Hello darlings!
This week I'm coming to you with a tutorial from ‘The Housewife’ (1886). It concerns making a pincushion from a horse brass, a fun and easy beginner project using fabric and cardboard.
‘One of the novelties of the season are the wall pincushions, made of plush, and ornamented with the brass rounds that are kept at all saddle and harness-makers as the centre ornament to a cart-horse’s harness.’
Pincushions in the Victorian era weren't just sewing accessories, pins were also used to fasten articles of clothing, attach brooches, fasten baby nappies (!) and secure bows, so pincushions were an important tool in a Victorian woman's life. They could be practical or ornamental and, in this case, sold at bazaars for extra money.
Victorian Tutorial
This has been transcribed from ‘The Housewife’ (1886), which is in my personal collection. The only change I have made is added paragraph breaks to make the text more legible.
One of the novelties of the season are the wall pincushions, made of plush, and ornamented with the brass rounds that are kept at all saddle and harness-makers as the centre ornament to a cart-horse’s harness. These brass rounds are made in a great variety of patterns and are sometimes embellished with horses’ heads in high relief, and at others with well cut out geometrical designs showing stars, triangles, etc. Above these perforated brass rounds is the hook that fastens them to the harness; but it is always better when purchasing any quantity to have this hook sawn off, as it interferes with the design, and its retention obliges the pincushion beneath it to be made of a larger size than necessary.
The manner of making up these pincushions is as follows:- Purchase a quarter of a yard of ruby furniture plush, half a yard of housemaid’s flannel, and a yard of inch-wide narrow velvet or satin ribbon, matching the plush. Tear the housemaid’s flannel into a number of strips three-quarters of an inch wide, and roll up these strips very tightly one over the other until a flat round,
the shape of a wheel, is made. Pin the ends of each strip to keep it firm while rolling together, and make the wheel a little larger than the brass ornament. Cut a stout piece of cardboard to the size of the wheel, and sew to the back.
Cut the plush into two circles larger than the wheel, and into a long strip an inch and a quarter wide. Lay one round of plush over the front of the wheel, and arrange the brass ornament over it, and sew the brass ornament into its position, carrying the stitches to the back of the wheel through both flannel and cardboard; sew the round of plush neatly to the sides; put on the second round at the back, and turn in the edges of the narrow strip, and sew this tightly to the sides, covering over with it the raw edges of the two rounds.
Finish by making a bow of the ribbon, with long ends, and fasten an end to each side of the pincushion as a suspending cord. Fill the cushion with pins, which arrange in the perforations of the brass ornament. These pincushions sell for 3s. 6d. To 5s, according to the price of the plush and brass ornament; the latter can be purchased for sixpence, but better and larger ones cost about tenpence.
You will need:
… ‘brass rounds that are kept at all saddle and harness-makers’ … ‘ruby furniture plush’ … ‘half a yard of housemaid’s flannel’ … ‘a yard of inch-wide narrow velvet or satin ribbon, matching the plush’ …
Horse brass
You can either find them in charity shops, or search for the term ‘horse brass’ on places like eBay. There are so many designs to choose from so pick the one you like best!
1/4 metre of red velvet
Velvet scraps in any colour would also be suitable (just make sure to purchase a matching ribbon– see below!)
Fabric scraps
Instead of purchasing fabric for this purpose, use up any fabric remnants you have. Colour doesn’t matter as it won’t be seen. It would be best that they aren’t too lightweight (cotton-wight or heavier, ideally), and if you want to speed up the process check that they can be ripped by hand. If you need to purchase fabric, buy 1/2 metre of white cotton.
1 metre of 1” wide satin or velvet ribbon (matching the velvet)
Cardboard
Thread (matching the velvet)
Long sewing needle
Measuring tape
Scissors (fabric & normal)
Tutorial
I have slightly changed the order in which to do things from the original for ease of making, and these changes will become apparent as you follow.
The manner of making up these pincushions is as follows:-
1. Prepare your horse brass
Remove any accessories from your horse brass and clean it, if needed.
‘Above these perforated brass rounds is the hook that fastens them to the harness; but it is always better when purchasing any quantity to have this hook sawn off, as it interferes with the design, and its retention obliges the pincushion beneath it to be made of a larger size than necessary.’
This is what the original tutorial recommends: however, I do not have access to a blacksmith so for this tutorial the hook is being left on.
2. Cut a cardboard circle
Your horse brass should be able to sit within your cardboard circle comfortably. To create the circle, you can either use a protractor, or find something circular and of the right size within your home and trace around it. I find cosmetics containers the most useful for this purpose.
3. Cut fabric strips
Take a section of fabric from your scraps. If possible, choose one that has an edge on the straight of grain as this will make your job easier. If not, create your own section on the straight of grain by following the instructions below.
Mark down from the edge 3/4”. Make a small mark, then snip into the mark using your scissors. From the small cut, tear the fabric apart until you have one long strip.
Repeat until you have a bundle. You may need more later.
‘Tear the housemaid’s flannel into a number of strips three-quarters of an inch wide…’
If you cannot tear your fabric, use a long ruler to mark out your strips and cut along the line created.
4. Roll fabric strips
Take one strip and start rolling, making sure that the cylinder is tight and even. Once you’ve reached the end of a strip, the tutorial says to ‘pin the ends of each strip to keep it firm while rolling together’. However, I have roughly sewn the strips together to keep them firm. You may use either technique.
Keep rolling and adding strips until your circle is as large as your cardboard base. This is a technique called ‘standing wool’ on a very small scale, which has been used to make rugs throughout history.
5. Cut out velvet pieces
Fold the velvet in two. Using the cardboard base as a pattern, add 1.5cm seam allowance and cut out. Along a straight edge, mark out 11/4” and cut a strip long enough to encircle the cardboard round (plus at least 1.5cm extra for overlap).
1” 1/4 is quite fiddly to work with– if you’re a novice seamstress I would instead cut 2”. This will be bulkier but easier to sew.
6. Sew base to fabric wheel
Roughly sew the carboard base to the fabric wheel. This doesn’t need to be pretty, it’s purely to stop the cardboard from slipping as you work on it. Knot your thread to start and push the needle through the cardboard and a couple of layers of fabric.
7. Attach velvet cover
Place your velvet round on top of the fabric wheel. Sew it to the fabric wheel using small stitches going through a few layers, pulling the cover taut as you sew.
8. Attach horse brass
Retrieve your very long needle, as you will need to go through all three layers (cardboard, fabric wheel and velvet) for the next step.
If you have a thread that matches the horse brass– in this case a brown thread has been used– thread this onto your long needle. Knot the thread to start and anchor the horse brass in place at several points using the holes in the design.
9. Sew side panel
Take your side panel and fold back roughly 5mm. Start stitching it to the top panel using a neat whip stitch. If your fabric is able to be ironed you could iron this small turnover beforehand.
Once you have come full circle, cut off any excess fabric. Turn under a small section so there are no raw edges and stitch it down.
10. Sew bottom
Fold the side panel backwards and attach the bottom in the same way that you attached the top, using small stitches going through a few layers, pulling it taut as you sew.
11. Finish side
Turn the side panel up again. Fold roughly 5mm as you did before, then whip stitch to the base.
12. Make a bow
Cut 60cm of ribbon and tie it into a bow in the centre, stitching down the centre of the bow to stop it from untying. You may also use any length of ribbon that you desire.
This bow has been constructed instead of simply knotted and, in the taste of Victorian excess, it has been paired with other ribbons and decorated.
Finish the end of the ribbon by folding it under twice and stitching in place with a whip stitch.
13. Attach ribbon
Sew the finished edges of the ribbon to your pincushion. Just above the centre with the ribbon angled slightly forwards (to stop the pincushion from angling forwards when hung up) seems to work best.
‘Finish by making a bow of the ribbon, with long ends, and fasten an end to each side of the pincushion as a suspending cord.’
‘Fill the cushion with pins, which arrange in the perforations of the brass ornament.’
‘These pincushions sell for 3s. 6d. To 5s, according to the price of the plush and brass ornament; the latter can be purchased for sixpence, but better and larger ones cost about tenpence.’
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! You can find more on my Etsy or subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of new tutorial releases!
Until next time,
Aisha x
Comments