Here's and easy way to make the felted balls you need for that project. And it's great to do with kids. They love the "magic" that happens during the felting process and this technique contains the soapy water mess.
Get a small plastic container. Fluff your wool a little by pulling it apart. (You can use just one color of blend a few together)
Add a drop or two of dish soap that been watered down (50/50). But you really only need a drop or two or it will get way too soapy!
Also a little warm water from your tap. Then seal the container.
And shake.... and shake.... and shake. In all directions, side to side, up and down. Round and round.
Soon you'll see the wool getting smaller and forming a little ball.
When your wool ball feels firm and all the fibers have come together your done. Rise and let dry.
Once they are dry they are ready for felted acorns, or any other projects you can think of!
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51 comments:
Are you serious??? I have got to try this. I have a project that I want to do that requires 15 or so felted balls and I was not looking forward to making them. I will have to try this out. Very cool idea!
LOL- yup, seriously. It's such an easy way to make little felted balls, I hope it helps you.
You can also make bigger ones too- just use a larger container and moor wool. Bigger ones are great for making cat toys!
I do not believe you thought of this! OMG! It is awesome! Looks like it should work perfectly!
I still have some of the roving you sent in my giant crafty box that i won on you giveaway earlier this year and I have soap and water and zip lock containers! Have GOT to give this a try!
GIRL, that's so simple and brilliant! I love it!
I have to try this! I have always thought that this felting was too hard to do but this looks easy! Thank you for sharing this!
LuLu~*xoxo
Thanks everyone for leaving comments!
Pam: I did not invent this- and cant take the invention credit. : )
Can't remember where I learned it, from someone I know I think. It's just the way I know how to make little felted balls. And I thought it was pretty common knowledge until I realized that I never really saw anything online about making them this way.
It really is very simple! I wish I could figure out how to use this technique to felt anything besides balls... it would make all felting waaaay easier!
What a great idea! I actually like to make felted wool balls but it is rather rough on the hands after a while! About how long do you have to shake it?
I too have to say thank you
I have been needlefelting little balls because I can't stand the feeling of wet, soapy wool on the palms of my hands..
Holly and Carabeth, thanks for your comments. Glad this could help you!
Holly- timing is a little different depending on the type or even colors of wool. The green ball I made for the tutorial only took about 5 minutes. The pink and white one took 8-10 I'd say. (But white wool can be hard to felt).
Like most wet felting I think it also takes just a little experimentation to get the right soap to water ratio.
That can effect how long it takes too.
You want enough water so that the wool shakes around the container instead of sticking to one spot.
Just made 10 with my 7 year old daughter. Thank you!!!!
Wow Lydia- you made my day!
Thank you : )
What if you made up multipe containers like this and then put them in either the washer or the dryer (no heat) with a few towels or even a load of clothes??
Hi Abby,
Neat idea- but personally I think I'd be scared to try putting a plastic container in the washer. The mister wanted a front loader but I insisted that we have a top loader so I could felt, I bet breaking the washer outright would result in some marital discord.
You can make larger (2 or 3 inch) felted wool balls in the washer. Cover a styrofoam ball with wool and put a bit of pantyhose over the whole thing. Throw it in the washer with hot water (you need hot water to felt). I usually make a half dozen a time that way.
If you try your idea let me know!
That looks fun, but don't know what I'd use them for unless you could post the acorn crafts???? Please!!
Hi Jan,
I don't have an acorns in my yard, but I can find some I'll make some acorns and post it. But I bet if you googled felted acorns you find a bunch of results.
If you make some a little bigger than the one I made they are great cat toys.
They make wonderful tails for knit softies (like rabbits, and bears)- here's a link where I used it for a little wool ball for a rabbit because I hate to make pom poms.
http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/04/bunnies-are-finished.html
You can use them as trim for pillows or scarves, and even make a necklace or bracelet out of them by mixing them with beads.
Hope that helps!
AMAZING IDEA! I needlefelt, hate wet felting, so this is awesome. i just did 3 in under 15 min. I used an old container from little ceasers, it has a serrated bottom, which causes more friction, causing the roving to felt faster.... thank u, thank u!
I'm so glad this worked for you- I like both needle and wet felting but they are very different experiences! I can see how it would be easy to really like one and not the other.
The container with the textured bottom is a great tip- I'll have to keep my eye out for one!
Do you know if these felt balls are similar to the felt balls that are sold as a green alternative to dryer sheets?
The "dryer" felt balls are supposed to reduce the static and help soften the items being dried.
Hi Kadiya,
I don't know if these are at all similar to dryer balls. Are those made of wool too?
I think just based on the size of these they are best suited to crafting. They are so small they'd definitely disappear to wherever it is all the single socks go!
: )
So excited to try this! Do you have to buy this "roving" everyone is mentioning or can I use scraps of wool yarn? Would this change the directions at all? Thanks!!!
~Eliza
The term roving describes one way that unspun wool is sold. You call also use wool in batts which are large sheets. Any unspun wool you have will work with this method.
And that's a really great question about using wool yarn instead of unspun fiber!
I've never tried it but I have needle felted with yarn and wet felted a knit item in the washing machine. Based on that experience my guess would be that it will take a lot longer to felt or may not really felt that much at all.
But why not roll up a little ball of yarn and try? It's wool so you should get at least some felting that happens. I definitely think it's worth a shot- if you try it please let me know!!
Wow! That is so neat! Thanks for sharing this awesome tip! I never knew you could make these! Def. pinning this! I have a party going on over at my blog if you want to join! I'd love to have you! Check it out under the "Stache Party" page on my blog: mylilpumpkinpatch.blogspot.com
I never knew you could do this! I will have to try it with my kiddos! Thanks for sharing! Stopping by from Someday Crafts link party
What a genius idea! Definitely one of those "I should have thought of that" moments. :) Thanks so much for sharing!
AWESOME! Thanks so much for the tips on how to make these! Will be giving it a try for sure! Pop Art Minis
Thanks for the comments! If you give it a try let me know how it worked out for you. Or even better send me a link to any projects you've done with them- I'd LOVE to see them!
I love it! I have some smaller amounts of roving, but I immediately thought! FAUX pompoms!! and i HATE making them - I am a serial pompom killer! You have pretty totally solved my elf shoe embellishments, and my life! (well, except for money - LOL!) But time, Hands down! Thank you! Would LOVE to see felted acorns. (I have an acorn fetish!) LOL!
Jen!
One more Question! Drying time?
for say 1/2 - 1 inch balls? like a day on the counter. or in a mesh bag in the dryer - sure they will get smaller, but that can be accommodated! LOL!
Jen again...
Hi Jen,
Glad this helps you- I hate making traditional pom poms too! : )
Drying time really depends on how much water you use. I set mine out on the counter (or if it's nice the deck in the sun) and I think they are dry in a 3-4 hours but typically I just leave them overnight to be sure they are completely dry.
I did make end up making felted acorns, the post is here: http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/09/ideas-for-acorns.html
There are some other acorn ideas in that post too!
Found this idea on Pinterest!!! So awesome! I just made two. I am so excited. Thank you for sharing. :)
Oh, that's so cool! I cannot WAIT to try this, thank you! (Now I know what to do with that fleece that turned out to be not soft enough for me to want to spin it up on my wheel.)
These are really crafty clever cute and I'm anxious to make some as I've been doing it the "hard" way, as in knitting and felting. I'd like to know if you could elaborate a bit on the type of wool in batts that is sold in sheets as opposed to roving. Where do you find this; what type of store carries it? What is it called? I am familiar with lots of knitting and craft stores and see roving a lot, but not the sheet batting. What did you use? Thank you too much :)!
Hi AlisonH, that's a perfect use for wool that isn't as soft as you thought it would be!
Thanks Carol,
Wool batts refers to wool that's in sheets. The same wool can come on both roving and batts or it can be different. Batts are made on something called a drum carder or other similar machine.
I can get batts at the store I usually go to New England Felting supply (they have a website too) but you can also search online or check any store that sells wool they will probably either have wool batts or know someone who does.
Is there a way to figure out how much wool you need for different sizes of the balls? I want to try this soooo bad, but not sure how much wool to use. Also, is wool made for needle felting okay, or does it have to be for wet felting? Thanks!
Hi Edie, All good questions. For the amount of wool to use, you can see from the pictures that a good sized handful winds up making a small call maybe 1 inch across. How much the wool shrinks really depends on the kind of wool, even sometimes the color and how much you felt it.
As for your second question- I used the same wool to make these that I use for needle felting.
Hope that helps!
Super excited to try this!! I'm new to the felt world...what kind of felt do you get? I've seen people just get sheets from the craft store and pull it apart...is that the most cost efficient way to go about this? Sorry if its a repeat question!
ok, total blonde moment...despite reading the posts I still came home with wool that was ready to knit! Cut 24inches or so off, pulled it apart as best as I could and shook until the cows came home!! After looking in the tub for the 5th time and seeing what resembles wheat pasta in alfredo sauce I finally realized I used the wrong wool. grrr Back to the yarn store tomorrow :-)
Christina
Hi Kelsey, I'm glad you are going to venture into the world of felting. Some craft stores (the michaels near me for one) have needle felting supplies. They carry wool with those supplies that will work but in my experience it's very expensive. If you go to a knitting store that carries felting/spinning supplies they will have wool more reasonably priced.
Oh no Christina! So sorry you grabbed the wrong type of wool. And as you found out yarn doesn't really work with this. You want a bit roving or a chunk of a batt of wool. This kind of wool is for needle felting, wet felting or spinning.
Awesome! Thanks so much :) Also, do you have any tutorials or know of any good ones for needle felting? I'd love to give that a go as well!
Ok, I tried this and shook that container for over half and hour. All I have is something that resembles what you might pull out of the shower drain. Perhaps the particular roving I used is unsuitable?
Lisa
Kelsey- I sent you an email about needle felting.
Lisa- Sorry this didn't work out for you. Three things I've thought of that might be going on. What type of wool are you using? Merino felts, but it doesn't felt as easily as some others. You want the wool to start out feeling kind of coarse- not smooth. Coarse wool felts easier. But I'm not really convinced that's the problem- if it's wool eventually it will felt.
What I think is most likely happening is that you either have too much water or not enough soap. You really only need enough water to make the wool move around in the container. And just a drop or two of diluted soap.
I just tried it! I made two owl buddies :) I am already sososo addicted. Needle felting is so fun!! Thank you for inspiring me!
Kelsey I'm so happy to tried it! And yes it is very addictive, lol. Do you have a picture you can send me? I'd love to see how your project turned out.
: )
Definitely! I just emailed some to you :) Let me know what you think!
Where did you buy the wool material? A specialty yarn shop? Or any basic craft store? Thanks!
I buy my wool from New England Felting Supply. They are close to me but also have a website.
Fun way to make a ball, I might have to try this with my Bever group! Thanks.
Wow so cool and easy - thanks
Well we just made them at school - children as young as 3 could make them. It was so much fun. Thanks again for sharing.
You can check out how it went here
http://strongstart.blogspot.com/2012/02/wet-felted-eggs.html
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