Felted Holiday Ornaments

First you need to getyour materials all ready, it will make it easier.
Wool - dyed in the colors you want
Hot water
Soap
Big towel
Styrofoam Ball (not the smooth kind - you need something the wool will stick to)
Wire and Beads

If you want a kit with wool, wire, beads, and a ball, let me know.

1.

This is my setup - I choose to do it at the sink so I have easy access to the hot and cool water. You can just do it with a bow of water. Really you don't need/want to drown the things.

2.

Can you see the difference in the wool? I seperated it all by holding one end firmly and pulling with the other. There are small fluffy strips - they make it easier to blend and to also felt better. You can't skip this step.

3.

Here I"ve taken my wool and set it on the styrofoam ball and wrapped it around. You want it loose (it will get smaller when it felts) and you want it so that no part of the ball shows through.

4.

This is the tricky part. You need to get it wet without the wool all falling off. It helps if you have soapy hands. Now work it around and make it all soapy - no more water. You want to start working and matting down the wool so it's all sticking together. Just like the picture above.
5.

Now roll it on the towel. Keep moving it around so all sides get worked. This is doing 2 things. 1. It helps to remove some of the soap and water to help it felt and 2. the friction is felting it. But don't felt it completely - you want it only partially felted.

6.

Here it is all soft felted. It's holding together but it's not finished. If I wanted to pull pieces it would take a bit of effort but I could do it. I rinse these out and let them dry. I like to make swirls and shapes so I want to do some needle felting. Which you could skip if you want to.

7.

See how some of the pieces aren't set in very well. That's what I wanted. I wanted it like this so I could pull those loose pieces where I wanted them and could needle felt them into place. I"m fond of spirals so that's what I'll do.

8.

Wet it a bit again and add soap. Roll it on the towel again to finish the wet felting. Keep moving it around so all sides get worked. This is the final felting. You want it to be done after this. Rinse all soap out and set it aside to dry.

9.

Once it's dry we'll add the wire and beads. Gather all your materials. The wire should be at least 20 gauge, you want it pliable but not all loosey goosey. Use your needle felted to make a hole all the way through so you have an easier time putting the wire through.

10.

Make spirals. Add beads. Have fun with this. You can make coils by wrapping the wire around a metal knitting needle. Get funky.

**Note**
Don't leave soap in your ornament, it degrades the wool. If you need to leave your ornament for any length of time (more than an hour or 2) you should rinse out the soap just to be sure it's all ok.

The concept for these isn't entirely mine. I know I've seen something similar before but I can't remember where. There is only one felt artist that I know from shows and I can't remember her doing these. I did figure out the process and all that one my own. The first one had a lovely ball of wool as the center. What a horror show that was. So I'm sharing what I figured out just so you don't have the same trial and error and error and error and error that I did. Merry Christmakuh. Have a great holiday season whatever holiday you celebrate.

All information and photos - everything - is the sole property of Amy King Copyright 2004. This is provided for your personal use and no photos or info are to be distributed without my written permission.