Needlefelted Wool Beads

Looking for bead making ideas that don't involve clay or metal? Dig into your stash of fabric and create Needlefelted Wool Beads from Lisa Fulmer. This is truly an artistic piece that you can wear every single day. Use the beads to create a bracelet or necklace.


 

Materials:

• Wool roving
• Needlefelting needles (a 5-needle punch and a single needle)
• Piece of thick dense upholstery foam
• Wood skewer
• Sharp fabric shears
• Accent beads
• Needle and embroidery floss

Instructions:

1. Spread out some roving so the fibers are laying fairly evenly in a thin 8″ square sheet.
    
2. Lay a couple sheets of wool on top of each other.
    
3. Roll the wool around a skewer as snugly as possible.
    
4. Carefully slide out the skewer and roll the wool cylinder around in your hands to smooth the fibers together more.
    
5. Place the cylinder on the foam and use the punch needle to lock the fibers together, rolling the cylinder as you punch to prevent punching it too flat.
    
6. Work from one end to the other until the cylinder of wool is densely matted. Use the single needle as needed to smooth out any lumps.
    
7. Snip the cylinder into even discs (beads), about 1/2″ wide.
    
8. Thread the beads on to embroidery floss with accent beads in between – shorter for a bracelet, longer for a necklace.
    
9. Tie each end of the floss to a metal jewelry clasp.