Stuck on Pincushions

Pins and needles and pincushions and I go back a long way. I don't like to think of myself as old, but my goodness! ~ I can remember back ~ gasp! at least 36 years ago! I can actually remember back about one more year, but the first memory I have of sewing was when I was 4 years old. Yep, I'm 40 ~ there you have it! I was staying with a babysitter while Mama was working at the hospital I think at that time. The babysitter was also a family relative and I loved going to her house. Anyway, I suppose to keep me occupied, she must have provided me with fabric and needle and thread. When Mama came to pick me up, she asked what I was making and I told her "an apron for Kitty". Now whether or not Kitty was real, I don't recall, but I sure was busy stitching that day. Another time when I was 4 and can remember sewing ~I know my age because I wasn't in Kindergarten yet ~ we were in the woods. Mama loved going for walks in the woods. That particular day, her best friend, Vesta, and Vesta's brother and his wife were with us. I think Daddy was working at the steel mill then. To keep me occupied when we stopped for a break, I had my sewing with me again. I remember losing my needle while sitting in the dirt under a bluff and sifting through the dirt trying to find it. Then all of a sudden I cried, "I found it!" and held up my finger with the needle stuck in it! Thirty-six years later and things haven't changed ~ I don't lose my needle, but I sure do stick my fingers often enough.

For the last few years I've been collecting pincushions as well as making them. I can't resist an old pincushion, the older and dirtier the better. The first two green ones are pincushions that belonged to me when I was a young girl. Obviously I sewed them myself as they are pitiful looking. Beside them is a little plastic container of thread that I used. I recently found these while going through Mama's things.

The next one is a pincushion that was in her attic.

The rest are ones that I've found here and there, yard sales, thrift shops, ebay, online antique shops, etc.

Thankfully, I've gotten better at making pincushions. After submitting make-do pincushions to be judged, I was honored to have been chosen for Early American Life magazine's Directory of Traditional American Crafts for 2006 and 2007. Below (& the very top of this post) are the ones I submitted to EAL.

If you'd like to read more about make-do pincushions, please visit the Sewing Sundries page of my website.

Thanks for checking back to see what's going on here at The Primitive Gathering blog.

Lana of Honeysuckle Lane