It’s January!  I can hardly believe it.  January is not my favorite month of the year — where I live it is just plain dark, dreary and cold!   So, at the beginning of the year I like to take a little time to freshen things up around my home.  Today I will share how I made these cute pin cushions to sweeten up my sewing area — with just a few supplies you probably mostly have on hand!

Also, is it too soon to be thinking about Valentine’s Day?  Because I certainly am!  It is one of my favorite holidays — just for the cuteness factor — and a great excuse to make and give cute red and pink things for my sisters and friends!  Wouldn’t one of these pin cushions be a perfect Valentine goodie for a friend who sews?

Project Estimate:

  • plastic ramekins, 3/$1
  • fleece scraps, on hand (don’t substitute felt — you’ll be disappointed!)
  • polyester fiberfill, on hand
  • needle and thread
  • drill (optional)

Total:  $0.33!

I found these adorable “ramekin sauce cups” at my local dollar store, and instantly knew what they were destined to be.  They look just like cupcake papers! 

Start by cutting a circle from whatever color fleece you want your frosting to be.  I chose pink, of course!  My circle was 8 1/2″ in diameter.  Here’s a trick — use a plate (or other round container) as your pattern.  If you press it onto your fleece…

…you’ll have a perfect circle imprinted on the fleece, which you can very carefully cut around.  Nothing to trace, nothing to pin!

Take a needle and thread and knot the two ends of the thread together.  Stab your needle up and down 1/4″ from the edge of your circle, all the way around.  You can thread the fleece onto your needle as shown to make it go very quickly!

Stuff your cupcake top as stiffly as you can, and draw up the thread tight.  Tie a firm knot, but don’t cut your thread.

I drilled a hole in the bottom of my ramekin.  I wanted two holes, but — I am not super skilled with power tools!  I should have started with a smaller bit, then made the holes bigger with a larger bit.  But, as it is, I used too large a bit and cracked my ramekin.  No problem, though!

I used a small, flat button on the bottom to compensate.  No big deal!

Pick up your same needle, and sew down through your ramekin, then back up into the edge of your cupcake top.  You can leave your thread loose until you have three or four passes through, then pull your thread tight and tie a firm knot.


Use the same technique to create your cherry from some red fleece (I started with a circle was 2 1/2″ in diameter) and attach it to the top.  You’re done!  If you like you can embroider some sprinkles, too.  I couldn’t decide whether I wanted them, so I left them off. 

I am sure there are numerous other ways you could dress these guys up!  How would you embellish them?


Being a lover of all things tiny, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a mini version — which can easily be made into a ring!  Head over to my blog if you’d like to see how I did it!  

Caroline Sanchez (Care) has been sewing since her mom taught her the basics at around six years old.  She has always been driven to CREATE, even from a very young age.  She is mommy to two little boys and one little girl, and almost every spare moment she has is spent in her sewing room or working on her blog,
Obsessively Stitching.