Felt Balls?

[KJoslyn78]

Ok - just a couple of questions about felt balls.. since i am considering ordering the kit form Nova Naturals to make some balls for ds for x-mas

is wet felting hard? (i assume this is wet felting - on the website it shows a pic of 2 girls over a wash basin)

Aside form the kit (which includes directions, 3 brass bells, natural felting wool and 10 colors of wool for accents), is there anything else i should have on hand?

What kind of time frame does it generally take to make each ball? (obviously i'll be making these at night, but dont want to end up spending the whole night awake!)

and lastly - i'm i going overboard buying a kit - as opposed to just buying the wool myself and trying to find directions online (i've checked my local library - no felting books which is why i'm considering a kit)?

Thanks in advance!

[E.V. Lowi]

Honestly, these types of wet felting balls are the most fun to make with children, not for them!. Even a very young child of 3 can do this craft. My dd and I made them in a hotel room basin while we were on vacation and had the best time. We could leave the mess for the housekeep, because you do get quite a bit of water splashed about. Everything that we needed was included in the kit- colored wool and a small bar of soap- that's it. Have fun with it!

[KJoslyn78]

Originally Posted by E.V. Lowi

Honestly, these types of wet felting balls are the most fun to make with children, not for them!. Even a very young child of 3 can do this craft. My dd and I made them in a hotel room basin while we were on vacation and had the best time. We could leave the mess for the housekeep, because you do get quite a bit of water splashed about. Everything that we needed was included in the kit- colored wool and a small bar of soap- that's it. Have fun with it!

well ds will only be 18 months - but maybe his older sisters can do that as their present to him (with momma watching that they don't flood the kitchen - LOL)

glad to know its easy and fun and kid friendly!!

[mimi!]

honestly, you don't need a kit. Just the roving. Fashion a ball eg. use some neutral color/undyed on the inside and roll it into a ball. Put bell in middle if you like. Place colors on the outside. If you want to be really fast, needle it a bit with a felting needle, place it in a men's tube sock, tie the end, and stick it in the washer and dryer and viola, your ball. Wet it to reshape it if need be. Otherwise, yes you can soap it and use your fingers.

[gmvh]

Having his older sibs make them would be a great summer time project - let them do it outside! Roving and lots of soapy warm water. When we've made them we've used a cat bell ball as the center. It saves on the amount of roving you need and gives the ball a nice jingle. Have fun!

[marsmom]

Anyone know if this will work with raw wool that we collected from a sheep farm we stayed on? I know the wool would be less uniform and still have some bits in it, but otherwise will it still felt together? Thanks.

[Triciabn]

with regards to raw wool.. I believe that you would need to wash off the lanolin ... from what I have experienced with own sheep (not merino which have tons of lanolin)... if you wash 1pound of raw fleece.... you will get 1/2pound of cleaned wool.... there is just that much lanolin in wool.
Hot water and Dawn gets it clean... but then again..that is essentially felting, lol.. so now I just don't know, lol!

[marsmom]

Yeah, when you look at it like that, it seems obvious that whatever I do to wet clean it would be part and parcel of the felting process. Well, guess I will just have to try... Thanks!

[mama_daba]

i have made them from wall wool. i did clean the wool some before hand just soaked it in soapy water over night. i made my first felt ball while taking a bath cuz um it was the easiest way to do it and not get soapy water everyplace. i boiled it after to make it tighter which worked well!