Andrea from Stitcharmony joins me today to review Make Pincushions 12 Darling Projects to Sew.

For my very first review I chose Make Pincushions 12 darling projects to sew. 
Why did I choose this book? Well, I’ve been on Instagram now for just over 6 months and I am loving all the creativity, inspiration and support. If you sew like myself, part of the fun on Instagram is joining creative sewing swaps that are usually hosted by someone you may follow. The short of it is… you create something for someone and in the meantime someone is busy working creating something for you. It could be anything from a mini quilt, to a bag, etc… You get it right? 
If you are in a swap you may also want to create “extras” for your partner to add to your package. Being a sewing swap who wouldn’t need or want a pincushion? So I thought this would be the perfect book for me as I am always looking for fun quick gifts to add. 
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First off, I love ebooks. Don’t get me wrong, I do love books too, but ebooks are instant gratification as you just download and off you go!  No waiting for the truck from Amazon or stalking the delivery person. 
The layout of this book is great. It’s simple and very straight forward. I’m a visual learner so I love the small diagrams and photos that go along with each project. 
I find the book starts with the fairly easier projects then continues on to harder ones. 
The only thing with this ebook is you do need a online printer to print out some of the patterns in the book. So if you don’t have access to one you will not be able to create more than half of the projects in the book. 

I’m a work at home mum, I sew for a living and time is money.  So right off the bat, even though I was attracted to the embroidery projects, I decided to go with two simple ones. Why? Because I love simple quick patterns that have no pattern pieces to be printed, that you can literally just whip up, personalize and make your own. ​
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The two pincushions I chose were the Kaleidoscope pincushion by Jeni Baker AGF designer and the Boxy pincushion by Virginia Linsday of Gingercakes. Both of these projects took less then two hours total to complete, and they probably would have taken less time without interruptions (rare in my world)!

The Kaleidoscope pincushion calls for 18 different coloured 2″ squares. I did not have time to run downstairs to my solid stash and start mulling over colours so I went a different route. I chose my mochi linen dot bundle (magic number 18!) from the Fat Quarter Shop and just like that, an hour later I had my lovely rainbow mochi linen dot Kaleidoscope pincushion! I really enjoyed this pattern, it is so simple and so versatile that you really can make it your own. Maybe a small fun print or some Liberty floral? 

My next pincushion I chose to make was the Boxy Pincushion. This one I decided would possibly be created for the reason I chose the book in the first place…my current swap which has a beloved Heather Ross fabric theme. I decided on her coveted briar rose strawberries and gnome fabric. This was also a super quick make with lovely results. Also very versatile as you can fussy cut the covered button or add a wooden button instead. The possibilities are endless!

This book has some great simple projects for beginners to more experienced ones for the experts. 
It has a plethora of very talented authors with so many different projects that there really is something for everyone – from fabric, to felt, to embroidery. 
There are some very unique ones too where at first I thought, “who would make that?” 
But if you’re like me on Instagram joining all these fun swaps, who knows, you may just join that insect themed swap and just have to make that super cool ant pincushion!!! 

Some lucky swap partners Andrea has! Those adorable handmade pins are perfect for the pincushions too. If you’d like a copy of this book, you can find it here.

Click through the last 3 days (here, here, and here) to see the other sewing books that have been reviewed this week, and check back in tomorrow for the final book this week.