Sweetheart Pin Cushions

Recently the Textile Center Library had a display of something I had never heard of before: sweetheart pin cushions and sweetheart pillows. Apparently these are items that soldiers during the world wars would make for their wives, sweethearts and mothers.

Many of these pin cushions were purchased as kits and often made by convalescing soldiers. They are quite a bit larger than what I think of as being a pin cushion but I wonder if the term comes from being a cushion that has pins in it and not from the sewing accessory. That's just a guess on my part!

The sweetheart pillows are something a little different. These were printed pieces of fabric that were used to cover pillow forms. You can see one on the bottom shelf of the last photo. There is a book on the subject, Sweetheart and Mother Pillows, if you are interested in learning more. Information on the sweetheart pin cushion is more difficult to find, but here is one link with a small bit to read. I also suggest going to the Imperial War Museum website to see more photos. Do a search for Sweetheart Heart Pin Cushions and then scroll down on the Results page and click on Collections.

You can also find them for sale on various auction sites, like Ebay.