Uses for your Balls

Strange title!! I thought so too! But I was at a loss as to a catchy lead-in.
Anyhow, in my last post I showed you how to make small felt balls relatively easily and believe me, when you get used to making them, you can pump them out by the dozen, the problem then arrises, what do I do with all of these little balls??
The possibilities are endless but starting with jewellery, they are good for adding to earrings, they are so light that you hardly know that they are there, the same goes for necklaces, pendants etc.
If you make several sizes of these littlle winners, they can be strung together on crystal wire (it's elastic!) , add a barrel bolt closure and hey! presto, an exandable necklace or wrap it round your wrist a couple of times for a nifty bracelet!
They can be strung in long chains, sewn together to make mats or even garments, like a bobbly shawl.
Using a selection of sizes, make some simple animal or people models which  in turn be sewn onto a bag or a jumper(sweater for my buddies over the pond!) onto a beanie, shrug, shorts, you think of the place and I'm sure it can be fixed there!!
So, in future when struggling with the question, What can I do with my .....well now you know and if you run out of ideas, drop me a line and I'll make a few suggestions!
Please like, comment and share this post please.

fiber talk: Felted Ball Tutorial with pictures

fiber talk: Felted Ball Tutorial with pictures: OK as promised here come the pics and text, to give you a leg-up when it comes to making felted balls. First off below is an assortment of ...please like! and add comments...it's the only way I have of knowing if you enjoy the blog!!

Felted Ball Tutorial with pictures

OK as promised here come the pics and text, to give you a leg-up when it comes to making felted balls.
First off below is an assortment of the things you need, the needle, the wool and the tubular former to decide on the size of ball you will end up with.

With the white medicine bottle top on the left, the neck hole is approx. 1cm in dia. so using that as a guide, you can make an estimate of the amount of wool used for each ball.

Above I am 'helping' he wool into the neck with the blunt end of a crochet hook, you can use whatever you have at hand but I would suggest something like a kebab stick end is ideal, as it is slightly rough and doesn't slip in between the fibres as easily.

 Once in , you can tamp it down a bit with your chosen prodder before going on to start felting.

Start felting by going round the inside edge of the 'tube', and then all over, repeating a couple of times before the next step

OK this is where you take out your adolescent ball from the neck end and turn it over and sideways.

This is how it should look when you take it out

Now repeat the needling and turning, until you are happy'ish with the shape.

Above is how your fledgling ball should be looking at this stage. Now you will have to be extra careful, because you are going to be tidying up and tightening the felting, without the protection of the bottle!! Use your fingernails to grip the ball and aim between the forefinger and thumb.

The ball will probably still look a little untidy but you are now going to damp your palm and roll it between both hands until you are reasonably happy with the tightness and roundness.
I suggest just licking your palm!!!

The picture below shows a few examples

The possible uses for these little beauties is limited only by your imagination.
They can be used as is or as the foundations for much more complex pieces including animals, people and sculptures. You can make necklaces, ear-rings, brooches, use them as accent pieces on garments to name but a few.
Please comment on this tut for me and also let me know what you have or intend to use them for.
All the best and look out for my next installment.

fiber talk: In this post i'm going to give a little tut. on ma...

fiber talk: In this post i'm going to give a little tut. on ma...: In this post i'm going to give a little tut. on making felt balls, using the dry or needle felt method. I will be using a 38gauge triangula...

fiber talk: I have come to realise over the last few weeks, w...

I have come to realisefiber talk:  I have come to realise over the last few weeks, w...:   I have come to realise over the last few weeks, what a truly remarkable lot you guys are!! For those who didn't know, I have just come ho...

 I have come to realise over the last few weeks, what a truly remarkable lot you guys are!!
For those who didn't know, I have just come home from hospital, having suffered a series of heart attacks and undergone Angioplasty. The words of encouragement I have had from so many people has been truly humbling and amazing. Thank you all so much for the encouragement and cheeriness...I love you all :-)
There are still one or two issues to cope with but overall I'm better than before I had them. All I have to do now is recover abit.....and what better time to do the recovery, than Springtime...My favourite time of year. You can almost feel Mother nature herself stirring from her winter slumber and bubbling with excitement. I know that's how I feel. I have so many goals to fulfill in the coming weeks and months.....so many projects, so many things I want to say and do....I hope you will jump up alongside me and enjoy the ride, it's going to be exciting, it's going to be fun but one thing it won't be is boring, that I can promise.
Below are a couple of pics of  Ojo's that I have made just to give you a flavour of some of the future posts here at Fils fiber talk blog ...hope you enjoy !!

 I will be posting basic instructions for those wanting to have a go at making one.

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