Wet Felted Eggs

I have needed to post this since Easter.  Can you believe I am just now getting around to it?  Time just flies by when you have little ones.

Anyways, every time we have a long weekend or special break during the school year, I try to come up with something fun and memorable for me and the boys to do together.

This time was wet felted eggs.  This is a fairly simple project.  The main thing that is hard about this project is the extreme amount of patience that a child must have in order to complete it.

Let's just say patience and Sanders boys just don't belong in the same sentence.

Regardless of the outcome, the entire family had fun.  And that is all that matters.  Right?

How to Wet Felt Eggs:

1.  Gather your materials: liquid dish soap, plastic eggs, wool roving, bubble wrap or some other rough surface, hot water, and large bowl.  At this time, tape the plastic eggs together with duct tape.  I used regular tape and we had the problem of the egg coming unsnapped several times.  You will notice this in the final photo.

2.  Begin by pulling small sections of wool roving like you would when stretching a piece of cotton.  Wrap the roving around the egg lengthwise and then in the opposite direction width-wise.  Continue doing this several times.  be sure to alternate colors if you want you egg to not be solid.

3.  Next, squeeze a generous amount of liquid dishwashing soap onto the roving and dip into the hot water.  Rub the roving briskly making sure to not pull it off the plastic egg.  You will notice when the egg begins to felt.  It will look like the pieces are adhering to each other.

4.  Now, squeeze as much water off the egg as possible and follow the directions in step 2 again.

You will continue to repeat Steps 2-4 until the egg is completely covered in roving and you cannot see any gaps.  Remember to not add more roving until the last layer has begun felting really well.

Note: The roving needs to be fairly thick before moving to the final step.  We did not make the roving thick enough and it was too late by the time we noticed.

I am going to try to fix them next year.  But... At the time, I wanted to ensure we had a final product for the boys to be proud of.

5.  Finally, run the egg under cold water and then rewet it in hot water.  This allows the wool to shrink just a bit.  At this time, rub the egg quickly on a rough surface.  We used bubble wrap, but I found sites that used an old time washboard or cookie cooling rack.  If you use a cooling rack, it would need to have the squares fairly close together.

Continue rubbing the egg on the rough surface and dipping it in hot water as needed to adhere the fibers.  this process can take several hours from what I hear.

My boys lasted 30 minutes which I thought was pretty good for them! 

Here are the final eggs.  i did not cut them open with a pair of scissors and remove the plastic egg as you are suppose to.  The felted egg would have collapsed.  It shouldn't have the fuzzy texture ours has and you shouldn't be able to see the egg through the roving.

If you look closely, you can tell the egg on the left is the one that unsnapped during the rubbing.

Regardless of the outcome, the boys and I had fun and made memories we will remember always.