DIY Apple & Pear Pincushions

Sew Your Own Pincushion With These Free Patterns! | Apple & Pear Pin cushions free Tutorial.

Print off the template after enlarging / reducing it to the size you desire. Trace around the template onto six fabric scraps and cut them out, leaving a small seam allowance. Make sure that you keep the fabric pieces all facing the same way up, with the wider end being towards the top. Putting the right sides of the fabric together, sew piece 1 and 2 together along the one edge. Then sew a piece 3 onto the unsewn edge of piece 2 (right sides together again).

If you turn it right sides out it will look like half a sphere:

Repeat this with pieces 4, 5 and 6, so you have 2 half spheres.

To make the stalk, cut out a narrow strip of brown felt and roll it up tightly, sewing it closed with small stitches to prevent it from unrolling. I leave a small part at the base of the stalk unsewn, to make it easier to sew this to the main part of the apple.

Sew the felt stalk onto the wider end of one of the half spheres, leaving a long loose thread trailing out the bottom. Sew the two half spheres together, leaving a small gap by the base on the final side for turning. Turn the apple right side out through the gap, then stuff. Make sure the loose thread from the stalk is still trailing out the bottom of the apple. Hand sew the gap closed, then pull of the loose thread to create an indent in the sphere (so that it looks apple shaped) and attach the loose thread to the base once you have it at the tension you desire. I then like to sew a tiny scrap of felt onto the bottom to resemble the bit on the bottom of an apple and to also cover up all of the knotted off threads. Voila.

Clear as mud?

PS. This is a very forgiving shape as it often appears more realistic if the end result is a bit on the wonky side...

So, here's the pear pincushion tutorial: it's made in exactly the same way as the apple pincushion  except that you omit the part about creating an indent in the top. The template for the pear:

Now, the apple is a more forgiving shape, as it appears more realistic if it's a little uneven. The above template was just quickly hand drawn with a dying pen around the paper template I had made to make my pear. I think that the pear turns out best when the template is symetrical, so it may be best to fold the template in half and trim off any uneven bits, so that both halves are the same - and then be careful to follow the lines when sewing it up.