World Embroidery Day 2020 ~ Cabin in the Woods Pincushion

Today is World Embroidery Day how fabulous is that, a whole day dedicated to embroidery, not that I ever need an excuse to sit down to enjoy some happy stitches.  I was thinking about this special day a few months ago and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share a free pattern with you, a little happy thank you from mum and I, for all the support that you give to our business, Pretty Fabrics and Trims. 

As it's been a few years now since I designed and made my original Little House Pincushion, (take a peek HERE)   I decided now, whilst we’ve all been spending so much time in our homes, was just the right time to make a new one!  

The Cabin in the Woods pincushion, is entirely hand sewn from gorgeous WoolFelt® and stitched using beautiful Aurifil Lana Wool thread.... they really are perfect together and such a pleasure to sew with.  

So here we go, if you would like to make one, you will first need to download and print the templates, which you can find HERE.  Make sure when you're printing, that you have the paper orientation set as Landscape.

Then, you'll need to gather your supplies and notions... I used:

• My favourite WoolFelt®
• Gorgeous Lana Wool threads by Aurifil in shades #8952, #8955, #8861, #8328, #8323, #8310, #8405, #8083, #8087, #8255 and #8081 all available HERE (a lot of these colours are my favourites, so if you have made some of my previous projects, you may already have them)
• Embroidery needles available HERE 
• Stuffing of choice (I used general toy stuffing) 
• A pair of sharp little scissors, plus all your favourite sewing tools and notions.

When you are ready to start, simply trace all the pattern pieces from the printed template sheet on to either paper, card or alternatively, if you have some, the non shiny paper side of some freezer paper. (The freezer paper pieces can be ironed directly on to the felt.. shiny side to the felt....and are fabulous for aiding accurate cutting particularly of the little pieces)  

Cutting Instructions

From the main Cabin Felt (Beige) cut:

• (2) Cabin End Walls
• (2) Cabin Side Walls
• (2) Porch Side Walls
• (1) Porch Front Wall
• (1) Porch Back Wall
• (1) Porch Floor
• (1) Cabin Floor

From the Roof Felt (Grey) cut:

• (1) Cabin Roof
• (1) Porch Roof

From the Door and Shutter Felt (Duck egg) cut

• (1) Door
• (2) Door Rails
• (2) Large Shutters
• (4) Small Shutters

From the Window Felt (White) cut:

• (1) Large Window
• (2) Small Windows

From the Chimney Felt (Stone) cut:

• (1) Chimney

From some card (a cereal box is great) cut:

• (1) Cabin Floor

Let's Get Stitching!

Before starting. if you haven't made the original 'little house' pincushion before,  then please do take a peek HERE, as the cabin is, in the main sewn and constructed in exactly the same way.  To recap, the doors, windows, shutters etc, were all appliqued using Overstitch around the outside edge first, I then added all the embroidery details.  I stitched these free hand, but you can if you prefer, mark them first using using an erasable marker pen/pencil.  BUT as always, please do a little test on some gash felt to make sure it is removable!!  I used Blanket Stitch to sew all the walls and the roof together, because I like how it looks, but you could use Overstitch if you prefer. 

Here's a little more detail of how I made the cabin.   First off, I added straight lines in Back Stitch in the Brown thread #8087  spaced 1/2" apart to the cabin and the porch walls.  I used a Clover Hera Marker to mark the lines.  This was to give the impression of the Shiplad Cladding.  You could go for wiggly lines to represent wood cut straight from the trees and even add some knots or the grain in the wood if you like. Have you seen the episode from Grand Designs with the wood mans cottage (built by Ben Law) stunning...you must look it up.

I then moved on to the Porch and appliqued the Door to the Porch Front.  I added vertical lines of Back Stitch to give it the appearance of tongue and groove and a couple of door rails positioned horizontally for a homespun feel.  To finish, I used Licorice thread #8083 to give the impression of ironwork hinges and door handle.  The door handle was a little circle with a few vertical straight stitches at the top.  I’m definitely imagining a creative artisan maker, lives in my cabin!!!

Using Blanket Stitch, I then sewed the Porch Side Walls to either side of the Porch Front and went to town adding a climbing rose, rambling up and around the door.  I used the lighter green thread #8955 to first stitch the stems (Stem Stitch) and leaves (Lazy Daisy Stitch).  Then I added lots of French Knots in Pale Pink thread #8405 for the rose buds.  If you enjoy Bullion Knots, you could also form some larger open roses.

The Porch was constructed effectively as a little separate building, which was then sewn onto one of the Cabin End Walls.  To do this, I started by stitching the Porch Floor and the Porch Back Wall to the Porch Front section using Blanket Stitch.  Then, I began to attach the Porch Roof...when I was about half way there with the roof, I added the stuffing and then completed it by closing up the seam.  A chop stick is fab for pushing the stuffing into all the corners.

Next, I attached using Blanket Stitch, the now completed and stuffed Porch to centre of one of the Cabin End Walls... it's a little bit of a fiddle, but that's part of the fun isn't it, when you make small things like this!

I also decided it would be pretty to extend the climbing rose embroidery onto the Cabin End Wall and also a little bit onto the Porch Roof...you could if you wanted to, also extend it round on to the other walls if you wish.

I then moved on to decorating the remaining 3 walls......on the side walls I added the windows, shutters and lots of greenery...I was thinking of trailing ivy, grasses and ferns.   I added pains of glass in the Licorice thread and hearts to all the shutters in the brown thread.  I used a mix of Lazy Daisy Stitches and Straight Stitch for the ivy, Straight Stitches for the grass and Fly Stitch for the Ferns and used both the lighter and darker green #8952 threads.  As before, I stitched all the details freehand, just remember we're aiming for a cabin located in the middle of a wood, where nature has freely roamed, so go with the flow.... a manicured Chelsea show garden is not required! (unless of course that's want you want, in which case go for it!!!) 

On the far end wall I added a stone chimney breast (with a few stones outlined in Back Stitch in #8310) and a couple of little toadstools.  For these I simply stitched a few Straight Stitches in white thread #8328 for the stems and then added little caps in the red thread #8255 using Satin Stitch, to complete I stitched little white Over Stitches for the flecks.  

In hindsight I wished that I had carried the lush greenery around on to the chimney wall too and maybe added the odd gardening or woodwork tool, hung from an iron peg to the pincushion, but hey ho it's a good excuse to make another one some day!  A village of pincushions, now wouldn’t that be fun! 

To complete the final construction of the cabin, follow the instructions from my original Little House Pincushion, CLICK HERE if you would like a recap.

That's it, I hope that you enjoy making your very own versions of the Cabin in the Wood Pincushion.  If you're sharing a picture,  please do remember to use the following hashtags so that mum and I can take a peek:

#cabininthewoodspincushion / #prettyfabricsandtrims

Wishing you lots happy stitches,

Sarah xo