Q: Why are pincushions frequently made to resemble tomatoes with attached strawberry?
A: During Victorian Era, placing a tomato on the mantel of a new house guaranteed prosperity and repelled evil spirits. If tomatoes were out of season, families improvised by using a round ball of red fabric filled with sand or sawdust. The good-luck symbol also served a practical purpose- a place to store pins or needles. Typically, the tomato is filled with wool roving to prevent rust, and the strawberry is filled with an abrasive to clean and sharpen pins.
Here are some free pincushion crochet patterns for you. Please click the highlighted text to send you to the pattern links. Enjoy!
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