CACTUS PINCUSHION TUTORIAL

I am quite a mess taking care of plants, probably because of my lack of knowledge (most of the times I have no idea what kind of plant I'm buying) and also because sometimes I'm lazy and I don't check what a specific plant needs. I have to say that I'm trying to do things better each time, because I really like the presence of plants around... specially while they are alive :) 

But cacti are a different story! They resist! So, I guess that pretty much everyone loves cacti! Plus, they are amazingly pretty!  

I've wanted to make a cactus pincushion for some time now and yesterday I finally did it! I've put together a little how-to in case you want to make your own little cactus! It's super easy and fun, I promise!

Here it goes!

1. First off, print the cactus pincushion template. Use the template to cut 6 pieces of fabric. 

I used a fun fabric from IKEA with big leaves in different shades of green. I decided to cut 3 pieces from the light green and 3 from dark green. I tried to choose the nicest parts of the leaves. 

2. Place a light green piece and a dark green piece with right sides of the fabric together. Pin in place and stitch a 1/4" seam all around.

3. Turn the pocket right side out and repeat the same with the remaining pieces until get 3 fabric pockets.

4. Place the three pockets together and pin them flat. Stitch them together along the middle as shown above. If you find this is gonna be too bulky for your sewing machine, you can always stitch it by hand. But, I had no issue with mine.

5. Stuff with batting each one of the 6 compartments. You may need the help of a screwdriver!

6. Once all the compartments are well stuffed, stitch the bottom aperture. I used an espresso cup to hold my cactus! It wasn't necessary to glue it or anything!

7. Now, choose a fabric for the cactus flower and cut a strip of 1" x 7" approximately. Fold it in half (right sides of the fabric together), press and baste by hand along the raw edge (I used perle cotton). Pull the thread in order to ruffle the fabric. Play with it until you get a nice flower shape!

8. Attach the flower to the cactus top and... TA-DA! Your cute little cactus pincushion is ready!

Happy Monday!

Ingrid