May 26, 2013 at 10:44 am. Scrap Plan 1! Then, soak the ball in hot, soapy water and roll it in your hands as it shrinks. Each skein will make 1 Softball sized Dryer Ball. Adorable felt balls projects you can make on your own or with your kids. (via Live Craft Eat) DIY Yarn Ornaments. Method 1 of 2: Making a Felt Sheet. Just wrap the yarn … Cover a styrofoam ball with wool and put a bit of pantyhose over the whole thing. Do NOT use wool yarn for this step, as it will felt. October 11, 2016 at 7:49 pm. into a nylon stocking and tie the end(s) off so it won’t fall out. Yarn Wrapped Christmas Tree Ornament: I love the look of these pretty pom pom Christmas tree ornaments. Work slowly, making sure the needle pierces each felt ball fully to secure it to the backing or to the next felt ball. I will use your pattern to make gifts. The pom poms will be tied to this to form the rug itself. You can use any 100% Wool Yarn suitable for felting, but DO NOT buy Wool Yarn that is labeled ‘Superwash’ or ‘Machine Washable’ & NO Acrylic! You can buy a skein of 100% wool yarn for fairly cheap, just make sure it is feltable wool, not superwash wool. In this post, I'm sharing the easy-to-follow tutorial for this felt ball wreath. Steps. American Felt and Craft will show you how it’s done! Using your Wool Dryer Balls. Steps. You can make them as long or as short as you want, depending how much embroidery floss/bakers twine you use, how many felt balls you have, and how far apart you put them. If you plan on joining several different weights of yarn scraps, just make sure they are just one step up (or down) in thickness, from the yarn you are joining to. You meant don’t use the yarn to tie the knots between the balls! If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know I love allll the colors! I simply wrapped several layers of wool roving around my yarn and yarn balls to form new balls. You must use 100% wool yarn, and not all wools will felt (keep from unraveling). Felt sheets are the most basic, but felt balls can be just as fun to make.When you are done, you can turn your handmade felt into pretty patches or beaded garlands! Like our other felt products, our craft felt balls are of the highest quality. An interesting example here is this adorable yarn wreath that has been embellished with the felt flowers! Depending on how ‘magic’ you want your yarn ball to be, you can either join scrap yarns randomly (like I did), for a surprise result on your finished project. If you try your idea let me know! Once you have all your dryer balls made, it’s time to “felt” them! Definitely want to try this, and will make a bunch to give as gifts, but please clarify? Around $2 - $3 per skein (roll). Use your fingers to pull apart some wool into tufts. When learning how to make wool dryer balls you’ll see that some types of wool yarn will not felt well on the first try. Then tie off the pantyhose with a piece of string or washable (acrylic) yarn. The best yarn is 100% wool. Plan 2: Dryer Balls Made from Old Wool Sweaters . This comes in so many beautiful colors, and felts beautifully! Crochet yourself a bag to felt, or sew the newly felted piece afterward. And stay tuned! The tutorial below shows you how to make two dryer balls from one skein of yarn. Art Bar Blog has your gift wrapping sorted, thanks to this amazing felt gift garland tutorial. Do you know you can transform shapeless wool fibers into colorful felt balls that really bounce? You can make larger (2 or 3 inch) felted wool balls in the washer. I made 6 of each yarn (one grey, one beige), and tied them inside the legs of an old pair of pantyhose. A much easier way to make homemade dryer balls is by using just wool yarn, which is much more readily available. Then add another ball and tie off the pantyhose again. I think I figured it out. Start by forming the shape of the ball using wool felt. (via Make and Takes) 4. You can even make bookends using felt – genius! These would be great gift toppers too! Throw it in the washer with hot water (you need hot water to felt). It is made from colorful felt balls and is so, so easy to make! Now you can clip the little fuzz balls (being careful not to cut the actual piece!) 5. Well, unless you happen to be a felt maker, spinner or have a sheep farm, you wouldn’t know. It will be used to make the pom poms for the rug. for one of the boys’ Hanukkah gifts, so that’s the only reason I chose not to include them in this one All you’ll need for this project is some wool roving (scraps of 100% wool yarn will work as well) and an old pair of pantyhose. The balls should be about the size of a lime, and not wound to tightly, nor too loose. Part 1 of 3: Forming the Felt Ball. You’ll know felting has occurred when you can gently scrape your fingernail over the ball and strands do not separate. 6. 5. Pull the free end of the yarn into the center of your ball. Plan 1: Dryer Balls Made from Wool Yarn. You can either sew the balls to a cotton backing piece or string groups of balls together to form a single row, and then sew those rows to one another. Jessica says. Because I want the center yarn to felt as the roving on the ball felts. I had saved several of our old wool dryer balls that were beginning to unravel or had exploded in the dryer, and used those for the core of several new dryer balls. (Note: video doesn't show how to make a yarn holder, it is included to show the type of jug to use.) You’ll pay another $8 for the baker’s twine and $3 for a pack of yarn darning needle. So, I started collecting a pile of loose yarn scraps to make into little felt balls. Stick one of the balls down into the toe of some pantyhose. These yarn types will NOT felt and you will be left with a mess. Once you’re happy with the size and look of the felt ball, rinse it off in cool water and let it air dry. Netta says. jewelry thread or fishing wire; a sewing needle; a tension rod that fits your window; Instructions: Start by deciding how many strands of balls you want to make. October 11, 2016 at 6:38 pm. I mean c’mon, don’t be ridiculous. I have some made from Alpaca that are fabulous. They can become beads, cat toys, or whatever you like. How I made a yarn and felt window hanging Supplies: yarn (I used 100% cotton in navy, yellow and white to match my living room) ribbon; felt balls (There are a ton of felt balls in different color combos on Amazon.com.) The process is very similar to using the roving, but you’re going to have to work the material a little more. It may take 3-4 cycles for the wool strands to bond together and have the “felted” exterior that you want to achieve. You can use a crochet hook to pull it into the center of the ball, or just poke it into the center of your ball of yarn. If you have a large plastic milk jug with a handle, as pictured in the above video, this can easily do duty as a yarn holder. Whether you are looking for a single color of felt balls, a themed color set of felted balls, or just a wide selection of colored felt wool balls, The Felt Pod has just what you are looking for. It occurred to me that I do not have to throw away all those little scraps of yarn because they will felt. The bigger the rug, the more yarn you'll need. You can make the dryer balls to any convenient size, but the ones you can buy are about nine inches around. You can even add a few decorations as you’re rolling the ball. I could have made mine even longer because I had some balls left over that I didn’t use, but I had already covered my whole wall so decided to end it there. Rug canvas. You can also make your balls using felt sheets (or scraps of felt sheets), or yarn scraps. I’ll be saving these balls (and making a bunch more – warning, it’s addictive!) A 4-foot garland with balls spaced 1-inch apart would require 24 balls and might cost you $7.50 in solid felt balls plus about $4 shipping. Wash your newly wrapped dryer balls on a hot water cycle and dry on high heat to felt them. I might just have a tutorial coming for that as well! Be sure to check thrift stores and second hand stores for lower prices. Connie says. *Note: If you have 100% wool yarn or old 100% wool sweaters, etc., you can use those for the core of your wool dryer balls. Ha! Here is how to make it millionmoments. Since the natural wool balls shrink a little prior to felting, you can make them about ten or so inches in circumference to get a finished size similar to the commercial dryer balls. If you love color in your home, then this vibrant and fun DIY wreath is for you! After wrapping your yarn into balls, you wash them in pantyhose so the yarn “felts” together and becomes a solid ball that won’t unravel. I have been using them for about a year now. Synthetic or cotton will not felt. 1. Making a felt ball is incredibly easy; simply wind wisps of wool into a blob, dip it in hot, soapy water, and gently roll it into shape with your hands. Yarn. Connie. You really only need cheap wool yarn for these dryer balls – just make sure it’s all (or mostly) sheep, alpaca or other protein fiber. 1. This can be done with loads of laundry to help conserve energy. These felt balls projects will take no more than a few minutes of your time. Hi Connie, I didn’t know that you can make them with Alpaca as well. You’ll still want to use wool felt or wool yarn. So, if you need easy, last minute decor, gift and craft ideas , they’re all that and more! Children are going to love having their own felt letter and letterbox set to play with. The former method will result in a one-sided rug, while the latter will be decorative on both sides. I went on a used-wool-sweater-buying-binge 2 years ago when I was heavy into making wool diaper soakers for Remy. Reply. When you have a ball around 6cm in diameter, you can stop and cut the yarn. A Lion’s Nest has created this quirky and cool rhino bookend which can also be used as a doorstop. Felt Balls from Yarn Scrap I have been knitting predominantly with wool and alpaca yarns lately. If you use the cheaper styrofoam balls with the rough edges, the felt will stick to it and may be extremely difficult to remove. Homemade Christmas Tree Star Ornament: Wrap yarn around pretty christmas paper to make these star ornaments for your tree. That’s $23 in total, so don’t expect to save any money DIYing a garland. When I roll my yarn for the centers, I do not roll them too tight, I try to roll the centers about the same as rolling a ball from a skein of yarn, with out too much stress on the fibers. The downside to this method is that if you don’t weave in a long tail really well, it can unravel. Supplies: Wool Yarn – here’s a great opportunity to recycle your leftover wool or yarn scraps. I have a few really nice balls of wool yarn sitting around here but I’d be damned if I was going to waste it on dryer balls. You may need to repeat the washing and drying cycles up to 3 or 4 times. Wet felting is the process of taking layers of wool roving or wool yarn and combining them into one piece of felt. Many. If you want to make larger sized wool balls, wind more yarn around until you reach the desired size. Reply Delete I can get 2 wool balls out of 50 g (110 yd) skein. There will be quite a bit of manipulation of your felt or yarn as you massage it in the water and soap mixture. This will create sharp edges and make it difficult to felt. Making felt balls is easy to do. 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. Enjoy! Thick, wool roving yarn felts perfectly. Make also the fab looking embellishments out of the felt like the yarn flowers, which can also be used smartly to decorate your various items of need and interest! I usually make a half dozen a time that way. They are a little softer than the felted balls that you can buy, which makes them better for stitching. It seems that you want your yarn to felt during the washing process, so I am confused. How To Make Dryer Balls with Wool Yarn: ... felts” together to make the balls. You can use any color yarn you want. and any strands and you are done! Do not cut the wool into tufts. Stuff the ball (carefully!) 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