January 13: Handmade pincushions

The handmade pincushion swap started a series of swap projects I'm pretty pleased with. First I made the red & aqua one, great for portable handwork, with an old bottlecap as a base (superb tutorial here). Since it's so small, I wanted to special-fy it by filling it with emery sand instead of synthetic stuffing. So with Sara along, I set out to fabric row, one of my favorite institutions in Philly. Whole blocks of independently owned specialty and general textile stores, most of which have been there for decades, refer patrons to each other when they don't have what you ask for. Maxie's Daughter made us feel like insiders when they escorted us to their basement in search of wool felt (they had brown and navy blue, and have had the bolts for 15 years at least - the only place I asked which had any non-acrylic felt). Fabric Row is a lovely example of how independent businesses build community and encourage civic interaction. And there is so much more variety than at a chain; I just wanted to touch everything!

Still - no emery sand. I resorted to purchasing a strawberry needle sharpener and using the emery from that. The offering looked meager to me, so I whipped up the funny-looking green one, which you wear like a ring on your thumb (ingenious tutorial here).


I packed them up with an extra piece of fabric I thought my partner would like and sent it off to the Netherlands, with a longing to mail myself there as well.