Mandala Sachet or Pin Cushion – Free Crochet Pattern

You’re invited to a friend’s house for dinner and you want to take a handmade gift. Or you’ve spent your Christmas budget, but you haven’t crossed everyone off the list. This pattern is for you! It’s a great stash-buster using little scraps of worsted weight yarn.

And the best news of all…it took me about 1 ½ hours to make each one. Maybe less!

I love pin cushions! Here’s one of my favorites made with a teacup from my Mother-In-Law. I’ve been meaning to make a crocheted one to go with it, but never got around to it. Then one rainy afternoon…

In terms of stuffing these, for the pin cushion I used a combination of dried beans and polyfill stuffing. I stuff these into a piece of ladies’ hose from the dollar store. The beans give the pin cushion just a little bit of weight so it stays put when you’re pulling pins out of it. I’ve also heard that some people stuff them with steel wool to keep the pins sharp, but I didn’t have any of that.

For the sachet, I used ¼ cup rice with 8 drops of essential oil. Then I let it sit for an hour or so to dry. Then I stuffed the hose the same way that I did the pin cushion, but used rice only for this one. This smells terrific and is a great way to freshen up your clothes that are stuffed into drawers!

This project starts with a magic ring. You can always start with a chain 3, slip stitch to join, and then crochet inside the loop you just made. However, I think the magic ring gives a much prettier appearance since it closes the hole in the middle. If you want to learn how to do this, here is my favorite video.

What You’ll Need:

• Scraps of worsted weight yarn. I used Valley Yarns Goshen. I really love this yarn so I keep a ton of colors around for quick projects!
• Crochet hook size F (3.75 mm). I used a small hook for the yarn so it creates a dense fabric.
• Women’s hose (I got mine at the dollar store)
• Stuffing – polyfill, dried beans, steel wool, or rice with essential oils. I used Aura Cacia Lavender that I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond
• Yarn Needle to weave in ends

Gauge

• Not important for this project
• The larger one measure 5” across and the smaller one is 4”. You can make it larger or smaller by varying the yarn weight or hook size

Special Stitches

• DC Cluster = *YO, insert hook into st, pull up a loop, YO and pull through 2 loops* Repeat 2 more times (4 loops on hook). YO and pull through all 4 loops.

Abbreviations

• YO = yarn over
• mr = magic ring
• dc = double crochet
• ss = slip stitch
• ch = chain
• st = stitch
• sp – space
• sc – single crochet
• hdc = half double crochet
• sk = skip

Pattern for Smaller Sachet

Front

• Round 1 – Make a mr. 12 dc inside. ss to 1^st dc to join. Cut yarn.
• Round 2 – Join next color with a ss to any dc. ch 2. *dc cluster, ch 1* into each st. (See special stitches above). Join with ss to first cluster. (12 clusters) Cut yarn.
• Round 3 –Join next color with a ss to any dc. Ch 3, 3 dc in same st. 4 dc in each dc around – skipping all sc. ss to top of ch-3. (12 4-dc clusters) Cut yarn.
• Weave in ends.

Back – work entire back in same color as round 4 above

• Round 1 –Make a mr, 12 dc inside. ss to 1^st
• Round 2 – ch 3, 2 dc in same st and each st around ss to 1^st dc skipping the ch-3. (24 dc)
• Round 3 – ch 3, 2 dc in each st around. ss to 1^st dc skipping the ch3. (48 dc) Do not cut yarn. Continue to join.

Joining

• Hold 2 pieces together with right sides facing out.
• Join to 2 pieces – ch1. Insert hook first into same dc on back that you just made your ss into. Then insert your hook into any dc on front of sachet. Sc 2 stitches together. Continue to sc 2 pieces together until you have 10 st left.
• Fill a piece of the hose with stuffing. Tie to seal. Stuff it into the sachet.
• Continue to sc 2 pieces together.

Border – Use any contrasting color

• Join new color with a ss to any sc. Ch 1. *(sc, ch 3, sc) into same st. ch 3, sk 2 st* Repeat around. ss to first sc. Cut yarn.

Weave in ends.

Pattern for Larger Sachet

Front

• Round 1 – Make a mr. 12 dc inside. ss to 1^st dc to join. Cut yarn.
• Round 2 – Join next color with a ss to any dc. ch 2. *dc cluster, ch 1* into each st. (See special stitches above). Join with ss to first cluster. (12 clusters) Cut yarn.
• Round 3 – Join next color with a ss to ch-1 sp. Ch 1, *(sc, dc, sc)* in each ch 1 sp around – skipping clusters. ss to 1^st (12 (sc, dc, sc) groups). Cut yarn.
• Round 4 – Join next color with a ss to any dc. Ch 3, 3 dc in same st. 4 dc in each dc around – skipping all sc. ss to top of ch-3. (12 4-dc clusters) Cut yarn.
• Finish off. Weave in ends.

Back – work entire back in same color as round 4 above

• Round 1 –Make a mr, 12 dc inside. ss to 1^st
• Round 2 – ch 3, 2 dc in same st and each st around ss to 1^st dc skipping the ch-3. (24 dc)
• Round 3 – ch 3, 2 dc in same st. 1 dc in next. *2 dc in next stitch, 1 dc in next* Repeat around. ss to 1^st dc skipping the ch3. (36 dc)
• Round 4 – ch 2, 2 hdc in 1^st 1 hdc in next 2 st. *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 2 st.* Repeat around. ss to 1^st hdc skipping the ch2. (48 hdc) Do not cut yarn. Continue to join.

Joining

• Hold 2 pieces together with right sides facing out.
• Join to 2 pieces – ch1. Insert hook first into same hdc on back that you just made your ss into. Then insert your hook into any dc on front of sachet. Sc 2 stitches together. Continue to sc 2 pieces together until you have 10 st left.
• Fill a piece of the hose with stuffing. Tie to seal. Stuff it into the sachet.
• Continue to sc 2 pieces together.

Border – Use any contrasting color

• Join new color with a ss to any sc. Ch 1. *(sc, ch 3, sc) into same st. ch 3, sk 2 st* Repeat around. ss to first sc. Cut yarn.

Please post your projects on Ravelry and link to the pattern so I can see what you’ve done!