Tuesday 8 November 2011

So... Felting

As I mentioned previously, I recently bought some merino top in a lovely burnt orange so that I could try felting.

At the weekend I decided to give it a quick try *grins* So I grabbed my supplies and went with the simplest thing I could think of - the felted balls.

Pulling off thin tufts of the top was fun - it's so fluffy, see?



And I'm really pleased with how the balls came out... They're a range of sizes, although they're all pretty small because I had no idea if it would work. I plan to make some more that are slightly bigger. Still not sure what I'm going to do with them, but that's hardly the point *laughs*



I used quite a few different tutorials to end up with a method I liked, so I thought I'd make a note of it here in case anyone else is interested.

  • Supplies: feltable material (I used merino top but I have no idea what else you can use!), bowl of hot soapy water, hands ;)
  • Pull off small sections of the top into little wisps. Shape around themselves to make a ball 
  • Dunk the ball into the water, fully submerging it - at this point mine no longer resembled a ball and just felt like a blob of wet wool, but I carried on and it worked out, so don't panic!
  • Very gently roll the ball around the palms of your hands, forming it back into the correct shape
  • Continue doing this for a little while until you can feel it starting to get denser and harder
  • As it gets denser you can put a little more pressure on as you roll it around, but don't do that to start with or it'll get squished ;)
  • When the ball reaches your desired size and consistency, rinse and leave to dry.
And voila, a felted ball *grins*


10 comments:

  1. Oh, those are adorable! Wonder what you'll end up making with them.

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  2. Super felting, the last one makes me think of a clown nose, but that might be my screen settings making it look more red than orange

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  3. yay, felt balls! And did you see this?
    http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2011/11/decorate-felt-balls-with-embroidery.html (i saw it and thought of you)

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  4. This was really interesting- I have never known how to felt, so thanks for the introduction to it

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  5. Cute! making felt balls is so addictive, isn't it?

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  6. Thanks for the instructions. I'd tried needle felting/sculpting a while back and didn't get anywhere with it but now I want to try this method.

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  7. I've always wanted to felt. Have you tried needle felting? The sculptural aspect draws me in...

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  8. Oh fun! These would make fun balls for my 20 month old or with a thread or string, great tree decorations!

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