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Want to learn how to make felt balls? All you need is wool roving and hot soapy water!
You can use the finished felt balls in many craft projects, as beads in jewelry making, coasters, or strung on a garland to decorate your home.
You can felt and shape wool roving with a needle (needle felting). But using hot soapy water (wet felting) is a much quicker way to make a bunch of felt balls.
Yes, you can purchase ready-to-use felt balls, but where is the fun in that? You can make your own. Let me show how easy it is in this step-by-step guide!
How to Make Felt Balls
Supplies You’ll Need:
- Wool roving in your desired colors
- Dish soap
- Hot water
- Bowl for soaking
Step 1: Gather Your Materials
Gather your wool roving in the colors of your choice, along with some dish soap and hot water. You can use liquid dish soap or grate a small amount of bar soap into a bowl of hot water.
Step 2: Divide and Roll the Wool Roving
Take a small amount of wool roving and gently pull it apart to create a thin layer. Don’t cut the wool roving with scissors. Raw edges make it easier to shape the wool than edges that have been cut with scissors.
Fold and form a loose ball shape. The size of your finished ball will depend on the amount of wool roving you use. So this is a bit of trial and error with your first balls. They will shrink in size as they come together so make the initial ball larger than you want it to end up as.
Step 3: Wet the Wool Roving
Dip the roving you just rolled up, into the bowl of hot, soapy water. Make sure it is completely saturated. The hot water and soap will help the wool fibers to bond together.
Step 4: Roll and Shape the Bead
Once the wool roving is wet, remove it from the bowl. Roll it between your palms, very gently at first, applying more pressure as the ball firms up. The wool fibers will start to compress and mat together, forming a dense felt bead.
Every once in a while, hold the ball under hot running water for a few seconds, and return to rolling between your palms. Keep doing this until you achieve your desired shape and size.
Sometimes a crack appears in the felt while you are rolling it. No worries, this can be fixed! Put a small, thin piece of roving over the crack. Then repeat the process of holding the ball under hot water and slowly rolling it between your hands. The extra roving will cover and hide the crack.
Step 5: Rinse and Repeat
Once your felt ball is formed, rinse it thoroughly under cold water. Gently squeeze out any excess water. Repeat all the steps to create as many felt balls as you need for your craft project!
Step 6: Let the BALLS Dry
Place your felt balls on a clean towel or drying rack to air dry completely. Depending on their size, drying may take several hours to overnight.
Step 7: Use Your Felt Balls
Once the balls are completely dry, they’re ready to use! String them as beads onto jewelry wire to create necklaces or bracelets, make a pretty garland, or put a bunch of them together to form a coaster or maybe even a whole rug!