.... and some Felted Pebbles

Sometimes projects present themselves and you HAVE to try them as soon as possible, even when you weren't planning to... This is one of those projects! As well as the Pincushion Ring project, Issue 5 of Crafty magazine also had this great tutorial for creating felted pebbles. Well, we had the wool roving from our Needle Felting attempts and as for the pebbles, Sian had plenty in her garden so we were ready to go!!!!

Materials:

• Smooth pebbles (ours were 8-10cm long and quite rounded)
• Wool roving
• Water spray bottle, hot water & washing up liquid
• Piece of fine netting 30cm square
• Large tray to work on

Wash the pebbles to get rid of dirt. Especially if they've come from the garden!

Place the net on the bottom of the tray and tease out 3 lengths of wool roving

Spread each length out to make 3 thin "patches" that will cover one side of the pebble with some overlap.

Place all 3 patches on top of the pebble, rotating the direction by 90 degrees each time (warp and weft the layers)

Tuck the overlap under the pebble

Cover the while package with the net piece and twist it at the edges to make it a tight package. Spray with hot water/soap solution to get it thoroughly wet and then rub gently at first, and more firmly after the fibres begin to felt. 

Keep the felted pebble wet with the spray solution throughout this process. From time to time, unfold the net and check to ensure that the fibres aren't getting stuck to it.

Repeat this whole process with three more pieces on the other side, ensuring there are no bald spots.

As the fibres begin to felt together firmly, keep rubbing using circular motions until there is no more movement.

Once finished, rinse the whole thing under cold water, wring out gently, and leave to dry.

All done! As we have never made felt ourselves, we were delighted with our first attempts! It's a very satisfying and relaxing craft project... We think they would make great paperweights, but also would be good for holiday decorations. Any other ideas?

We can't wait to make more! Check out the magazine for even more pebble crafts including a great crochet covering that is unfortunately beyond us at this stage!

 We are linking up to these parties!