Galentine, Palentine, Valentine's Day
These make a great gifts for travellers. I've spent many solo hours writing, stitching and people-watching in cafés around the world. The idea of using a heart as a Pin Cushion is kind of funny ironic - no?
AND Yes & I said it.
And I'm laughing. Ha Ha.
Slow Stitching
I began stitching as a way to transition from a fast-paced day into a slowed-down evening, placing my devices aside as another cue for my mind and body to know it was time to create a calm evening bubble before heading upstairs to bed.
$20.00
1.2 mm OEKO-TEX®Certified Red Wool Felt
wide-eyed needle & wool thread
heart template
red elastic
velcro
video
V
In the video below, you'll learn 3 stitches, the Running Stitch (which I used making the reusable tea bags here. You'll also learn how to make French Knots and do the Blanket Stitch.
After posting, I secured mine to the top of a heart-shaped tin (the closest to mine I found here OR a less expensive version in wood is here) or go on an Artist's Date with yourself to find a reasonable facsimile if you don't already have a small sewing box to take travelling. The heart's, when finished, are about 2.75"x2.75"x1.5". I included a red elastic and velcro to attach it to a wristband or the inside lid of a tin/box.
Fillers
I used scraps to stuff it and cut the pieces into roughly 1/4" x 1/4" smaller bits and packed the pouch, created by blanket stitching the two hearts together rather tightly, pushing the felt bits as deep into the top and both sides as I could, before sewing the last 2" up along the edge.
I used felt to stuff this pin cushion but you could use anything you have at hand. There are many options - just make sure what you use is dry.
The first small cushion I made when I was ten. It was stuffed with tear-soaked tissues, I'd bawled my eyes out into after WeatherWax, my rabbit, died.
I came to at the end of the day ... lying on my bedspread with an empty packet of kleenex strewn about in crumpled balls around me. A bowl of soup was left outside my door when I decided I'd hide myself away a little longer and sew a soggy secret cushion for my red-headed Barbie in a stretchy black & white striped bathing suit lying next to me ... as I cried another river.
From my 3rd floor bedroom window I watched my father bury my bunny.
He didn't know I watched him kneeling beside the box I'd bundled my bunny in as he dug a hole under the dogwood tree. He paused before lowering him down and covering him up.
I appreciated that he chose just beneath my window. WeatherWax was one of 5 rescued bunnies our Scout Leader had brought to Brownies 2 weeks before. Mine was the only survivor. I couldn't go to Brownies that Wednesday. Mom let them know.
I eventually stopped crying and my cushion dried and it was eventually tossed into the cardboard box that was Barbie's house.
Saw dust is a traditional filler. Sand and finely ground walnut shells keep pins & needles sharp.
FUN FACTS about Fabric Frequencies
According to Tachyon Energy, Wool has an extremely high frequency. Linen does as well. Both are rated at 5,000 but drop to 0 if worn together! Silk and Cotton not so high (unless it's Organic Cotton, but then it's only rated 100). But the human body's frequency is around 100 so there's always that ... and so we want to cover ourselves in fabrics that resonate at higher frequencies to not have them pull energy from us if we're to procure their healing properties. Here's a link to a study measuring fabric frequencies, and another on the healing powers of linen and wool.Pin Cushion Sachets
The next little cushions sewn were sachets kept close at hand and worn on my wrist ... filled one with garden-grown lavender & rose petals ... I use dried garden herbs (rosemary, sage & citrus leaves & peels. They sit in my night table drawer and perfume where I slow stitch myself to sleep at night.