Beechnut Children

You will need:

  • 1 open beechnut with a stalk
  • Wisp of flesh pink NZ or AM Merino
  • Wisp of coloured wool batt (hat)
  • Tiny wisp of contrasting colour batt or top (chest)
  • Small amounts of tight curls Leicester or Blueface Leicester curls
  • Tiny wisps of black (eyes) and red (mouth)
  • Medium Felting needle #38, small felting mat
  • Optional: #26 gauge wire if stalk on nut is missing
 

Time to collect Beechnuts! This summer has been giving them to us in abundance. Ideally choose the ones that are open and have a stalk. If the stalk is missing you can make a hole with a sturdy needle and insert a thin wire (#26 or less). We have used our white paper covered wire.
Start by wrapping the flesh pink wool around the stalk about 1-1.5cm above the nut shell. Keep wool flat and tight like a ribbon. If using a wire, bend the wire in at the top after a first thin wrap to trap the wool and tuck the sharp wire end away.
Use the felting needle and felt down a little felting along the stalk. Throughout this project it will be hard to stab the wool as you are working on a tiny scale close to the hard nut or stalk.
Stand the nut up and decide what will be the face. Each nut will be slightly wonky when standing up but it will add to the charm especially if you are making a few Beechnut Children. Build the head about 1cm in diameter. Then add a tiny black dot for an eye.
Make another eye and a red mouth in the same way.

Use the curls to cover the head. Bear in mind the hat will be covering most of it. Mind the needle as it will not have much wool depth to stab into the shape.

 

Next take a wisp of your contrast wool top or bat and wrap around the top of the nut shell so the wool grips into the prickly surface like a dusting.

 

Take a wisp of the hat coloured wool and flatten into a shape of about 5x5cm.

 

 

Fold in half.

Then lay flat on your mat and stab the folded edge into a curved edge. This will be the edge of the hat. Felt all over a little but leave the other edges wispy.
Fold in half so that the curved edge is at the base. Then felt the sides together form both sides and shape the top of the hat to be pointy.
You should now have a little hat that you can add onto the head of the beechnut child by gently stabbing through the hat into the head.

Your Beechnut Child is finished! You could also hang these up by adding a thread through the top of the hat.