How to Make Cushiony Valentines for All Your Crafty Friends

January 30th, 2009 in sewing, patterns & designs, gifts, quilting     

You can never have too many pin cushions. And these will make every crafter say, “Be Mine.” I made one from an old cookie cutter and the other from a tired dish towel, and here’s how I did it.

The Cookie Cutter Valentine

To make this version you'll need: a heart-shaped cookie cutter that’s about an inch deep; a scrap of fabric 6 inches square; some quilt batting (I used a new batting from Quilters Dream called Dream Green that's made from recycled plastic bottles, so this whole project really is eco-friendly); some stiff, firm fabric to make a base; a piece of ribbon or trim; and some fabric adhesive.

You need a cookie cutter, some fabric, some batting, and some ribbon.

1. Cut the batting into heart shapes, tracing the inside of the cookie cutter for a pattern. Make a stack of batting hearts that’s about 1/2 inch taller than the cookie cutter.

2. Cover the batting stack with the fabric. Place the fabric on the bias so it’s more flexible and fits snugly over the batting. Push it all through the cookie cutter until it extends about 3/4 inch over the top.

Cover a stack of batting hearts with fabric placed on the bias and shove it through the cookie cutter.

3. Cut another heart from the firm fabric that’s slightly larger than the batting hearts. Make a little clip at the V at the top.

Cut a heart from a piece of firm fabric that's slightly larger than the cookie cutter, and make a clip at the V so it will easily fit inside to form a base.

4. Turn the pin cushion over and fold the fabric, trimming if necessary, to cover the bottom.

Fold the fabric over the batting at the bottom.

5. Spread some fabric adhesive on the wrong side of the base fabric heart and press it down inside the cookie cutter, adhering it to the folded fabric and the cutter’s inside edges.

Glue the fabric base to the bottom to hold it all in place.

6. Glue the ribbon to the outside edge of the cookie cutter.

Glue some ribbon around the outside edge of the cookie cutter.

The Dish Towel Valentine

To make this one you'll need: some fabric; some batting (I used another eco-friendly batting from Fairfield Processing that’s made from bamboo); and a pinking shear or pinking blade for your rotary cutter. If you don’t just happen to have a cute used dish towel with hearts on it, you can use any fabric—or use that cookie cutter to cut an appliqué and stitch it on some plain fabric.

This dish towel has some worn spots, but it can be recycled into some cute little Valentines.

You’ll need two squares pinked around the outer edges.

Cut two fabric squares using a pinking blade.

Cut a stack of batting to fit inside the squares like a pillow in a sham. Center and sandwich the batting between the fabric squares, and stitch about 1/2 inch away from the outer edges.

Center and stack some batting between the fabric squares, and sew 1/2 inch from the edge to hold the batting in place.

That’s it!

  posted in: sewing, patterns & designs, gifts, quilting, fabric, card, valentine, red