The Eleanor of Craft Projects

Do you have one of those? 

Or lots, maybe?

Do you have any clue what I'm talking about when I say 'the Eleanor of craft projects?'

Okay, well, then I guess we better start with that...Gone in 60 Seconds.  One of my favorite movies EVER.  Watch it.  Then you will get the Eleanor thing.  And, not only that, but you will also get to listen to some BEAUTIFUL engines roar and have the pleasure of Nick Cage and Angelina Jolie (my personal girl crush), just say'n.

Anyway, an Eleanor is like the 'unicorn' - it's the one that always gets away.  It's a challenge that is intimidating.

For me, a standard, traditional looking pin cushion was an Eleanor kind of project.  I was afraid of them.  I have NO idea why, but it just seemed like something that I would be monumentally good at screwing up.  SO...what did I do?

I decided to go ahead and MAKE ONE! 



How else is one supposed to get over one's fears if one does not, indeed, grab them by the metaphorical horns....or horn...in this case.  Just say'n.

So, this is what I did...I chose two super cute squares of fabric from a Moda layer cake that I had on hand, traced a plate in the middle of them and then sewed that circle. All the way around. Yup. Sewed it shut. The Hubbums saw me do this and was confused to say the least.

The good news is that this was, indeed, NOT a mistake. I had actually seen a tutorial in Art Doll Quarterly for a cute pin cushion doll and decided to use those basic instructions to create my pin cushion sans doll. (And yes, for those wondering, now that I have mastered the cushion part, I totally want to try the whole doll thing, but that's a project for a later date.) So, I sewed the circle all the way around by hand, because sewing machines and I don't get along at ALL, but you could use a machine and do it in no time at all! Then I cut around the stitches so I had a circle in my hand. Then, I carefully separated the two layers and cut a criss-cross in the bottom layer. I pulled the whole thing outside in (as I had sewn it inside out, of course) and then stuffed the living daylights out of it. Then I patched a piece of fabric over the little hole, stitched embroidery floss in the appropriate formation to look like a pin cushion and added adorable vintage buttons to the top and bottom! Really! It was that simple! And now I love it!!!!





And it came out pretty darned cute, if I do say so, myself! So, now with this I urge you to go forth and CREATE! Tackle you own Eleanor! You CAN do it!

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