Stick a pin in him cause he is done...

As promised I'm delivering a fast, cute and easy hand sewn pin cushion. He is really cute and I think I'm now addicted to felt and pin cushions because I have a ton of ideas for then now :) Without further ado I give you my Voodoo doll pin cushion:

He is made from plain old craft felt that you get in packs of 12 colorful sheets that are 8X11" I believe. An added bonus is that the brand I got is made from 100% post consumer recycled bottles. So not only is he cute and functional he is also environmentally conscious. Other materials you will need are heavy thread like crochet thread, a small amount of embroidery floss (optional) paper for a template and some stuffing of your choice. The thread I used is recycled from my cat's food bags. They are sewn shut with this red thread. I have been saving it for a while figuring I could use it eventually.

So to start off you need to make your template. I'm possibly going to be adding one here but if not free hand it or find a gingerbread man shape and print one out. It needs to fit onto a piece of felt folded in half. Trace it onto your felt with a sharpie. Be sure you aren't wasting felt you can use the scrap for other projects later.

Now you need to cut it out but to make it easier pin it first. This will keep the two sides from shifting causing unevenness in your cuts. Pin inside the lines like you would if sewing so that you don't have to re-pin later. Now cut it out using good sharp scissors. Cut on the inside of the marker line so it disappears.

Here is a shot of the thread I used.

Before you start sewing you need to put his face on him. I used plain black embroidery floss and sewed on x's for eyes and a stitched up mouth. You can get creative with the face if you want. I thought about google eyes and other embellishments or drawing the face on with markers but to me a voodoo doll is supposed to look primitive. With that in mind I went with simple stitching.

Once you have the face on you need to start sewing him up. I dunno if the stitch I used has a name or not but I did it that way to keep up the primitive look. As long as he is together and the stuffing is in no danger of falling out stitch it what ever way you like. Leave a small opening for stuffing. Fill him up pretty well. The sturdier he is the better he is gonna hold onto pins. Once you have him full stitch him up and clean up your threads. Now viola you have a voodoo doll pin cushion.






Here is the template. Print it with the dimensions 8 inches tall and 5.5 inches wide.