11 August, 2012

Extreme Makeover - Pincushion Edition


I wrote a long, LONG missive about a pincushion that my mother had when I was a child.  I lost that pincushion, by my calculations, about 56 years ago. As I wrote out the story, and wrote and wrote..., I realized that no one really wanted to read my long sad story of how I had lost my mother's pincushion.  So I decided to abbreviate it all and just give you the down and dirty details in order to set up my Extreme Makover Story. Here is the abbreviated version.

• My Mom was given a rocking chair pincushion.
• She loved it.
• I took it to school in the First Grade for Show-and-Tell and lost it.
• MOM WAS MAD !...
• I recently found another Rocking Chair Pincushion at an Estate Sale. 
 It was totally ugly.
 I bought it for $2.00.  Probably overpaid...
• Decided to give it an EXTREME  MAKEOVER.


Here is the Pincushion in it's BEFORE state.  You can see the incredibly dated fabric 
and just how dirty the thing is. Totally not my style.
 Bleccchhhhh!!!!!



But it does have a cute little drawer under the seat that held some old buttons and a measuring tape.  AND, it has a slot at the top of the back of the chair to hold a pair of scissors.  

I removed the little cushions and pulled the fabric off.  I scrubbed it clean and spray painted the wood with my new favorite color, that vintage aqua green.  One of my friends calls it "Martha Stewart Green"...  I made new little patchwork pinwheel cushions.

My newly revamped pincushion rocker now sits on my sewing table. Each and every time I look at it, I think of my mom, who passed 15 years ago.  It's a sweet little reminder of her and of our shared love of sewing.  I guess that I did not overpay for my sad old pincushion, because these memories of mine are priceless!


10 comments:

  1. This is absolutely precious! And I know you must miss your mother greatly, what an neat little reminder of her.
    Thanks for showing this, it is lovely.
    SharonTx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, SharonTx for your kind comment. My little rocker/pincushion truly is s sweet little reminder of just why I sew.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my, we had one when I was a child. I think my grandfather made one for my Mom and each of the Aunts. It has been years since I even thought about it. Thank you for the memory!! Jane B

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I seen this posted on pinterest I started laughing and shared it with my mom. Reason being..... I have one of these that belonged to my great grandmother... my grandparents had it and gave it to me a few years ago. It was my great grandmother that first taught me to sew almost 40 years ago so naturally I was overjoyed to get this!

    ReplyDelete
  5. @ Anonymous and Cindy, Isn't it amazing how something like this little pincushion can bring back wonderful memories?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have one in red corduroy that my uncle made me in the 60s! Didn't realize it was so popular back then. Never thought of putting redoing it....Thanks for your story.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i love the chair pin cushion ,,can i pleae have the measurements

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had one of those; wonder where it went...

    ReplyDelete