egecriealine said...

Wonderfull tutorial !!!

Sonia said...

hello, i loved your blog and your idea.I'll make one too for me.
kiss

Sonia

Gingham Skies said...

Love this tutorial! Will definitely be making one and posting on my blog. Thanks for sharing!

Carly said...

I had such fun making these! I hope to put a pic of mine up on my blog and link to your tutorial. Thanks so much!

Cristina Freitas said...

Thanks so much for this tutorial!
You can see my pincushion project here:
http://crisminiaturas.blogspot.com/2009/05/alfineteiro.html

JustPouch said...

I love this tutorial.
Ang I've made mine..
You can see it in http://crossstitchfan.multiply.com/photos/album/4
Thank you for sharing your creativity to us.

Christina Lowry said...

So cute! I have finally made one...
http://alittlebirdtoldme-craft.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-creative-space_21.html
Thank you! :)

Unknown said...

Wauw, thanks for this special tuterial of the pincushion! I will make myself such a beautiful cushion and I will put it on my blog with a link to yours. Lovely blog do you have!
Many regards,Raquel

Bentley Boutique said...

Adorable! I'm past the baby food stage, but I think I can find some small pimento jars:)

Linda said...

Hello, i referred your tutorial on my blog. You can see them on:
come riciclare i vasetti degli omogenizzati

I hope you like it.
Hello, linda

Gina Lucia said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial, it has been put to good use!

Tina said...

I found your tutorial when looking around for ideas for crafting with baby food jar as I have a little one and a few jars that I didn't want to throw away thinking that they would be useful one day. Thank you ever so much for this cute tutorial and excellent idea!! x

Julie said...

I am going to go home and see if I still have any baby food jars to make them from, if not next time I go to the store I will be picking one up just for this project. My craft swap partner is in for a pincushioney surprise! Thanks!

The Glass Hen said...

I made one of my own for a buddy of mine and I am linking to your site as well. Thanks!

ShellyH said...

too dang cute! We have a 4 month old grandbaby and I was looking for simple craft ideas to use up all of those empty baby food jars! Fantastic idea!

Marta said...

Hello, I write from Spain and this pincushion is very very nice and original. Thank you very much for your tutorial. It´s a very good idea to re use the empty baby food jars. Thank you very much and regards from Spain

eva said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NorppaStiina said...

I´ve linked this tutorial in my blog. I just love your blog!

Unknown said...

how nice!!!

Unknown said...

Just the other week, I bought a small jar of baby food so that I could use the jar for some loose buttons. I was surfing the net for pincushions when I came across your tutorial. Now I know how to add to the jar and make it more funtional! They would make cute gifts too! Thanks for the tutorial! Merry Christmas!

Tiffany said...

Where did you get those wooden buttons? I loveeee them and would love to get some for myself!! :)

(email me if you can help - fortheloveofartandthemaking at gmail dot com)

fezik82 said...

I can not wait to make this! Thank you so much for posting it!

Unknown said...

This is TOO CUTE for words!! I might have to make some for a few people! <3

Unknown said...

hi !!! those are adorable ! i love them ! do you have something is look like cupcakes , i have the jar but i would like to decorate like a cupcake , do you have any ideas or suggetions . thanks.

heklica said...

I've made a button jar following your tutorial and put a link to it on my blog. (http://mishascrochet.blogspot.com/2010/02/teglica-za-dugmad-button-jar.html) Thanks for sharing it. I love what you're doing and look forward to many more beauties from you :)

Anonymous said...

That has to be right up there at the top of the list of the cutest things I ever saw! What a fabulous idea and a great way to recycle.

Re said...

Hello!
I´m brazilian, I love your blog!
This tutorial is amazing, thanks for posting it!
Kisses!

Erika said...

This is fantastic, thanks so much!!!:o)

sabry said...

I love your blog. this tutorial is adorable!

Amy said...

Thank you so much for posting this! I was easily able to follow and make myself my own darling pincushion/button jar!
Amy

Ann said...

Love this tutorial - such a cute project. I made one for my niece who has just started to sew and she loved it. Thanks for the inspiration.

Jodi Ann! said...

Thanks so much! I linked to your site last night.

Anonymous said...

Super cute - I have to try this! Jen xxx

Katie said...

How darn cute! I am going to have to make a few of these!

Millie Green said...

I wanted to tell you I love this tutorial. I made one of these for myself some time ago, and I love it so much that I used a small orphaned quilt block to make another as a gift for a niece just starting to sew. I also just linked to this from my newborn blog, Sewing and Growing
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to make this tutorial!

free-dom-777 said...

cool idea!

Froggy said...

Deadly! Thanx a lot for sharing!!!

Mariama said...

Hi! Thanks a lot for this. I've made one and put a link to your page on my blog.

Rosie Blog said...

Thank you what a great idea, you have inspired me to share some ideas I have and when complete I will send you a link. I am going to make several of these for all my fancy buttons!!

Nettali said...

Большое спасибо! Классный мастер-класс!)))

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free reverse telephone lookup said...

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Iris said...

Beautiful!!! Thank you!

elegraph said...

Great tutorial - thank you!! The jar is just perfect to keep my zipper foot stored but handy! :-) Now I just need my hubby to finish up his business call in the home office so I can sneak in there and get some more glue sticks to glue the ribbon on.

An Apel a Day said...

That's fun! Thanks for the tip!

I used ours to take to school. I'm a college art teacher. The students loved them for Color and Design Theory! It wasn't as cute of an idea as yours, but as practical as your use.

Lynz said...

Thank you!! This is just what I was after and I've been making my own version - Christmas presents, I hope!!

Coupon Codes said...

Nice information about tutorial - baby food jar pincushion,

today i will prepare this jar and i will present to my relative childrens

zombieduckv2 said...

I just found this today, and I had to go out as soon as I found it to get stuffing to make one!

It's a wonderful tutorial, thank you so much for posting it! :)

generic elavil said...

for making this art is really grate and tutorial is also good..

Craftybear said...

cute pincushion tutorial and I have saved it to my blog, as I love to surf and find cool tutorials

jenspire said...

This is a great idea. I put my own spin on it and just gathered the ends and tied with thread instead of sewing it. I also didn't have fabric or polyfil, so I used an old sheet of my daughter's and the polyfil from an old stuffed animal.

Unknown said...

Thanx so much! I'm gonna try it out today:)

Catherine said...

I shared this on my blog today - thanks for the great idea!

radicalcrafts.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

THANK YOU! This is DARLING! My scout troop is learning to sew and this is the perfect project for them!

KnitNat said...

I love this idea. Thanks for sharing it. I linked it on my blog knitnatak.blogspot.com.

Unknown said...

Hi! Cute idea ~ I linked to it from my blog: http://whittskitsfabricscrafts.blogspot.com/

Rohini said...

This is such a great idea - Thank you! I'm just heating up my glue gun to do some sticking. I'm going to use the jar to stow the pins when I have to tote my sewing around.