HOW TO MAKE FELT BALLS FROM WOOL IN BULK ⋆ Tamaras Joy %

This tutorial goes through all the steps you will need to learn how to make felt balls from wool in bulk! How often do you just need a single felt ball? When I am crafting I never need just one. So lets make felt balls in bulk shall we?!

This can be done using two different methods, wet felting or needle felting.

BUT, this tutorial combines both felting methods to help you make lots of felt balls fast.

How to make felt balls in bulk video:

Watch the video tutorial HERE.

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These DIY felt balls can be used to make garland, nursery mobiles, coasters, wreaths, rugs and so many more home decor items. So let’s get to it!

ITEMS NEEDED FOR FELTING BALLS:

QUALITY Wool Roving
Felting Needle
Large Bowl with Lid
Any Bar Soap or Olive Oil Soap
Grip Liner
Bubble Wrap or Bamboo Matt
Tea Towel
Round Colander
Drying Rack (optional)
Or…dare I say buy felt balls pre-done?

If you are interested in learning even more about felting I suggest trying out a felting kit and seeing how it goes! I started with an adorable animal felting kit and had a lot of fun learning all about needle felting.

Animal Felting Kits

STEPS FOR HOW TO MAKE FELT BALLS:

STEP 1:

prepped felted balls waiting for the wet felting process

Prep a bowl full of felt balls. I do this part in the evening while watching TV.

Take wool roving, divide it into even chunks, then stretch each piece into longer, thinner sections. From here you will start at one end and roll the roving tightly into a ball, pausing to needle felt it a little bit so it will hold its shape while you make more.

STEP 2:

All the items needed to felt balls in bulk

Gather all your supplies listed at the top of this post and boil your water.

STEP 3:

Showing a bowl and dry felted balls next to hot soapy water

Lay out bubble wrap or shelf liner under your tea towel to help the towel stay put. Then lay more bubble wrap or a bamboo sushi matt on top of the towel.

Take your hot water, pour into a container and then take a bar of soap and stir the water into a soapy consistency. I use regular white bar soap but many people opt for olive oil bar soap. Liquid dish soap doesn’t seem to work as well for me.

STEP 4:

Pouring hot soapy water onto dry felted balls

Pour a small amount of hot soapy water onto the prepared felted balls, put a lid on the bowl and shake. Do this in a way that allows the balls to roll around in the container.

Do this step around 3 times, depending on how large your felt balls are. You want the felt balls to soak up all the soapy water you are pouring without having the balls so wet that they no longer can hold any more water.

Make sure the water stays hot/warm. If the water cools down replace it with new warm soapy water.

STEP 5:

Once the felted balls have soaked up the soapy water, place the felted balls together onto the bubble wrap, grab a cutting board and begin to roll them all together underneath the cutting board.

STEP 6:

Once you have rolled the felted balls together long enough you will see that you need to work each ball individually at a certain point. At this point get your hands wet and rub some of the bar soap on your hands then begin to roll each ball on the bubble wrap until it feels dense.

Sometimes the ball may feel like it needs more water, just dip it into the warm soapy water and continue to roll the felted ball on the bubble wrap.

The balls will be ready when they no longer have fibers pulling away from the ball. The soap helps with this process.

STEP 7:

Place all the finished balls into a colander, place under the tap and rinse. Starting with warm water and then ending with cold.

Let the balls roll around in the colander over the sink so they can let go of any excess water before the drying process.

STEP 8:

To dry your felt balls you can lay them out on paper towel in the sun but I do find a faster method is to lay them out onto a cookie cooling sheet and placing it over a heating vent.

My felt balls dry in 24 hours using this method.

STEP 9:

Now that your felt balls have dried you can take your felting needle and add things like hearts, swirls or polka dots onto your felt balls.

STEP 10:

Tamara is showing felted balls on a garland

Celebrate that you now know how to make felted balls in bulk for all your crafting needs! I enjoy making garland with mine and I also have added them to the top of my DIY rainbow.

Leave me a comment down below with what you do after making your felted balls! Do you make other crafts with them? I am always looking for new ideas and would love to hear from you!