PKGranny

I mix sand and the crushed walnut shells putting them in a bag, sewing it shut and then putting into the pincushion. Have not had trouble with pins getting dull and I have the weight I like to keep the pincushion in place.

Neesie

I use polyfil, in the top of the pincushion, and it's definitely not flimsy. The idea is to tightly pack the stuffing into the pincushion. I then remove a bit of the stuffing from the bottom, and replace it with the weighting.

oleganny

my granddaughter is a beautician. she saves hair for me & I use that for pincushions. My mother always told me it helped to keep the pins/needles sharp.

daisydebby

Just out of curiosity... You know when you buy the tomato pincushion that has the strawberry attached....what is in that little strawberry that sharpens our needles? Maybe we could put that in the pincushions we make. What do you think?
Nessie, I wasn't trying to cause controversy. I see you highlighted my words re: flimsy...maybe the word I was looking for was lightweight??? Anyway, I like the heavier pincushions, personally.

SueSew

My DD gave me a beautiful pattern for a pin cushion, way too complicated for me to try to make, with a little strawberry side piece for keeping needles sharp.
Dear child thought she was ordering a lovely pincushion from the Internet but what arrived was just a pattern!!!
The strawberry needs emery - where would I buy that???
I certainly won't use walnut shells as the mice around here will eat anything. Or hair. I'm sure that's nice but my own hairbrush creeps me out. Lanolin is a little oily; that's why it is so good in those wood dusters.
Right now I use cute little china dishes for the different kinds of pins, and a cute little old catnip mouse for the needles, but I keep the catnip mouse in a box so real mice won't get it.
Between the stray coffee beans and the catnip mouse they'd be really wacked out!

Wanabee Quiltin

Whatever you use, fill it really full. I have some pincushions given to me and the needles go through the bottom and sure do hurt when I pick it up.

sharon1

I will never use walnut shell liter again! I made several nice pin cushions for gifts for officers when I was retiring president of our guild and they ended up making the pins sticky and dull! All that for nothing !!

GramMER

This may sound far-out, but my GGGrandmother used her own hair to make pincushions. Those were superb. I believe she only occasionally trimmed her hair, but those clean trims were useful. The hair, like you say about the wool, had natural oils and kept the hat pins, and sewing pins beautifully.

phrojangles

A note to P-BurgKay. I grew up in P-Burg!! What fun.

BuzzinBumble

Andrea, I fill mine packed tight with clean, dry sawdust. It works great, you just have to be careful that it doesn't leakus. Arr Arr.