shop preview: wool dryer balls in the making

{in the process}

We are knee deep in wool dryer balls!.  We've been busy, busy, busy!  The process is long and tedious but it's worth it in the end.  You see, we don't just knock out ball, after ball, after ball, a lot of thought and work is put into each individual piece.  I sometimes wish we could just take a trip to the nearest fabric store and buy a bundle of new yarn, it sure would be easier, others do it.  In fact my sister and I discussed it once, we'd be able to mass produce and sell more; but in the end we could not in good conscience go through with it.  Besides, it defeats the whole purpose and it is definitely not in the spirit of recycling, re-purposing and re-creating.  Here we share in pictures, the process of making our decorative and functional wool dryer balls made from 100% reclaimed, recycled and re-purposed wool sweaters.  This is also a quick preview of the patterns, colors and designs to come in our next batch.

{wool sweaters - drying in the sun}

{holiday sweaters - Some may call them "ugly", but we see nothing but wonderful

textures and patterns.}

After all the fun of hunting for material, when we finally have a large enough stack of sweaters, they are washed and dried and separated into two piles.  Those with lovely patterns are put aside for the exterior skin of the balls and the plainer ones are dismantled and unraveled for the cores.

{wool core - made from 100% recycled wool sweaters}

{the work table}

The unraveled sweaters and remnant cuttings are wound into tight balls and felted.  Some opt to skip this process, but it's an extra step that really makes a difference in the final appearance of the dryer balls.  The final few steps are where it all comes together.  The remaining sweater pieces are cut, sewn and re-created into outer skins for the felted cores.  The skins serve both as decorative covers and assurance that our dryer balls will never become unraveled when used.

Click here to see our current wool dryer balls collection.