Minions...they're everywhere!  On my television, on my cereal box, in my Happy Meals...#noshame and in my Pinterest feed.   After their debut in Despicable Me I along with a million others was left wanting to see more of these adorable little guys.  I'm probably the only one who hasn't seen the Minion movie yet.  It grossed $115.2 million in North America alone it's opening weekend!!  So to celebrate these loveable yellow dudes and to add to my Happy Meal collection I made a pincushion.

You can find the free pattern and a tutorial HERE created by Lady Joyceley.  There are two versions mini and big.  I made the big version. 

The most time consuming part for me was cutting out all those tiny pieces.  Make sure you have a good, sharp pair of embroidery scissors.  Pretty impossible to use your dress shears.  A majority of this guy is made by hand using a blanket stitch or a running stitch.  The only time you'll need your machine is when assembling the body.  I have not sewn much by hand so I referred to youtube to help me master the blanket stitch.  Not hard at all.  

I love these kind of projects.  When I don't have to worry about sizing or wearing the item I'm making out in public I feel free to throw my perfectionist tendencies out the window.  What a load off that can be.  

I used my hot glue gun to attach his legs and his googly eyes.  His smile is my first real attempt at embroidery.  Again I relied on youtube but I was totally winging it.   It took me a couple days to realize this but in all my excitement to hurry and get him finished I forgot a couple pieces of the pattern, the soles to his shoes.  So should he ever attempt to stand up and run away..well I hope he knows how to skate!

His little pocket is perfect for holding my little seam ripper.