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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

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Time: 30 mins

Make some cutesy felt beads.

Posted by Cat Morley from London, United Kingdom • Published 4th March 2008 • See Cat Morley's 1145 projects »

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meg.matthews.77 favorited Felted Beads 22 Aug 10:00
Kathy S. favorited Felted Beads 07 Jul 17:05
AnnaMong favorited Felted Beads 08 Jun 14:07
cattus favorited Felted Beads 22 Jun 17:15

Step 1
Fill a bowl with some water and a drop of washing-up liquid or a small amount of liquid soap. (I used 'Christmas' scented washing-up liquid and it left the beads with a really nice smell).

Have a thin stick or skewer at the ready.
Step 2
Pull off a long, thin strand of wool tops.
Step 3
Wrap the wool tops around the skewer, wrapping tightly as you go.
Step 4
As you wrap, try to keep the yarn in as tight a ball shape as possible.
Step 5
Dip the bead in to the warm water for a second.
Step 6
Slip the bead off the skewer and in to the palm of your hand. Roll it round and round in the palm of your hand until it begins to felt.
Step 7
When the bead had shrunk to the desired size, rinse it in clean water and set aside to dry.
Step 8
Next up, pick a selection of seed beads and thread a needle with a colour of thread that matches the beads.
Step 9
Carefully stitch the seed beads on to the bead, stitching from one side through to the opposite side, until the bead is covered. Cut off any loose thread and you're beads are ready to turn in to awesome jewelry!

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Comments

emmilou w. · Wallasey, England, GB · 12 projects 9th April 2010

i made some of these last year in college but i didn't even think to add seed beads to them...thanks for the inspiration, cat!! n_n

Serpentira · La Cañada Flintridge, California, US · 3 projects 5th November 2009

Awesome- I'll definitely have to make some now! I had to laugh though, seeing this. I bought this rainbow dyed 'ball' of unspun wool this summer thinking I could make some felted beads... and then ended up with some sketches of how they might look with seed beads sewn to them, which was something I hadn't seen done before. Guess this just goes to prove that when you think you've come up with a great idea, chances are someone else has already done it!