Archives for 2012

I don’t know why felt balls are so appealing…..but they are. They are soft and bouncy. There are so many projects you can use them for: garland, hair accessories, wreaths etc…..I’m just getting started. I set out today to make some of my own using a wet felting process. Wet felting is the process of taking layers of wool roving or wool yarn and combining them into one piece of felt.  Making a felt ball is the easiest form of wet felting there is….taking layers of wool roving (combed wool) and creating a dense, uniform, and seamless ball. You can purchase pre-dyed packages of 100% wool roving in a variety of colors:

 

Or you can dye your own natural wool roving with Jacquard acid dye.…or even Kool-aid (I’ll have a separate tutorial for dyeing tomorrow):

 

To start the felting process, I filled a tub full of hot water and added about a tablespoon of dish soap to create a sudsy mixture. I cut pieces of wool roving into pre-measured sections so that my felt balls would end up uniform in size:

(Note: it’s not recommended to cut felt with scissors because you want to retain the long fibers….but for felt balls I’m lazy and don’t feel like weighing out a gazillion different piles of wool)

For each ball, I pulled apart the roving to create a large puff ball that I shaped into a roundish shape:

 

Next, I dipped the wool into the hot, soapy water and began to shape it carefully into a round shape using the palms of my hands:

 

Round and round I rolled the wool, careful not to press too hard, until it began to felt…..you will feel it becoming denser, and denser as you roll:

 

I rolled each felt ball until it was a perfectly round, dense piece of felt. Then I rinsed each ball out carefully and set it to dry. Change the hot water as it cools…..hot, soapy water is the key.

 

Each felt ball needs to dry for about 24 hours so it can completely dry out:

 

 

So easy even a 5-year-old can do it!

 

 

I used this batch as felt beads…..threading them onto some elastic string:

 

A bright and fun piece of jewelry! Stay tuned for more felting tutorials!

 

 

Click here to see other felt and fiber art tutorials I’ve done!

I purchased all of my felting materials and tools at Dharma Trading….click here to see their selection!