Steel Wool Pincushion

Steel Wool Pincushion

I should probably state first of all that I copied this idea shamelessly from Mister Finch, who shared his gorgeous pincushions (in vintage silver trays) on Facebook. I was so smitten that I made my own.

Steel Wool Pincushion

What you’ll need:

  • Fine steel wool (mine was £1.95 from Wilkinson)
  • A small tin or dish
  • Some pins!
  • Safety clothing – definitely gloves, maybe goggles and a face mask if you’re sensitive to dust.

What you do:

  • Put on your gloves (and other safety bits if required)
  • Unwind the steel wool from the roll, and stuff it tightly into your tin or dish
  • Poke pins into it!

It really is that simple!

Steel Wool Pincushion

The steel wool makes a lot of dust, so do cover your working area if making a mess will matter, and cover your eyes and nose if you’re worried about tiny pieces of metal dust flying about. Do wear gloves (I wore a clean pair of gardening gloves), as you really don’t want splinters of steel wool underneath your fingernails.

You’ll want the steel wool to be packed tightly enough that your pins don’t fall down too far into it. You can test this as you go along. You can always fit more into the container than you think! Just keep pushing and squishing and pressing down on the steel wool, until your container’s nicely full.

Steel Wool Pincushion

It helps if your container is shallower than the depth of your pins. That way you don’t risk losing them, especially if you’re using ordinary straight pins without fancy heads. It also prevents you from having to dig them out of the steel wool with your fingernails, and risking those nasty splinters again.

The benefit of using steel wool to store your pins is that every time you push them into the pincushion they’re automatically being sharpened just a little bit. This way, you should never end up with blunt pins!

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