Wool Dryer Balls

If you know much about Mannchen, you know that he has extremely dry, sensitive skin.  This has been one of the main reasons we have switched over to as many homemade detergents and lotions as we can.  It also means we eliminated using dryer sheets.  Well, after eyeing wool dryer balls online for about a year and listening to the hubby complain about static cling issues with his pants for three years, I decided to take the plunge and make my own. 

For those of you unfamiliar with wool dryer balls - they basically take the place of dryer sheets, eliminating the additional chemicals and scents on your clothes from the dryer sheets.  They also help increase the efficiency of your dryer.  They are much cheaper than constantly using dryers sheets - while there is a larger up front cost involved, they last for years.  They are highly recommended for those using cloth diapers (which we don't, but I really wish we did now...I am so tired of buying and throwing out so many diapers...if we weren't so close to being done with diapers, I would make the switch, but I think we are getting close to when Töchterchen will be ready to potty train and Mannchen only wears diapers for sleeping). 

I looked at these two tutorials online:
Wool dryer balls Tutorial #1
Wool dryer balls Tutorial #2

Then, I went to the craft store and bought $36 worth of wool yarn.  I had no idea how much I would need.  A day later I realized if I needed all that yarn, it would be cheaper to just buy them from Etsy or Amazon.  It also would have been cheaper to print and take 40% off coupons, but I never remember those darn things.

And on day five of sickness and week 5+ of one car, I decided we needed a project.  So yesterday I looked back over the two tutorials above (and a few others online) and read where it mentioned one larger thing of yarn would be enough for four dryer balls.  After realizing I had WAY more yarn than I needed, I decided to give it a go.  The kids even helped with unwinding the yarn for me as I rolled the balls.  It was one of the easier things I've made and I found it enjoyable!

 This is type/amount of yarn makes four balls.

I don't really have a solid reason for why I did it this way, but I followed the directions for starting the balls.  Then I wound them until they were slightly larger than a ping pong ball.  I tucked in the yarn, placed them in a pair of old pantyhose, knotted them into place individually, ran them through the wash with a small amount of soap with hot water, and through the dryer on high heat.  This is a picture of the core of each ball before I felted them.

Then I continued winding the yarn around each ball until they were slightly larger than tennis balls.  I ran them through the wash three times (knotted into the pantyhose again) and through the dryer twice.  Here are our very well felted wool dryer balls! 

 

I wanted them a variety of fun colors, but this was the cheapest way to do it.  In the end, these six balls cost $18 to make.  If I had my coupons, they would have been about $11.  Maybe I'll print off the coupons and try to redeem them when I return the extra wool yarn.

 

I thought this was simple enough that I'm almost ready to open my own wool dryer ball shop on Etsy!

 





A New Dress

Last night I completed a new spring/summer dress for Töchterchen.  I learned with her last dress that she has considerable opinions on what she likes and dislikes.  Taking that into consideration, she picked out this fabric and gave me some ideas for the pattern/design.  The fabric is purple, glittery ladybugs - sounds about right for a two year old girl.  Her requirements were that it had to be long and twirly.  Mission accomplished.

 

There's a face of pure joy when she found her new dress completed this morning.  I think the anticipation of selecting the fabric, helping create the pattern, helping with the pins while I cut it out, helping/watching the sewing (most of which was done after she went to bed, but she did help with a few pieces), and then FINALLY getting to try it on, really helps her to appreciate the final product.  It's fun to watch my kids see and learn that you don't/can't/shouldn't just go to the store and purchase everything you want.  Sometimes you get to create it yourself and it takes time and work, but the end result is so worth it!

The long, twirly dress.  I didn't follow a pattern, yet again.  However, this time I did put together different pieces of previous patterns.  The bodice was mostly from the pattern I used to make a jumper for this fall/winter.  The pattern has a zipper down the back, but I didn't have a zipper on hand and wanted to use buttons on the shoulders.  So I modified the back piece to be one panel and extended the shoulder straps to allow for the overlap and button holes.  Another pattern I had includes a two tier skirt.  I shortened the first piece and made it a few inches more narrow.  I kept the bottom tier the same, but added a middle tier that was in between the widths of the top and bottom and slightly longer than the bottom tier.  All in all, this dress came together more quickly than any of her others! 

The pictures don't even do her excitement level justice.  To add to it, today it the first day she is feeling better after being sick all weekend.  (Btw - Mannchen is a very sick little man.  Pretty sure he has the flu.  103.7 fever yesterday, terrible cough, goopy eyes, and runny nose.  He is doing slightly better this morning, but as the morning goes on he seems to be feeling worse again.  During naptime I plan to make him a new pair of firetruck PJ pants to help cheer him up.  It's harder to come up with sewing projects for boys.

She doesn't hide her emotions well.  I like that about her. 

Close up of the sparkles.  I never would have selected this fabric, but seeing her love for it makes the sparkles all worth it.

More joy.

Yes, it twirls!

BIG twirls!  And don't worry, we layered it with a turtleneck and leggings to make it more appropriate for the early spring weather.

{ this moment }

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Birthed by Soule Mama.