I tend to be a bit wordy (aka verbose), but hopefully you can glean what you need to know from this post in order to make your own peace pins. Mine are 1 3/4” square and take about an hour to make … but I’ve had a fair bit of practice, so they may take you a bit longer at first.

Ideally, you will have materials on hand that can be used at no cost. That said, here’s what I use …

Lightweight linen … in the past I’ve repurposed linen clothing from the thrift store, but more recently I’ve enjoyed used Malka’s hand-dyed linen from A Stitch in Dye …

DMC six-strand floss … which I most often find in my box of hand-dyed floss purchased from Deb Lacativa …

Needles … my current favorites are John James Size 10 sharps … beware, they are challenging to thread! Alternatively, John James Size 10 Big Eye Quilting needles.

Straight pins … I’ve only recently discovered these tiny applique pins that are the absolute best

Safety pins … I used to use larger safety pins, but they’re tough on clothing … I’m currently using 1 1/16” straight safety pins

Erasable cloth markers … there are a ton of options out there, but I’m partial to Madam Sew as they leave a fine line that can be erased with an iron or hair dryer

Strip of card stock cut to the finished peace pin size … mine is 1 3/4” but you may choose to make your pins any size and can cut your card stock accordingly

So it begins … and yes, there is method to my madness (wink)

Start by tearing a strip of linen to your preferred finished peace pin size plus 3/4” for turning under later. My peace pins are 1 3/4” so I tear strips that are 2 1/2” wide. If needed, spritz the linen strip with water and press with an iron to tame any curled edges.

Note: Linen can be challenging to tear, but it usually gives more easily in one direction than the other, so be open to trying both ways. You can certainly cut your linen, but I tend to reserve cutting for shorter lengths.

Next, cut a square from the linen strip and trace an outline of the finished peace pin onto the cloth with an erasable marker.

Practice lettering words to fit the intended size of your finished peace pin. Then write your words with erasable marker onto your linen square.

Note: I learned back in my teaching days that it looked better if you deliberately staggered the letters on a bulletin board rather than trying to line them up. The advice stands for stitching letters on cloth, so stagger away …

I also take Jude Hill’s advice to heart: embrace your own handwriting as it is uniquely you. To that end, I use her split backstitch method for lettering with a single strand of floss, which Jude calls splitting hairs.

Choose a floss that will contrast with your linen color. I work with fairly long 24” strands measured from fingertip to shoulder. Beware that longer lengths snarl more easily, so I repeatedly run the floss through my fingers before threading the needle … I also take care to spin the needle between my fingers every few stitches to keep the thread from twisting, which helps, but beware: no method is foolproof, so snarls still happen.

Thread your needle and either knot or backstitch the thread to secure it on the back of your linen.

Bring your needle up onto the front of your peace pin and take small stitches using the threads of the linen cloth as your guide. I tend to make my initial backstitch 4-5 threads in length and then advance the needle 3 threads ahead for each stitch. This is admittedly quite fine. I don’t count threads for every stitch, I just go by what the cloth and the thread seem to need. You may choose to make larger peace pins with larger letters using two strands of floss. As the saying goes, you do you!

At the end of the thread or the lettering, whichever comes first, anchor the thread by running it through the stitches on the backside, then clip. Repeat as needed until you complete the lettering …

Cut a second piece of linen for the backing. I often do a different color on the back, but take care not to put a dark backing on a light colored peace pin as it may show through.

Finger press the linen squares over the strip of cover stock … first folding over the top and bottom edges of the cloth, and then the sides. Repeat with the backing linen.

Line up the front and back and pin together with straight pins, making sure that the interior folds of one side are at right angles to the interior folds of the other side …

Thread your needle with two strands of floss and knot the end. Bring the needle through the interior top left corner of the peace pin and come out about 1/2” down on the left edge of the peace pin. Whip stitch around all four sides until you return to the first stitch.

Pass the needle through the middle of the peace pin and come out where the safety pin will be stitched on to the backing.

Open the safety pin and stitch it to the backing, being sure not to catch your needle on the front of the peace pin. I usually make three or four passes back and forth to be sure the safety pin is secure.

Anchor your thread by making several small backstitches and cut the thread end close to the cloth …

More recently, I’ve been putting a 1 5/8” square of white cover stock behind the front of the peace pin and just holding it in hand while stitching rather than pinning the front and back together. I’ve also switched to using these pin backs …

Gently iron the front of the peace pin to remove any erasable pen marks …

And you’re done!

Please feel free to share these directions with anyone who’s interested. My only request is that the directions and the peace pins themselves not be monetized in any way.

Last, but not least, I would be delighted to share any pictures or links of your own peace pins if you care to send them my way.

To a learn more about the project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.

☮️ Liz

Two fellow travelers requested “seek peace” pins …

yellow for Tina in Wisconsin and green for Sue in Illinois.

Tina also shared images from the original peace pin project, with her permission to post them here …

The “I voted” and “for peace” pins were stitched on Tina’s own hand-dyed cloth … and I love that the background of the “imagine peace” pin is the cover of a journal that she made for her granddaughter.

Likewise, here’s a pin that I gave to our server after our anniversary dinner, which included a complimentary lobster dish …

Peace is surely found when shared.

And now I need to spend some time writing up a how-to piece … another form of sharing … while awaiting some linen from A Stitch in Dye for all you blue peace pin lovers out there 😉

To a learn more about the project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.