BENGALURU: Often I wonder what our lives would be without plastic. Is it possible to eliminate it from our lives for good?
So this week I decided to put the used sticky wrap to use, by using it as stuffing for a felt pin cushion.
■ What you need as basics is of course used sticky wrapping plastic, and a piece of felt. Among the other materials you need are a pair of scissors, a needle, embroidery skeins of - the felt sheet colour, decorative fabric rolls - or saree borders that are easily available, a ruler and any embellishments like cloth flowers or sequins
■ Take a decorative roll, and stitch up one end of it to the rear one of the felt pieces.
■ You will need to use a hemming stitch, and preferably thread that matches the edge of your ribbon or roll. After securing the ribbon on the rear of the felt pieces, hem the roll on to the front and finish it by stitching it into the felt on the other end.
■ Once this gets done, it is about choosing betweeen adding more embellishments to decorate, or leave the beautiful design to shine through.
■ The next step is to knot the embroidery skein’s piece at one end. Pick a colour that would work as an accented bit to match the ribbon design. Use all the six strands on the embroidery skein for the stitching.
■ After this, it is about how good you are with the stitching of edges, using the button stitch. You will need to use the button stitch on three sides to form a pouch.
■ The next step, is to fill this pouch. Roll the sticky roll on to your fingers and make mini-lemon sized balls that you can stuff in. Be gentle when you fill, and look for gaps. If you do not have sticky wrap, leftover plastic bags can be used.
■ After filling the pouch, seal the fourth side with another round of button stitch and close with a neat knot. Your felt pin cushion is ready.
■ Use this to fix ball pins on your desk, or when you want to stitch, as a needle rest. You can also use it as a doll house floor cushion, or simply as a pillow for child’s doll.
(www.imprintshandmade.com)