Natural materials and products of natural origin are always an advantage for the living area and for our sustainable living. These are high quality, durable and usually with a well thought-out design. Natural materials enhance the interior and improve the indoor climate. A wool carpet, for example, is antistatic, but also has other valuable properties. Designed in the shape of a round felt ball carpet, it takes on a whole new meaning.
Round felt ball carpet is an eye-catcher and is a natural product
Naturally, virgin sheep's wool has several properties and advantages. Thenatural materialis elastic and contracts again after stress. It is insulating, sound-absorbing, antistatic and therefore dirt-repellent, unlike synthetic materials. The wool also absorbs moisture and releases it again.
Handmade from felt balls
A carpet made of real sheep's wool absorbs the air humidity in the room and then releases it in a natural way, so that the air in the room remains pleasant for people. This makes the material breathable and able to neutralize certain pollutants.
Provides a colorful eye-catcher
Due to its characteristic structure, a felt ball carpet can be round, square or rectangular and can vary in size. The felt wool can be dyed in almost any color and therefore there are no limits when it comes to color and surface design.
There is a wide range of colors to choose from
A felt ball rug, as the name suggests, consists of several felted balls. To be precise, about 3,00 or 4,000 pieces are needed to make one round felt rug. These can only be made entirely by hand and then dyed. The next step is to sew all the balls together, very precisely, so that the carpet is ultimately durable and beautiful at the same time. The work involved is a lot and a felt ball rug is therefore not exactly cheap.
Buy felt balls or make them yourself
The art of felting is one of the oldest textile techniques and is how nomadic peoples made their tents and clothing. It is very time-consuming and requires a lot of sensitivity. Luckily, the small felt balls can be purchased ready-made. Nevertheless, we will show you in instructions how you can produce it yourself.
Learning to felt balls from wool: instructions
To felt you need:
- Felting wool in colors of your choice
- a soap that is gentle on the skin, olive soap is best
- Bucket of warm water
- Skin cream
Produce felt ball from felt wool fleece
Dissolve the soap into the warm water until the water feels slippery and soapy. Make sure that the water is always warm, as felting does not work with cold water.
Wool, water and soap to make felt balls
Separate some felting wool from the strand, which can be used to easily form a ball of any size. If you want to make a large number of felt balls, then they should all be the same size. A kitchen scale is ideal for this purpose. With their help you can weigh out exactly how much felting wool is needed for a ball and always use the same amount.
Make balls yourself
Now form a ball with your hands and add it to the soapy water so that it becomes foamy. By gently pressing and rolling, bring the felt wool into the desired shape, then put it back into the water and repeat the whole thing several times.
Wet felting of balls
At the beginning, when the felt ball is very soft, you should handle it more carefully. Once it has got a pretty good shape and is no longer quite as soft, you can turn it between your hands until it becomes firm.
Find out more about wool and its properties
If a ball is already firm and dimensionally stable, it must be washed thoroughly under running water. Then it must also be dried, but in a natural way in the air. It may take several days depending on how thick the ball is. Find out more about felting in the video.
Make a beautiful round felt ball carpet yourself – instructions
Have you repeated the process several times to get enough balls felted for a carpet or at least a runner? Or do you simply order a sufficient quantity online? Depending on what you prefer, you can move on to the next step, which is: sewing it together.
Materials needed
To make your own felt ball rug, you will need the following materials and supplies:
- Felt balls
- big needle
- Finger protection
- Plastic cord or fishing line
- Scissors
- Tesaband
Arrange the felt balls by color
If you want a multi-colored carpet and have produced or obtained felt balls in several colors, sort them by color and this will make your work much easier later.
Large needle and strong cord for tying the balls together
It is recommended to use a strong thread to sew the felt balls together. In our example, Catherine from Catherineandgrace.com used strong fishing line. From her own experience, she recommends choosing a 3.5 mm thick with a load capacity of 16 kg. Accordingly, choose a needle that is large enough and a thimble to protect your fingertips.
Fix one end
Now you can start sewing it together. Leave 4-5 cm free at the beginning and secure with a plaster or a piece of adhesive tape. First you have to sew the felt balls together as a chain, as long as the first piece of string is enough for you.
Sew the balls together as a chain
When sewing it together, you should stick to a certain procedure so that the carpet ultimately remains whole and durable. That means – sew two balls together, then one back and then link two again. Each felt ball is sewn twice
First sew all the balls together as a chain one after the other
When knotting at the end of each chain, leave a few centimeters of space after the knot. This will ensure your work is safe and it will be very difficult for the balls to come apart.
Now sew the chain of felt balls into a spiral
Once you have sewn the balls together as chains, you can proceed to tie them as a whole. Place a ball in the middle and take a chain. Wrap this around the ball so that it stays in the middle. This works according to the principle of the spiral.
Sew the felt balls together nice and tight
When sewing it together, it is important to link the felt balls several times at different points or with the other balls. Take a closer look at the pictures. The arrows show in which directions the needle is inserted through the felt balls.
Sew the felt balls together
Fix the outer balls securely two or three times
Finally, you should sew the last few balls together really well with the others. It is precisely the edges of the carpet that are subjected to the highest stress, which is why you have to pull the needle with the cord through them several times.
Create a beautiful addition to your child's room
A colored carpet like this creates a new mood in the room and has a very positive effect on the room atmosphere. The material and authentic workmanship contribute to this. The variety of colors leaves countless design options open, so that the felt ball rug can be optimally adapted to the living ambience and the predominant colors there. The felt wool can also appear completely natural, in the typical gray-brown shade of natural sheep's wool.
First something easier for beginners – a chain made of felt balls
Are you a beginner at felting? Then practice felting balls and use them to make something smaller - for example a necklace or garland. Once you have gained a little more experience, then move on to cup coasters that can be designed in a round shape similar to the felt ball rug.
A DIY cup coaster made from felt balls
There is no doubt that each felt ball rug is indeed a true work of art. Regardless of whether you design a round felt carpet yourself or buy one, it is a unique piece because it can only be made by hand. In factories in Nepal, high-quality pieces are sustainably handcrafted by women from 100% pure, new wool. In return, you receive a fair wage that is two to three times the average salary in the region.
Buy a felt ball rug ready-made – what’s behind it?
