Sewing Machine Pincushion

a what?  Why would I want a sewing machine pincushion?

After all, I have a lovely, lovely pincushion that I received in my goodie bag at one our our Arizona Retreats.  I used to use the bottom half of a travel soap dish (the top half having sprouted legs and walked away).  I didn't realize how much a pincushion was *useful* until I got this one!  So, thank you, Arizona Hostesses!

I also have a small Cathedral Window pincushion that I occassionally used.  I made this one to practice making a hand-pieced Cathedral Window square using a sample of a machine embroidery design and decided to make a pin cushion out of it.  I don't really use it that much.

Then, I ran across an archived blog for sewing machine pincushions from Kathryn at I Can Find The Tim Blog  ... way back from July 2010.  I don't even remember if she reposted it, if someone ELSE reposted it or if I found it myself  (probably on the way to looking for something else completely!).  But ... Kathryn has come up with the most AMAZING, useful, practical pincushion!

When I'm sewing and I remove pins at the sewing machine, I normally just put the pins, loose, on the bed of the machine.  I know I have to keep track of them but sometimes they do get pushed aside and fall down the slot between the machine and the cabinet.  I find an astounding number of pins on the shelf the machine sits on.  :-)

Having this sewing machine pin cushion *right at the machine*, out of the way, but still in a fixed position completely solves the problem of not having a secure place to put the pins as I remove them from whatever it is that I am sewing.

This is an AMAZING idea!  (I'm flumoxed that I didn't think of this myself!)  I know *exactly* where that pin cushion is; I know it isn't going to move around; I know it isn't going to fall on the floor.

Whereas Kathryn secured her pin cushion with a ribbon tie, I used a wide grosgrain ribbon and Velcro dots.  I had played around with the idea of sewing a small section of elastic to the grosgrain so that I would be able to make *sure* the pin cushion would fit snugly around the machine .. but when it came time to dig out the elastic, I got lazy.  :-)  It turned out that I really didn't need the elastic after all; I'm able to pull the grosgrain ribbon quite snugly and the Velcro dots provide the necessary adjustability.

I liked the idea so much, I made another one for my Janome Gem Gold, which is the machine I take to classes (my Janome 6500, while being a terrific machine, is a *bear* to lug around).

Now, both of the machines that I regularly use have attached (but removable) pincushions!  I'm so pleased!

Kathryn came up with a winner of an idea and I'm so glad that I found her blog entry!   Thank you, Kathryn, for being so imaginative!