Introduction: How to Make an F-Bomb - the Felted Way.

I have recently discovered felting and have fallen in love with the beautiful things you can make with 100% wool. I thought it would be amusing to make a small item to carry in your pocket for those times when you just need to express yourself in a way that may bring a smile to someone's face. This is a beginner felting project.

Step 1: List of Project Supplies

You will need some of the following basic supplies to make this project.

  1. Some 100% wool - black and white (it doesn't really matter what type, as long as it is listed as 100% wool). You can buy wool that is already carded (roving) or use regular twisted wool and brush it out yourself.
  2. Some felting needles. I used two sizes - #40 (fine) and #32 (not so fine).
  3. You will need a piece of foam, about 1-2 in thick and only needs to be about 5in square.
  4. A pair of scissors.
  5. A 3" piece of thin string.
  6. Some glue.
  7. A red marker pen. (optional)
  8. Note: there is a red bead in the last picture that I was going to use on the end of the string but opted to color the end of the string with a red marker - worked just fine.

Step 2: Felting Needles and Wool.

I will be using really simple terms for this instructable, since this is a beginner felting project. Felting consists of using wool (aka roving or tops) that has been "carded" as you would call it. When they take the twisted yarn and pull it apart with two small brushes until the yarn is all fluffy and pulled apart. You can purchase roving at most craft supplie stores or purchase 100% twisted yarn and card it yourself.

The felting needles have small hooks in them, as you can see in the above picture, that grab the fibres of the wool and hook them together forming a tight bond. The more you punch into the wool/roving, the more the fibres are bound together.

Step 3: Basic Felting Method.

Felting consists of using the needles to punch and jab at the roving to bind the fibres together. You can see a sample of the motions in this small video. Make sure when you are punching to hold your need straight at the project and not at an angle so you don't bend your needles.

You should place your project on top of the foam piece to help with the felt punching - be VERY CAREFUL NOT TO PUNCH YOUR FINGERS. The needles are very sharp.

Step 4: Making the Ball.

The first step is to make your ball with the yarn that is twisted. I made a very tiny ball and then started to wind the rest around keeping it nice and tight as I wound it around and changed directions to try and keep a nice rounded form.

When you get it to the size that you would like, I chose about 1 1/4", I left about a 4" piece hanging and then cut it. This will help to make the small nub around the top of your bomb.

Now you are ready to felt with the needle.

Step 5: Felting Your Ball.

Once you have your ball made, you will punch it to bind the wool together so it won't unravel. Just punch away all around the ball.

Step 6: Adding Roving/wool.

When you have punched the original wool ball so that the yarn does not unravel, you will now add some carded wool to smooth out the surface and fill in any bumps that are still left. This will help to make your intended shape, and in our case, a round ball.

In the first step above, I have take a small piece of carded wool/roving and just placed it over the ball. Once it is placed, I then proceeded to punch some more to blend this in with the other fibres below it on the ball.

Keep adding more wool/roving and punching to cover the ball until you are happy with the result - smooth enough, round enough etc. Make sure to punch at a straight angle into the project to avoid bending your needle.

To make the small nub at the top of the bomb, just take a bit of wool/roving and wrap it around the base (on the top of the ball) of the string you left hanging and punch it into the ball until you get a nice little nub. When satisfied, cut the end of the wool and punch it into the end to blend it into the nub.

Step 7: Adding the "F" to Your Bomb.

Now you will need a very small piece of the white wool/roving to make the letter "f" on your bomb. You just take a tiny piece and punch it into the bomb side in the shape of an "f". I used the fine needle here to punch the letter into the ball. Delicate work like this requires the finer needles to keep the detail shape.

Step 8: Adding the Final Touch.

Now that you have your "F" Bomb shaped and labeled, you can add the wick. I just used a piece of thin string and poked it into the nub on top and held it into place with a little bit of glue.

Optional: So your F-Bomb is ready just as it is to throw around should the occasion arise. However, if you would prefer to throw something with a bit more attitude, you can light the fuse with a little red marker coloring the tip of your fuse.

I hope you enjoyed my little felting project. Make yourself a handful and drop them in your pocket for that time you may need to release a little frustration - or just to make someone laugh.

Pocket-Sized Contest

Participated in the
Pocket-Sized Contest

Epilog Challenge 9

Participated in the
Epilog Challenge 9