Easy Cactus Pin Cushion

This is a quick and easy project.

Makes a great gift.

This is a little lockdown project that doesn’t take long.

You will need

• Felt ( I used a mixed pack of craft felt)
• Small flower pot or mini bucket
• Threads
• Stuffing (can be fabric scraps)
• Glue
• Paper
• Pen
• Basic sewing stuff

Fold the paper and draw a cactus shape, with a little frill, then cut out.

Pin the pattern to your felt and cut out shapes, I chose to cut out 6, but you can do less.

Stitch along one edge joining pieces together, I alternated the shades of green.

Do this until all are joined together. Leave stitching on the outside.

I used a sewing machine, but you can sew this by hand, felt is very easy to stitch.

Take some toy stuffing or fabric scraps and add a little to the top of cactus to give it some body.

Thread a needle with two threads so you have four strands when doubled.

Now stitch through from one side of cactus to opposite side from bottom to top, do not pull tight you are just shaping and providing structure.

Do this for all sides, in my case three lots.

Now carefully add some more stuffing to make cactus nice and firm, use a pencil or something to push it in.

Take your pot or bucket, mine has a drainage hole which I don't need

I cut a small piece of felt, though you could use paper or cardboard.

I then glued this in.

Draw around top of pot to create a pattern for your "soil", cut this out slightly smaller.

Cut out in brown felt or cardboard.

Add the stuffing or fabric scraps to the pot.

Glue felt cover on stuffing.

Note add glue to circle of felt and not to the stuffing, otherwise it gets really messy.

Take some pink and orange felt (or any other colour you fancy).

Cut some flower shapes.

I cut circles and then stitched to make a flower shape. Stitch this to the top of the cactus.

You can also add a few scraps as mini flowers to the edges of cactus.

Make small stitches on the edges, knot these leaving long tufts to look like spikes.

Cut another circle of felt as soil. Stitch base frill to "soil". These can be big stitches and don't need to be pretty.

Apply glue to the soil and stick them together.

Cactus looks pretty good now, but not finished yet it needs something else.

I like to use glass headed or beaded pins to finish it off.