Stitch our felt cactus pincushions to liven up your sewing station

What you need...

• Felt: green; scraps, pink, yellow, orange; flowers
  
• Needle, embroidery
  
• Thread, embroidery: pink, yellow, orange
  
• Stuffing, polyester
  
• Pins, glass-headed
  
• Mini buckets
  
• Hot glue gun
  
• Scissors
  
• Sewing machine

instructions

1. Pumpkin Cactus - 1 Cut a circle, 20cm in diameter, from bright green felt. Mould the felt into a dome shape using steam; place a small ball (polystyrene will do) in the centre of the circle, pulling the felt up over it. Using the steam from an iron, stretch the felt and set the shape – take care not to burn yourself.
   
   2 Work running stitch all the way around the edge of the circle. Place a ball of stuffing into the domed area, then pull up the stitching to close the felt disc around it.
   
   3 Thread the needle with darker green embroidery thread, secure with a knot and pass it through the centre of the dome to the top. Next, take the thread around to the base again, up through the
   same centre point, pulling it taught to create a dent in the felt. Repeat this process to create segments in the dome. Tie off the thread securely.
   
   4 Stitch tiny tufts of pink thread along each segment to resemble spines. Using a pink-glass headed pin, secure a felt flower to the centre of the dome. Stick a disc of pink felt over the inside of each
   heart shape in a bucket. Using a hot glue gun, secure the cactus to the rim.

2. Desert Cactus - 1 Using the template provided, cut out a pair of shapes in pale green felt. Machine stitch together, sewing near to the edge. Stuff the cactus shape until it’s firm.
   
   2 Stitch tiny orange tufts around the ridges of the cactus to resemble the spines. Secure a felt flower to the tip of each stem with a glass-headed bead. Trim a felt disc slightly smaller than the top of
   the bucket. Make a hole in the centre and thread the stem of the cactus through it.

3. Finned Cactus - 1 Using the template provided, cut out six shapes in a dark green felt. Press the shapes in half lengthways with an iron. Machine stitch two of the shapes together through the fold lines, making sure that the outer edges of the folds are matched together.
   
   2 Repeat the process on the four remaining pieces. Take two of these connected pieces and match together the outer edges from the point at the top to the base. Edge stitch together to create one
   of the six fins of the cactus. Repeat this process around the edge of the remaining pieces.
   
   3 You will find that two fins are not secured and will need stitching together through the centre of the pieces, but this will have to be achieved by stitching through all the layers to seal the fin. This will become much more apparent once you have stitched all the pieces together.