Romantic pincushion in a tin

This is an easy no-sew, no-glue pincushion for keeping needles and pins or displaying a vintage hat pin collection. A simple tin gets a romantic transformation with some lace, tulle and bling jewellery.




Materials and tools needed for the project: scissors, small empty tin, fabric and tulle scraps, ribbons, filling, vintage jewellery pieces or beads, rhinestones, etc.




Making process:

1. Cut a round piece of fabric with a diameter at least twice the size of the tin. (I used lace and a second thicker fabric underneath.)
2. Put some filling in the middle of the fabric, gather the edges and tie with a ribbon or thread. Tuck it into the tin with the tied side downwards.
3. Cut a round piece of tulle and put the tin in the middle of this piece. Gather the edges and put a ribbon around it. Arrange the tulle or cut the edges smoother, if necessary.
4. Stick some bling jewellery pieces into the ribbon knot. Voilà!

Traditional style colourwork mittens

These mittens were made during the coldest time of the winter, which means too late. I was hoping to take some nice snowy pictures of them, but it's raining instead.




The main stitch pattern is from the recently published book of Estonian mittens from the collections of Estonian National Museum. There are more than 300 examples of old mittens in the book, accompanied by colourwork patterns (stitch patterns only, no full instructions).
Mittens with this particular pattern found their way into the museum in 1920.




These thumbs are not traditional, but have a gusset like fingered gloves. I think they are more comfortable and easier to make. I wanted to use these yarns, although the brown and dark grey stripes should have more contrast. Colours from the wider stripes in just a slightly lighter shade would probably work best for this pattern.




This kind of zigzag wrist section is also quite traditional and widely used. The mittens are incredibly warm because of the stranded colourwork. Don't think I've had a pair since childhood, had completely forgotten about that. Next winter, used they will be.

Shades of ice

It's the coldest month of the year, offering a chance to admire breathteaking ice and snow formations. Time to wear warm wool and use crystals to brighten up the slowly lengthening days.