So I had been wanting to get some dryer balls for quite a while now and really wanted to make them myself because it seemed so easy and then they could look however I wanted them too! the first time I tried to make them I just bought 100% wool, wound them into balls and wet felted them. They looked great but only lasted a week or so in the dryer before they fell apart. Clearly I wasn't doing something right!
This time I got 100% felting wool that was very soft and fluffy, much easier to felt. They have worked great and I am thinking about making some up for Christmas gifts for next year! Here is what you do!
Once you buy the wool, here is what mine looked like, you start to wrap in into a ball. Its easier if you start wrapping the wool around your two fingers and then once you have done that about 10 times you pull it off and start wrapping the wool around the opposite way! Once it gets a bit bigger you can start changing the direction of the wool and just continue to wrap and wrap and wrap until its at least an inch bigger than you want it to be (felting will cause it to shrink.)
Once you have the ball at the size you want it, I use about half of the wool off of the ball, you need to cut off the wool and then use a crochet needle, or something similar, to stuff the end of the wool into the center of the ball.
Next it is time to felt. I like to wet felt my dryer balls because its so simple. You put the balls into a pantyhose or knee high and knot it between each ball and then knot the top. You put them in the wash on as hot as you can make it, lots of agitation, and then dry on high. If you do the whole process twice, it makes them even stronger! This time after the first cycle through I took a needle felting needle and needle felted in the loose ends. This worked great and just made everything that was a little bit loose tighten up and look great. The end piece of wool sometimes can come a little bit loose and this worked great for that!
Do you buy or make wool dryer balls, or do you even know what they are?
3 comments:
What a great gift idea!! Hint hint
Christy
Ooh, very cool! :)
I sell wool dryer BaaLLS at Giving Gifts (www.givinggifts.ca) if you aren't craft enough to make your own! They are made in the US and come in an organic cotton bag made in Canada.
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