Handmade Things Tutorial

STEP 3: STRINGING THE FELT BALLS

It is easier to poke holes in the felt balls when they are still wet but at that point I hadn't decided how I was going to put the the rug together. At first I thought that I would string all of the felt balls, wind it in a spiral then sew the rows together. However I didn't like the idea of having a long string of felt balls since my cat would surely try to play with and I would end up with a tangled mess. What I did instead was to add one ball at a time connecting it to the previous felt ball and the one in the row beside it

STEP 2: MAKING THE FELT BALLS

>Squirt some dish soap into your container and fill with warm water, fill the other container with cold water.

>Grab a tuft wool, bunch it together into a ballish shape and dip into the warm soapy water, remove and squeeze out the excess water.

>Place the soggy tuft of wool in the centre of the palm of one hand, place your second hand over top and roll in a circular motion.

>Once the tuft of hair is felted into a ball, dip it in the cold water to rinse (the longer you roll, the smaller and denser it gets).

I tried to make the balls even in size but I found that the different types of wool/pet hair felted differently. Most of the felt balls ranged from 1.5-2cm in diameter. I kept them in a paper bag until I had enough. Periodically I dumped them on the floor and spread them out to see if I had enough for a rug.

STEP 1: STUFF YOU WILL NEED

>Wool, etc
>Dish soap and water
>Plastic containers
>Paper towels
>Nylon thread and needle
>Patience and time

Felt Ball Rug Tutorial