One of the projects I’ve made to use in my new studio, is a cute Liberty clamshell pincushion. It’s the perfect size to sit in the bed of my sewing machine, and carelessly ram pins into as I’m sewing small projects.
I’ve had a clamshell project on my list to make for a long time, and a few weeks ago I finally bought a template, and decided that this would be the perfect project. This liberty is courtesy of the lovely girls at Ava&Neve, who always curate such beautiful bundles!
If you’d like some tutorials on making clamshells, I’d recommend Sue Daley’s videos on english paper piecing…I used some lovely old crochet lace that I was given, and happily had clamshell shapes in it already to echo my clamshells. As you can see I got a bit lazy and decided to save fabric along my bottom row as I was planning on cutting off the bases.
I paper pieced the top, and realised how much I love this for accuracy…you just can’t beat it! I paired this with a gorgeous cream essex linen, and love how it ended up matching the lace…
I hand quilted around the top, and sewed it onto the side strip. This time I left off the last clamshell, and added that when I was finished the whole thing, but if I did it again, I would have added it after I’d joined the strip, and before I joined the base.
If you’d like a refresher on how to box the corners neatly, here’s the link to my butterfly pincushion…
Here’s the hole waiting to be sewn up…and then nicely closed. Once again I filled it with a mixture of rice and polyfil. I just love the weight that rice adds, and the nice shape of the polyfil.
Here it is all completed, with a cute little bead added for a blossom. So…just wondering if there is any interest for a pattern for this pincushion??
Can’t wait to show you the progress on my studio, and all the other projects as they happen…my holidays are fast running out, and my to-do list is still painfully long!
Congratulations to the finish. The design works wonderfully with the fabrics you used. I am also smitten by the many pretty details like the embroidery.
I would love to have a pattern for the Clamshell Pincushion or just some of the measurements so I can make one, I love it, Lorraine
Hi Lorraine…lovely to hear from you, and I’m so glad you like my design. I’ve been quite busy and haven’t got around to writing this up into a pattern yet…but it’s still on my to do list. The basic idea I had was making this cushion two clamshells wide and four long…the top was pieced and borders added to fit those measurements. I’m not sure if that helps or not, so check back soon and I might have it finished for you. x
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Beautifully done! Great process photos!
Very clever and pretty design. Visiting from Quilt Story.
I love this, especially the addition of the lace….thank you for sharing.
Very lovely. The crochet lace indeed goes very well with your clam shells. Beautiful work.