Lucky Shamrock Pins

As a child I remember the fear of being pinched on St. Patrick’s Day. I was always careful to wear plenty of green. Rampant pinching on the playground got so bad that teachers started handing out stickers so our day could be “pinch free”.  Recently I asked my own children if the custom was still alive and well on the playground.

I was met with blank stares.

Okay, my kids may not be terrorized with the same playground fears as me, but I still wanted to make them something special to wear and share on the upcoming holiday. That is how these quick little St. Patrick’s Day Lucky Shamrock Pins came about.

Lucky Shamrock Pins

You Will Need:

• green felt
• needle and thread
• coordinating scraps of cotton fabric
• pin back
• Hot glue gun and hot glue, if desired

 

Start by cutting squares of felt that are 1″ by 3/4″. You will need 4 for each shamrock. Cut a slight “M” in the top of each square.

Leave a long tail at the end, then with a running stitch, sew the leaves in a line. Remove the needle and pull the ends of the thread together, arrange the leaves and then tie a knot.

Then make the fabric yoyos. I used a medicine cap to trace a small circle on my scrap of fabric. Keep in mind, the finished yoyo will turn out even smaller than your cut fabric.

Again, using the running stitch, I stitched around the underside of my circle (wrong side of the fabric. When finished, gather the thread and pull into a nice little yoyo.

Tack this down to the felt shamrock with a few stitches.

Then attach a pin to the back of the shamrock with a few quick stitches or a little hot glue.

I have been creating these Lucky Shamrock Pins in a little assembly line, making all my shamrocks first then going through the steps until I had enough Lucky Shamrock Pins for everyone in my family. I also plan to whip up a few more of these Lucky Shamrock Pins to hand out to my children’s teachers and to keep on hand… Just in case pinching comes back in fashion.

Who would you make these Lucky Shamrock Pins for?