You say tomato

You Say Tomato

And I, being from Australia, most definitely say Tomahto. None of that Tomay-ta for me! :D

I read an interesting little post on a quilt history group I belong to the other day, about the history of the Tomato Pincushion. I have often wondered why on earth pincushions are traditionally shaped like tomatoes. Have you? Well you’re about to find out!

In Victorian times, it was believed that putting a tomato on the windowsill or mantle place of your new home would bring prosperity and ward off evil spirits. When tomatoes were out of season, people would make tomatoes from fabric to serve the same purpose.

During this era, pincushions transitioned from being worn (like on a chatelaine) to being decorative objects in the home. Victorians were nuts for decorating with fruits and vegetables - you will find many examples of bowls and furniture carved with food, and wax fruit was the height of sophistication. 

Functionality combined with decorative panache, combined with a little bit of witchcraft? Peeps who WOULDN’T want a tomato pincushion, I ask you?

Personally though, I’ve never much never much cared or the little strawberry hanging off the side. What is that thing doing there? Yes, I know that often the tomato is the pinnie and the strawberry has the emery powder, but it’s always seemed like a pimple on a poleaxe to me.

Anyhoo, all this tomato talk made me think we should make one of our own. So here’s the pattern - no silly strawberries to distract us though, just a good sturdy tomato full of emery powder. You can always just stuff yours with toy fill if you like though :)

I have some little kits for this baby available for you - $22 gets you enough of the tomato fabric to make a tomato the same as mine, dark green felt (I didn’t have any when I wrote this post, so my tomato looks a bit under ripe on the top!), enough emery powder to fill it and a little bit of toy fill.

Buy here

Don’t forget we ARE ABLE to ship to the USA currently - you will be charged the 10% tariff at checkout ($2.20 on the $22 kit - thats Australian dollars remember, so its about $1.30 USD or so extra), and we will take care of the rest. Guaranteed no flat $80 delivery fee, as the package is shipped in a bulk shipment, and then sent on to you DOMESTICALLY. Owing to the method we’re using to ship, packages might take a bit longer to arrive than usual but we’re doing the very best we can peeps. Hang in there with us!

Plus don’t forget if you order Lap App products or BOM books from my website, they have NO TARIFF because they are shipped to you domestically. Woohoo!

OK enough of all that, lets make a tomato.

You will need:

• About a 6” strip of fabric - depending on how you cut it, you can use a lot less. Or red scraps!

• A very small piece of green felt

• Walnut shells and/or toy fill

  
  

• Sewing machine

• Thread for hand stitching to match your felt

Print out the template sheet, making sure that the 1” square is the correct size. 

Tomato Pincushion templates.pdf

Download PDF • 256KB

Taking note of the straight of grain line so that your tomato doesn’t stretch out of shape when you stuff it, cut four pieces of fabric using the template. The outside line of the template is the cutting line.

Take the stitch length on your sewing machine down a bit so that the walnut shells don’t come out the side when you stuff. I had my Bernina on 2.

Place two pieces of tomato right sides together and stitch along one side from top to bottom, making a small back and forth at both ends for security.

Repeat with the other pair of tomato pieces. Make sure that if you have fussy cut your pieces, they are in the right order and the right way up.

Grade the seam slightly on the middle of the curve on both pieces - this will help it to turn more smoothly.

Open both pairs up and pin the two side of the tomato right sides together along both curves. Leave one end open about 1” to either side of where the seams would meet for stuffing, and take care to match the seams at the other end for a neat finish.

Stitch and grade the curves again.

Turn the tomato right sides out through the hole. Press the seams neatly along the curved edges.

Stuff the tomato with the walnut shells, and then fill the last bit with toy fill. Push the toy fill down into the curved bits of the tomato to make it sit nicely. Don’t fill the top too much, as you don’t want the top to round out.

Hand stitch the opening at the top shut with red thread.

Tie a knot in some thick thread and go down into the tomato through the point where the seams meet at the top, and come out right at the point where the seams meet at the bottom. Take a small stitch and go back through the tomato again, and come out where the seams meet. Pull quite tightly to make a dimple in the tomato, and then tie the thread off securely.

From the green felt, cut one square, 1”, and one tomato top.

Roll the square up tightly into a little stem, and hand stitch along the edge of the stem with green thread to hold it securely shut.

Place the end of the stem into the middle of the tomato top, and stitch it onto the tomato top, going back and forth fro underneath the top and into the side of the stem until it is securely attached.

Place the tomato top onto the tomato, covering the hole you stitched closed. Stitch the tomato top to the tomato along the edges of the top, using a slip stitch and green thread. If you like you can make another pass through the tomato underneath the stem, to keep the dimple on the top.

You’re done! These are really cute presents and they don’t take much time or effort. If you make one please send me a pic, I’d love to see! Have fun Smites 

Sarah x