The Traveling Pincushion

"Necessity is the mother of invention".

Anyone who takes their sewing gear from one location to another has encountered the problem of securing their pins. Pin cushions just don't work for travel because pins inevitably fall out. If they are in a box, they are difficult to pick up and use.

The instructor of the Felted Wool jacket class, Barbara Skimin, had this most simple, but perfect solution to the traveling pin dilemma. It's one of those "why didn't I think of that" things.

This traveling pincushion is not pretty, although I suppose one could dress it up. But--it works. It starts with a pill bottle. Just your normal size pill bottle, about 2 1/2" high and 1" in diameter. Any size will work, but this is what I had in my medicine cabinet. You also need a piece of wool felt, 4" x 12".

Fold the wool felt in half, lengthwise so it is 2 1/2" by 12" and roll it up tightly, like a jelly-roll.

Stuff that roll into the pill bottle with the folded edge on top.

Stick your pins into the felt, pushing them all the way down, and put the cap on the bottle.

This took maybe 2 minutes. My bottle is now filled with pins and ready to go. The pins are secure but I can still get to them easily.

I will be posting a pictorial of the "seamless piecing" technique that I learned. It's quite ingenious and something I had never seen.