I have made some pincushions with human hair (mine and my daughter's) and others with wool roving. The ones with hair keep my pins and needles sharp -- my mom and grandmother did this as well, but they had friends bring theirs when they got their hair cut and then gave that person the pincushion. They sewed a muslin sack to contain the hair and then embroidered patterns on monks cloth and covered the stuffed sacks. I made some like that with wool roving but put cotton fabric over it. The muslin helped stop bearding.