I use half walnut shells and half rice. I made several "chicken" pincushions as gifts to family members and I liked the weight of them.

I bought my large (10 or 20 lbs? so long ago I don't remember) bag of crushed walnut shells at my local feed store. I do remember it was dirt cheap. I gifted ziplocks to my guild friends and also sold a few bags at my cost and I still have some left over somewhere in my room after making dozens of chickens.

I've used the sand before, but I washed it first. Just wrap in a tightly woven cloth, let water run over , let dry. I spread mine on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels to dry faster.

Just so you know, people who are allergic to peanuts are not necessarily allergic to all nuts. as peanuts are a legume (pea or bean), not a nut. It's my understanding that people are allergic to the protein in the peanut (I used to be a chef.), so walnut shells would not not trigger an allergic reaction. Tree nut allergy is not very common.

However, that said, (and just to be safe) you could print up a whole page of tiny labels that say "contains tree nut shells" and attach them to the pin cushions with a pin. (You could use 80 to a page label template in Word.) They would be easily removable, give fair warning and would not cost anything to speak of.

bkay

Silica sand is poisonous. The bag I had said it was highly dangerous.

I'm sorry, but this isn't quite accurate. Maybe the bag you had contained other ingredients, but silica sand by itself is quite safe. One of the main uses for it is water filtration.

Another place to get walnut shells is at sporting good stores. It's used to polish brass shells. I don't know how the cost compares to the pet store shells.

I have a friend who is allergic to lanolin, so she can't enjoy anything wool. I think the best idea is to know who you're making the pin cushion for and use something appropriate for them. If you want to sell them at a bazaar, sort and label them accordingly.

Actually tree nuts are one of the top 8 most common allergens and they are common enough. Believe me, we've been dealing with both peanut and tree nut allergy for over 20 yrs. The person you quoted did not say anything at all about peanuts so I am not sure why you even mentioned that. I have a very good feeling she knows that peanuts aren't nuts. It is impossible to fully remove every bit of walnut from the shell and even if you did, there could still be trace protein on the shells so yes, it's still a risk. My daughter had full body hives for over a week (while on steroids and antihistamines) just from breathing in the air while standing near a booth roasting nuts. There's no chance I would risk walnut shells which actually touched walnuts with her.

The place I would like to sell pincushions at is a nut free zone, so whatever I fill with cannot be walnut shells. I have heard of people using just polyfill?

It seems like the greatest danger for people with severe allergies is the ignorance of others who don't have them. Most people have heard of peanut allergies because the allergen can be transferred without direct contact, but there are many other allergens that can be fatal as well. Please label what you are making; there may be allergies you haven't heard of. It doesn't need to be a big old warning - just a "contains" list. People with severe allergies are smart enough to check and will love you for the respect shown in doing it.

hugs,
charlotte

HOMESPUN, as I remember, the emery in the strawberry does eventually come out through the fabric cover. The pieces are so teeny tiny that I wondered if they would work into the skin on fingers so I tossed mine.