Tutorial: How to Make a Felted Holiday Garland

A guest post by Jenna Thompson of Small Bird Handcrafted Jewelry.

I love handmade Christmas decorations, but I hardly had any that were made by my own hands”¦until now”¦

I think I meant to make this felted garland last year”¦but I never got around to it. (Thats a familiar tune around here this time of year.)  It was not *quite* as quick and easy as I had hoped, but thats probably due, in part, to my perfectionism rearing its ugly head halfway through this thing. Thats not to say that it was difficult, by any means. I just added some extra steps.

I used about 1.5 oz. wool roving in several colors, and got about 48 balls out of it. I needed two pairs of stockings to tie up the roving, and used the washing machine technique for felting. The problem was that wherever the stocking gathered between knots, it created a crease in the felted ball. I wound up with 48 little brightly colored”¦fannies (which you can sort of see in the bowl in the photo below). Ahem. So I hauled my fanny to the craft store and bought some needle felting tools. Id only tried needle felting once, at a sheep and wool festival, but that little demo provided me with all the knowledge I needed for this project i.e., stabstabstabstabstabstabstab”¦

I arranged the various felted balls in a perfectly random pattern (I know, I have a problem), and used a natural, twine-colored worsted weight yarn to string them. I love the handmade touch they add to my mantle.

About Jenna: Jenna is the designer and crafter behind Small Bird Jewelry. When she’s not making jewelry, she’s probably knitting, sewing, or doing home improvement projects. Get shop updates by following smallbirdshop on Twitter at this link.

30 comments | Click here to reply

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Well, I am so glad that you found papernstitch. Welcome to you and your mom!
-Brittni

papernstitch

Thanks, my mom (who is a knitter) and I are both subscribing to your blog. (Found you through style-files.com, by the way.) 🙂

Raquel

Raquel,
I totally think it would work for a wedding, especially if you customize it with you wedding colors or neutrals if you don’t have specific colors you are working with. Then I don’t think it would look Christmas-y at all. Good luck!
-Brittni

papernstitch

I think I would like to make these for my wedding! What a great idea! Do you think it would work well, or does it scream holiday garland?

Raquel

[…] against that beautiful blue wall.If you have time (unfortunately I haven’t) you can make a felted holiday garland. You can find a tutorial on Papernstitch. This entry was posted in christmas, diy projects. […]

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[…] 6. Tutorial: How to Make a Felted Holiday Garland […]

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I agree Kristin. This would be great for party decor as well. And I could see it working for a wedding with the right colors as well. Good thinking!
-Brittni

papernstitch

Oh, this is splendid! Love love love it…

molly

this is adorable! i can see it at a party or wedding, too.

kristin @ petal and thorn

Wow! What a fun idea! I love the colour it puts into a room – and yet it’s simple and elegant too. I’ve got to get me some roving and a needle!

Catherine

I love the random color pattern as well Julie.

papernstitch

These are adorable! And I love the “random” pattern of colors!

Julie

these garlands are cute! and great for any occasion, really. 🙂 thanks for sharing!

angie

It does have a little bit of a retro vibe, doesn’t it TheClothingMenu?
-Brittni

papernstitch

so cool – very 70s and i love it!

the clothing menu

Me too Tali. I fell in love with it as soon as Jenna sent it over to me! I’ve tried felting once before and it was a lot of fun. If I had the materials, I would totally make one of these this year for the mantle. I love it!
-Brittni

papernstitch

LOVE it 🙂

Tali Schiffer

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