Aurifil Artisan Challenge :: Leather Pincushions

A new year as an Aurifil Artisan means a new calendar of thread-use challenges; and besides sharing an unboxing of our welcome pack, we were asked to use any of those new threads in a project to share. As it ended up, I used four new threads, chosen primarily for their colors. But considering they were in varying weights, it was a good opportunity to mix and match with them.

photo by Lindsey Jeske

The threads I used were:

• 50wt 2225 [Salmon]
• 40wt 6722 [Sea Biscuit], 1135 [Pale Yellow]
• 12wt acrylic-wool blend 8530 [Puce Magenta Pink]

photo by Lindsey Jeske

It all started when I was given several partial rolls of leather a few weeks ago. I mean a lot of leather. It felt lightweight enough to machine-stitch on, but I'd yet to give it a try. And of course, I'd been mulling over what in the world to make with it. Then I remembered the leather pincushion I'd been gifted by Hillary Goodwin @entropyalwayswins a few years ago (similar to this one), and it dawned on me that I should try something similar. [Hillary and Kitty Wilkin @nightquilter also wrote a tutorial for an Easter Egg version if you'd like to see theirs.]

Happily, all the thread weights I used worked beautifully. I used 50wt in the bobbin when stitching with the 50wt thread; 40wt when stitching with the 40wt and 12wt. The focus fabrics were a variety of substrates - woven, quilting cotton, and linen - and all were either double-layered, or backed with a layer of linen. 

A size 90 needle was already in my machine, and stitched just fine on this weight of leather, though I did stitch a little slower than normal. I began and ended with a 1.5 stitch length, stitching about 3.0 for the majority of the stitching. 

I was really happy to see that all the threads performed so well. If color wasn't a consideration, I think I'd select a 40wt for piecing with this leather in future projects, it being slightly thicker/heavier than the 50wt. I'm still mulling over what else to make with my leather stash, so if you have ideas, let me know!