Felt Cupcake Pincushion Tutorial: Two Delicious Options

I think I was really lucky because after I got married because my mom gave me ALL of her sewing stuff including her sewing machine. It was so nice to have everything from the get-go and even nicer to not have to pay for it all myself.

One of the things in my hand-me-down pack of treasures was the classic tomato pincushion.

You know the one I am talking about.

I remember playing with this particular pincushion as a child. I don't know why kids get so much enjoyment out of playing with pins but I know I loved it. Now I have kiddos of my own and they surely enjoy playing with them, too. Well I decided to upgrade my pincushion. Mostly because I already had the supplies so it would be FREE for me.

Yeah, I'm cheap like that.

Since I was upgrading I decided it needed to be something cute. Delicious even.

So I made myself a yummy cupcake pincushion and it turned out so cute but as I admired my creation I realized there was an even easier way to do it. So... I am going to show you both ways and you can decide which option works for you.

You will need:
2 sheets of felt in the same or coordinating colors

and

about a 8"x12" rectangle of fabric and about 8"x12" of quilt batting
or
about a 5"x12" rectangle of knit fabric

hot glue gun
sewing machine or needle and thread
and pins of course

Option 1: Fabric and Batting 
Cut strips from your two pieces of felt about 1/2"-3/4" lengthwise

Cut each of your felt pieces in half lengthwise and use your iron to press them in half.

Take two pieces of your felt (I used a dark brown and a light brown) and lay them on top of each other with just a small amount of the bottom fabric showing.

Beginning at one end roll your fabric tightly. Roll it to create a cone shape. You can tap the top or the bottom of the cone to adjust it. Here is how mine looked.

Add your second pieces of felt. Use a small dot of hot glue to secure it.

Continue to wrap until you have your cupcake top.

Turn your "cupcake" over and trim the excess off.

Now you need to create your liner. Using your "cupcake" as a guide, trace a circle about 1/2" bigger then the bottom. Cut the circle out and cut a matching circle from the batting. Use a basting stitch to secure the batting to the fabric.

Take the rest of your fabric and cut a rectangle. You want it to be able to wrap all the way around the cupcake with about 1" overlap. You also want it to be about 1/2" longer.

Match the fabric up with the batting and cut a matching rectangle. Using a sewing machine stitch lines about 1/4"-1/2" apart. This will create that ribbed look of a cupcake liner. Trim off any excess.

Press one long side of your rectangle over about 1/2" and one short side over 1/2". Wrap it around your cupcake. Mark with pins or disappearing ink where the liner needs to be sewn together.

Remove it from the cupcake and pin.

Turn the cuff you made inside-out and match right sides together with your circle piece. Stitch together and turn right side out.

Pull your liner onto your cupcake (this is when it occurred to me that using a stretchy fabric for the liner would be way easier)

Now find those two skinny strips of felt you cut earlier. Glue the ends on top of one another and glue it to the "cupcake" right above the liner.

Twist them and wrap it around your cupcake. Use hot glue in a few places to secure it in place. Trim off any extra and glue the end down. Place your sprinkle pins in it. DO NOT EAT :)

While I was taking pictures my 4-year-old came in and said, "Mom, that looks like a yummy cupcake." He picked it up and pulled the pins out. "COOL! The pins look like big sprinkles!"

pause pause pause

"Can I eat it?"

Nothing like a little guys comments to make you feel like you did your job.

Option 2: Stretchy Knit Fabric

I created my cupcake top the same way.

This time I used a piece of brown ribbed stretch knit. I rolled it to see how long I needed it. I also cut it to be about an inch wider than the cupcake.

I sewed the two short sides together to create a cuff. I then used a gathering stitch to gather one long side. After I had it gathered as tight as I wanted I ran a tighter stitch over my gathers to hold it tightly together.

Trim and turn right side out. Pull it onto your "cupcake".

Use the same technique to create the frosting edge by taking two skinny pieces and twisting them. This one was much easier. It took maybe 10 minutes.

I think it turned out so cute!

You can see that they are two different sizes. It just depended on how tight I wrapped them and how tall I made the cone shape.

 Yummy and oh-so-cute.

These would also be darling for a cupcake themed room or for play food.

What about you guys? Did you have to buy all your sewing supplies or do you not sew because of how expensive it would be to start up?

I am really grateful for all my mom's stuff. Having it in my home is actually the reason I became interested in sewing. Thanks mom!

Oh and Happy St. Patrick's Day. Yes, I know my post has nothing to do with it but myself and all my kiddos are currently in green but more importantly today is the first day of March Madness! Yep, we are one of "those" families.