15 Felted Wool Projects + Ideas

I don't always do things at the "right" time.  I made felted wool flowers when it was so hot that working with wool, especially the dunking it into hot water part, felt nice and uncomfortable.  I made (and hung!) my Halloween wreath in the summer (but I watched Buffy re-runs while I made it, so it felt Halloweeny).  I also paint really summery paintings when it's still gloomy outside.  I've tried winter spray painting in the carpeted basement more than once ("summertime," Hubby says, "save these projects for the summertime!).  I don't just move to the beat of my own drummer, I'm off wandering in some field smelling flowers.

But I'm working on my timing.

It's freaking cold here (a little rainy and dreary, actually), is it cold there?  Yes?  Time for felted wool DIY projects, right?  I've pulled some faves from my DIY archives and also rounded up some sweet new ideas for felted wool crafts.

Let's start basics.  You already know how to make felted wool balls (here's my tutorial, plus some trouble shooting tips), so welcome to the wildly woolly world of felted wool billy buttons, acorns, rocks and more, like felted wool owl faces (okay they're hedgehogs, but they look like adorable owls)!

felted wool necklace

garland, felted faces, felted rocks, acorns, billy buttons

felted wool necklace

Are your hands cramping from making so many felted wool balls?  Maybe a little pruney, like mine were?  But it's still cold.  Still time for wool.  From needle felting (I showed you how, here) to just sewing with felted wool, there seems to be an endless number of ways to inject a little wooliness and warmth into your DIY repertoire.  I really love all the different ideas for adding decorative wool touches to clothes!

yarn wreath with felted wool leaves

felted wool pillow, felted elbow patches, cell phone cases, needle felted art, flower ornament, felted sweater detail

needle felted reindeer sweater

Have you whipped up anything wool recently?  I have a fun new idea that I bought some supplies for here, so I can't wait to whip up a wooly DIY the second I'm back in Canadian soil!  Although it's nothing as impressive as this sculpture, consisting of about 600 felted wool balls.  Wow.

felted wool sculpture

DIY Felted Wool Billy Button Success Story

Oh yes, time for a little eye candy.  It's been a rough week and I just want to veg, looking at fun craft projects online.  I was just about to get back to work when I spotted the cute billy buttons Carrie, from Dream DIY, made.  I love when people try my felted wool billy button tutorial.  It makes me so happy when the project turns out and it's so fun to see them styled so many different ways.  Carrie's styling is exceptionally inspirational so I wanted to share.  I hope you enjoy her photos:

Look, she made a few more to style other spots in her beautiful home:

Check out these posts to see more billy button success stories: Emily's, Tamsyn's and Krista's.  And if you are looking for more eye candy, take a look at Carrie's blog for fun projects and perfectly styled vignettes!

P.S.  Thanks to everyone for their input on my impeding splurge, and also for your kind words on the reveal of the teeny tiny corner of the basement.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Felted Billy Button Success Story

I love when folks try a tutorial of mine and then tell me (like here and here).  Especially when they tell me it worked!!  Surely you know Emily, from Go Haus Go?  She is one of my favorite bloggers and I wish we lived in the same city (even the same country would work) so we could be pals.  Is that weirdly creepy of me?  Oh, the adventures we'd have.  Like making felted wool billy buttons together.

She used my tutorial and check out her version:

Her billy buttons turned out perfectly, right?  And of course I'm loving her white walls + white bedding + colourful art. 

As a refresher, here are my billy buttons:

So many of you have left comments or emailed me, telling me you've tried an art project or craft tutorial of mine and I am dying of curiosity!  Even if you think it's a flop and refuse to let me blog about it, could I please see?  Pretty please? Please please please?!?  Remember, I don't have crafty friends outside of blogland.  Doesn't that make you feel sad for me?  Sad enough to show me your projects?  I promise your project is awesome and I guarantee it will warrant nothing short of gushing compliments.  Now show me . . . dans.le.townhouse@gmail.com

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DIY Felted Wool Billy Button Success Story

After my DIY felted wool billy button project was featured on Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy, I had a flurry of questions.  In addition to the original, step-by-step post, I created a follow-up trouble shooting post, tried to answer questions in comments and answered every single email query I received. 

But I hadn't yet seen anyone try the project.  Yesterday I saw this Max & Me post and was so thrilled.  Tamsyn tried the billy button project and did a fantastic job!  Her billy buttons look amazing and are felted to perfection.

Here are my felted wool billy buttons:

And here are Tamsyn's:

Max & Me

Max & Me

Max & Me

Fabulous, right?

If you have given my felted wool billy button tutorial a whirl, please email me!! (dans.le.townhouse@gmail.com)  I'd love you see your finished product & would be thrilled to feature it here, on Dans le Lakehouse.

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4 Fun Uses for Felted Balls

My DIY felted wool ball billy buttons are so fun and easy to make that you might find yourself churning them out by the dozens.  Unless you're decorating a wedding hall, you only need to many faux billy button arrangements so I thought I would round up some beautiful ways to decorate with billy buttons and felted wool balls.

Although this is a real Billy Button, I love the idea of tucking a felted one into a napkin:

via Elizabeth Anne Designs

via Elizabeth Anne Designs

If you feel like felting a million more felted wool balls, this wreath (made of felted balls) would be such a stunning project to make.

Pickles
Find the how-to for this wreath here.  And click here for a different version.

I'm flagging this idea for fall.  I think a dab of a strong glue is all you need to affix a few felted balls to a pair of plain canvas ballet flats.

via Kaboodle

For a kid's birthday party - heck, for anyone's birthday party - a string of casual garland made of felted wool balls would be fabulous.  Just thread felted balls onto some heavy-duty string using a large needle and knot after each ball (or cluster of balls). 

Spoonful of Colour
Not felted wool, but the look is similar.
Find how-to here.

Jack & Izzy
Find the how-to here.

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Felted Wool Ball Billy Button Troubleshooting

I'm so jazzed that Design*Sponge featured my DIY Felted Billy Buttons because D*S readers have been asking the best questions!  I answered a few questions on the D*S feature, and also in this post, but now I'm going to answer in more detail.

HOW DO I FIX CRACKS?

Sometimes you might notice a crack forming during the felting process.  Sometimes this can happen from pressing too hard on the ball too soon, or not forming the dry roving into a smooth enough shape.  Sometimes the wool does it just to annoy us.

Crack forming during felting process.

I am not sure if this is the "official" way to fix cracks, this is just a technique that I found works well.  To fix a crack during the felting process, grab a thin layer of wool roving and place it over the crack.

Keep wrapping additional wool onto your ball until the crack is covered.  Then, add a touch more soap, roll the ball and keep dunking into the super hot and super cold water.  Basically, you keep going with the felting process.

If you notice a crack on your dry wool ball, don't stress.  With a simple tool you can mend a crack in seconds.  You will require a needle felting barbed needle.  It looks like this:

Grab a thin layer of wool, apply over your dried ball and using the needle felting tool (the same tool I used to create these needle felted abstracts), push the fibres into the ball.  Protect your fingers because these barbed needles can really tear up your skin.  Below is a fabulous video, by Sara from Sara's Texture Crafts, that best explains the technique.  But remember: you want to use the same colour wool for a seamless repair.

This same technique can help you decorate felted balls too.  Check out how I turned these little purple balls into "blackberries".  I didn't intend to share them on the blog, but I thought they would show what you can do with needle felting techniques.

Plain purple ball.

"Blackberries"

HOW MUCH WOOL DO I NEED?

I answered this question, vaguely, here but I thought a photo might help.  I started with this much wool and used almost all of it for my bunch of billy buttons.  Your finished ball will be about half the size once felted.  I know this doesn't help a lot, but I normally just grab a bunch and go.

EXTRA TIDBITS:

• Don't press to hard on the ball when you are first felting - handle the wool like a baby chick
• Practise!  I had a ton of flops in the beginning (check out my post about my DIY felt necklace to see one of the felt "pancakes" I accidentally made).

And check out this great video, courtesy of Sara's Texture Crafts, for a real-time view of the making of a felt ball.  But remember, you can use bowls of hot and cold water instead of running the taps.

Good luck!  And feel free to ask any other questions . . .

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DIY Felted Wool Ball "Billy Buttons"

While making felted wool beads for my DIY felt wool bead necklace, the yellow wool beads I was felting started to really look like Yellow Craspedia (small, spherical flowers also known as “Billy Buttons” or “Woolly-heads”).  Inspired, I made some extra felted wool balls, pierced them with cloth covered floral wire, and made an arrangement in an inexpensive West Elm vase.  

Read on for my tutorial for making felted wool beads - perfect for so many DIY projects!

My FAUX Craspedia

REAL Craspedia
Via Bloomerism

More REAL Craspedia
Via That Windsome Girl

Supplies:

• Mustard yellow wool roving
• One bowl of hot, hot, hot as you can stand water
• One bowl of cold, cold, cold as you can bear water
• Cloth covered stem wire (I used 20 gauge)
• Dish soap or liquid hand soap

How to Make Felted Wool Balls:

The whole process for one ball should only take a couple minutes.  First, tear off a piece of your wool roving, like you would tear off a piece of cotton candy.  You want ragged ends.  Remember that your wool ball will shrink a bit during the felting process.  Try starting with the same approximate amount of wool I use in the photo below to create a ball the same size as mine.  Real billy buttons are about an inch in diameter.

Next, place a small drop of soap (I have used both hand soap and dish soap successfully) in your dry hands and also rub a tiny bit onto the piece of wool roving.

Then, roughly shape the wool into a ball before dipping it gently in the hot water – you want it a tad wet, not completely drenched.

Very, very gently roll the wool roving between your palms – like you would a clay ball.  At this stage, don’t squish the wool any harder than you would a baby chick.  Then dunk the roughly shaped ball into the cold water (this time you can soak it) and keep rolling. Then dunk the ball into the hot again, then the cold, rolling between dunks.  The change in temperature helps “shock” the wool fibres and is part of the felting process.  Plus, you want to rinse out the soap.

As your ball becomes firmer (and thus smaller), you can apply more pressure.  Your ball is finished when it is firmer to the touch and feels dense.  You can see in the next photo how much smaller my wool ball has become.

Leave the felted wool ball(s) to dry, for 24 to 48 hours.  The dry felted wool ball should have a slight bounce to it when dropped on a counter top.  I recommend making a few as a “test” before diving into mass production.

I've created a second post, with tips for felted wool ball troubleshooting, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have in the comments below.

Once your felted wool ball is dry, simply pierce it with the end of the floral wire and twist & wiggle the wire into the felted ball until it almost pops out the other side.  Your ball should be dense enough to grip the wire.  I flung my finished “Billy Buttons” around and no felted balls went flying.  If you're nervous, you can always add a dab on clear glue on the end of the wire.  Then bend the wire as you please, making some droopy flowers or more rigid ones.  Bend the wire gently – you don’t want any kinks – just soft bends, the way a flower stem would natural fall.

And, voilà!  DIY felted wool billy buttons, as cute as the real thing!

Over the years, some readers have tried out this tutorial with great success!  Take a look at DIY billy buttons by Max & Me, Go Haus Go, and Dream Green DIY.  I also made a second set, using white wool roving to make faux "dandelions".

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