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Large star-shaped pincushion, supposedly made in the 1870s by a sailor in the Royal Navy and sent to his family as souvenir. The pincushion is constructed from a patchwork of woven wool pieces with a raised nap (cream, red, yellow green, dark pink and two types of blue), tightly stuffed with sawdust. The front is decorated with pins pushed through different colour glass beads and sequins. These form borders, subdividing the star shape into different diamond shaped panels which, in turn, are filled with anchors, crowns, flags and inscription, all picked out by beaded pins. All beads are roughly the same size and come in different colours, some of which are clear and some opaque.

Along the side edges of the pin cushion, there is a silk fringe made from black, brown, green and cream threads. It has a narrow (4mm wide) weave and the fringe itself is just over 3cm long. The brown, green and cream are two-ply, S-twist, and the black is 3-ply, Z-twist. The woven section of the fringe is completely covered by sequins held by beaded pins and is only visible in those places where the beads and sequins have gone missing (pins remain in place).

Reverse is constructed from four sections of tabby woven wool with a raised nap: two black and two red. The two reds and the two blacks are each diagonally opposite each other(creating a check pattern) and are joined with hand-sewn stitches. On one continuous seam, all fabric edges (seam allowances) face inwards, while on the other seam the red is on top in one half and the black overlaps the red on the other half.