You will need bits of an old pair of jeans, a sharp pair of scissors, pins, some bright & cheery fabric snippets and a sewing machine. A zigzag machine would be best, but you could hand-sew round seams with blanket stitch to secure straight-stitch seams.

Cut two matching shapes around a simple template that’s somewhere between 3″ (7.5cm) – 5″ (12cm) high. I’ve used an owl but any fairly uncluttered shape will work – a plain circle or rectangle’s fine!

Cut a tie that’s about 12″ (30cm) – 16″ (40cm) long; I’ve used the side-seam of some jeans, but ribbon or bias binding would work – anything longish & reasonably strong. Then mark dots either side of this tie towards the top & bottom of your back template.

 Cut out & appliqué on any decorations you have chosen – or add beading, or any other embellishments, leaving room for the pins!

 Zigzag the front & back shapes together thoroughly, leaving a hole somewhere to insert stuffing through – my owl’s tail is the obvious place! Then insert your tie.

 Stuff with something; I’ve used washed sheep’s wool, but cut-up old tights, cotton wool or anything pins will slide through will work.

 Zigzag over opening to seal the stuffing in.

 Tie onto your sewing machine, admire & use!

You can vary this idea to make pincushion bracelets for hand-sewing; use a slightly smaller template, and thick elastic instead of a tie. You’ll need to stitch the ends of the elastic after insertion to make a bracelet.