Sweet William by Hazel Blomkamp

We are all about flowers today! The floral theme of this newsletter means that it is fitting for us to highlight Hazel Blomkamp’s magnificent pincushion that features in our book The Design Collective | Pincushions.

Sweet William is a stunning little project decorated with a wreath of sparkling flowers in Hazel’s characteristic style.

If anyone said that you could create a pincushion using beadwork, you might think they were a bit mad. However, the incredibly talented Hazel has achieved just that.

This lovely project is designed so that the intricate beadwork sits around the outer edge of the circular shape leaving a clear space in the centre for pins and needles to rest without damaging the main part of the design.

Hazel is well known for her exquisite beadwork and, in particular, her cleverly constructed flowers. If you are yet to try making one of Hazel’s beaded flowers, you are in for a treat. Her clear instructions show you precisely the steps to take to thread each bead that, when followed closely, will ensure that by the time you’ve put the final bead on to the needle you’ll realise you have an absolutely perfect petal! It is almost like magic.

Once you’ve mastered one petal, you’ll find all of the others a breeze. In this way, you’ll soon create the bright, beaded Sweet Williams, as well as the accompanying leaves and miniature blooms that adorn this project.

Hazel always thinks carefully about the practicality of her projects. When it came to pincushions, she found herself getting frustrated that pins and needles would disappear into the stuffing, so she thought hard about how she could create something that solved that problem.

By using a simple jar lid to create the hard base, she fixed the issue immediately.

Coupling the lid with a bath sponge to act as the filling, she put together Sweet William and, in the process, showed us that something this beautiful can be made from things you have around the house!

If you don’t succeed first try at creating a beaded petal, unthread the beads and go back carefully to the instructions. In Hazel’s diagram, she numbers each bead so, like a dot-to-dot, you just need to follow the numbers in sequence and you will eventually get it right.

Sweet William is both beautiful and practical – a pincushion like no other. It is a project that you’ll find you use constantly and every time you take out a pin from the centre, you can experience that little thrill of satisfaction that you mastered Hazel’s fabulous and unique beading technique.

Make Your Own Sweet William

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Sweet William by Hazel Blomkamp from the book The Design Collective | Pincushions is a low-profile pincushion with sparkling, three-dimensional beaded flowers and leaves surrounding a lattice design.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Sweet William includes everything* you need to re-create this gorgeous pincushion: Fabric (unprinted), sponge, plastic lid, template plastic, beading threads, embroidery threads, beads and needles.

*Please Note: To cater for flexibility of purchase, instructions are not included with our kits. For step-by-step directions on how to create this project, please refer to the book.