Mini Felted Pumpkins

As Autumn sets in my felting box always comes down off the shelf, with the soft wool calling to be magicked into a soft toy or something for the nature table. I'm always a bit rusty after the warmer months though, so it's good to start with something easy. These little pumpkins couldn't be simpler, and they're just perfect for this time of year!

You will need: Felting wool, Felting needle, Felting pad, Embroidery thread, Scissors, Embroidery needle.

1. Pull away some wool and roll it into a ball, as tightly as you can.

2. Protecting a surface with a felting pad, push your felting needle in and out of the ball of wool. The small barbs on the needle will mesh the wool together so that the ball starts to hold shape by itself.

The more that you use your needle the tighter the wool will become, but you can always add extra layers of wool if you feel that the ball is becoming too small.

Don't make it too tight though, as you want to be able to create those lovely pumpkin segments with your thread:

3. Cut a piece of embroidery thread that you can wrap around your ball a minimum of 4 times, with some extra for knotting the ends.

4. Tie a big knot at one end of your thread and push it through your ball of felted wool. When it comes out the other side take it back down to the hole it first went through and push it up again.

5. When your thread comes out the top again bring it down on the opposite side, and take it back through the original hole once more.

Give your thread a bit of a pull to tighten it and create the segments.

6. Repeat this process to divide the ball into quarters and then eighths, then take the thread back down through the middle and tie it to the knot at the bottom.

7. Take a small piece of wool in a different shade and felt it into something that could be a stork, leaving some strands of wool loose so that you can felt them to the top of the ball.

8. Decide what to do with your mini pumpkins! Give them to a child as play food, string them together as a halloween garland, or have fun scattering them on your nature table!

Autumn nature tables are just the best, with all the amazing colours and shapes of the leaves, cones, nut shells and caps to play and craft with, not to mention the berries, mushrooms and pumpkins providing inspiration!

If you're feeling creative we have so many Autumn Crafting ideas on our blog. Check out these for starters:

Conker Fun, Autumn Nature Weaving, Teasel Hedgehog, Wet Felted Acorns