How I made tiny pincushions for a doll's sewing room...

Miniature pincushions for our American Girl doll sewing collection.

       To make the miniature doughnut pincushion cut a circle template using a quarter (coin) and then read the instructions here for the larger version.

       For the miniature ice cream cone pincushion draw around a small juice glass or around the inside circumference of a masking tape dispenser to make a circle template. Cut this circle in half and trace around it on top of a tan piece of felt to make the 'cone' shape of the tiny sweet pincushion. Repeat these same steps but shorten the pink cut-out slightly and set the felt cones end to end, leaving an opening to stuff the doll sized pincushion. Sew the hole shut and decorate the ice cream appropriately. I tacked on a 'swirl' for my soft serve ice cream using a twist of pink yarn sewn around the pink felt. You can see how to decorate a larger version of the same ice cream pincushion here.

       To make the prickly, blooming cactus in a pot, you will need to shape brown felt around a 'planter' for the cactus to be 'planted' in. I cut a tiny square shaped planter from a recycled paper egg-carton. Then I glued the felt about the outside walls of this small shape to cover the surfaces. You may shape the cactus by either sewing a tiny series of tubes from the green felt and then gluing these inside the felt covered planter or you could just roll the felt into long, narrow tubes and then insert these inside the planter. Roll a tiny orange, fringed cactus flower and glue this to the desert plant for color. 

       To make the tiny tomato pincushion for an 18 inch dollhouse sewing room, cut two circles slightly larger than a quarter (coin) of bright red felt. Sew them together around the edges, leaving a 1/2 inch hole to turn the small round inside out and stuff firmly with cotton. Sew the hole shut. Use a needle and thread to work from the outside edges to the center, evenly spaced stitches to create the classic, tufted tomato shape. Then cut from green felt a clever little spiked edged cap to attach to the center. Use a dark green embroidery floss to act as a stem for attaching a tiny strawberry through the center of the tomato. 

       To make the 'fake pins' cut the tips of a inexpensive hair brush off and glue these into the tiny felt pincushions. I also pinned in tiny safety pins as decorative elements too.

Cactus pincushion taken at different angles.

General Supply List For A Handful 
of Doll Sized Pincushions:

• colorful felt craft sheets and/or scraps
• recycled egg carton for planter shape
• embroidery floss
• a clean, new hair brush with plastic tips
• tacky white glue
• needles and threads to match
• tiny safety pins
• pink yarn for the ice cream cone
• cotton balls