Here’s a fun project that combines two of our favorite craft materials— walnut shells and wool roving! These walnut shell pincushions are so fun to make and you can create different variations of them for different seasons. They are made by needle felting wool roving into a walnut shell, then attaching a needle felted item on top. Since Halloween is coming up we decided to needle felt miniature ghosts to attach. Since you can felt the pincushion and ghost to the degree of your ability, this is a great project for a beginner or for a child. Elliot (5 years old) felted the pincushion base by himself and we felted the ghost minimally so that he can also replicate that independently as well.

Materials:

– wool roving
– felting needle (with holder / needle only)
– felting mat
– walnut shell

Instructions to make a needle felted ghost walnut shell pincushion

Step 1: How to create the base for the needle felted ghost

Grab a very small amount of ivory wool roving and separate the fibers. Roll the fibers together into a ball and use your felting needle to poke the ball a number of times to form a small ball. Grab some more wool roving and separate the fibers. Place the small ball in the center of the wool roving and wrap the roving around the ball.

Step 2: How to needle felt a ghost

Use your felting needle to attach the outside roving to the inner base. Create eyes and a mouth for the ghost using a small amount of black or brown wool roving.

Step 3: How to make the pincushion

Grab a small handful of wool roving and separate the fibers. Roll the fibers together into a ball and loosely secure the fibers with your felting needle. Push the roving into your walnut shell half and use your felting needle to felt it into place. Once the pincushion is felted to your liking, use your felting needle to attach the ghost on top.