Here’s my favorite method for making wool felted eggs for Easter using just a washing machine and an old pair of tights! This is a great use for that pair of tights your child has lying around that has runs or holes in it. Wet felting entails using hot soapy water to agitate the wool fibers which cause them to bind together, so the process is really simple since a majority of the felting is done by your washing machine. My wool of choice to use for creating the base eggs is a core batting which is economical and will felt fast and create a uniform look on the egg. I then use wool roving to add the designs.

Materials:

– core wool to make the eggs — the medium is enough wool to make at least half a dozen eggs, the large at least a dozen eggs and the x-large at least two dozen eggs
– wool roving to decorate the eggs
– (alternative)partially felted wool eggs if you’d like to save some time and skip a few steps
– felting needle (without holder / with holder)
– old pantyhose or tights (I found an inexpensive pair at our local thrift shop)
– dishwashing soap

Instructions on how to wet felt eggs

Step 1: How to form the eggs out of wool

Begin by cutting pieces from the legs of your pantyhose or tights that are roughly 4” long. Tie a knot at the end of each piece. Grab a handful of wool and separate the fibers. Roll the fibers together into a ball, making sure that you are also tucking the sides in as you roll. Use your felting needle to poke the fibers and secure the end. Grab another handful of roving and roll it over the ball that you have already created to make it larger. Use your felting needle to secure the end. Make sure that you have added enough wool so that the final egg will be your desired size— once it its felted the wool will compress and will be significantly smaller than the size that you started with. Stuff the wool ball inside of the pantyhose or tights and tightly knot the opposite end to close. Repeat for all eggs.

Step 2: How to felt wool eggs using a washing machine

Throw all of the eggs into your washing machine with detergent for an entire cycle on the hottest setting with a load of towels or blankets. The hot water and agitation from the wash cycle will do a majority of the felting of the eggs for you.

Step 3: How to finish the eggs by wet felting

After the eggs have been through the washing machine, remove each one from the pantyhose or tights. You’ll need to peel them off and they may be a bit hard to remove because they usually adhere to the outside. If you’re using the partially felted eggs you’d begin at this step. Fill one bowl with warm water and add a drop of dishwashing soap. Lightly dunk the egg in the soapy water and roll the egg between your hands in a circular motion to shape the egg into an oblong shape. Repeat if necessary before rinsing out the remainder of the soap with clean water. Since the washing machine did a majority of the felting you should only need to do this a couple of times. Squeeze as much water out as possible, reshape and set aside to air dry. Your finished egg should be much smaller than the original wool ball that you started with and feel dense.

Step 4: How to needle felt decorations on your eggs

We love decorating our eggs with colorful roving. Use your felting needle to add wool roving directly onto the egg to create shapes and symbols. This year we added mushrooms, snails and flowers on our eggs. I used this roving set for the toadstool, and roving from this roving set for the flower.