Felt ball placemat

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Felt ball placemats have become popular in recent years, so why not try to make your own? You can design them yourself with your favorite colors so it fits your kitchen. With this free pattern, you will get detailed instructions on how to sew the felt balls together to create beautiful placemats. The felt balls are made of 100% wool of the highest quality and durable nylon.

Size: approx. 22 cm

Material:

  1. 91 pcs. Felt Balls 20 mm 
    Purple: 30
    Grey: 31
    White: 32
  2. Gütermann sewing thread extra stitch
  3. John James curved needles
  4. John James Modistnåle size 3

Find kits with felt balls and sewing thread here.

Method

There are various ways to do this. For example, you can thread all the balls on a thread and then sew them together. This way you get a round placemat. You can also make a round placemat with the method below, but the balls must be sewn together in a different way.

Note! The gray color in the image above is lighter than the spheres used in the pattern. This is the only difference.

Here’s how you do it:

Begin by laying out the balls in the desired pattern. See the image below for inspiration. I started with the middle row which is marked as row 11. I put a needle in the middle ball, which is the one we start with.

It may be a good idea to take a picture of the pattern after you place the balls. Then you won’t have to remember in what order the colors need to be threaded.

1111.jpg 

  • Cut a thread of approx. one meter so your thread doesn’t get tangled. Make a knot at the end of the thread, preferably several times so that it doesn’t pass through the ball. In the beginning, the placemat should look like a flower and consist of 7 balls (see picture below).
  • Begin with the middle ball. Pass the needle straight through and do the same the other way (see picture below, to the right) so that the thread is attached. The gray ball now becomes the center of your placemat.

 11111111111111.png 

  • The needle now comes out on top of the middle ball. Now change to a curved needle. Insert the curved needle into the bottom of the next ball (purple) and out again on the left side at a 45-degree angle. Work is done to the left, but this is of course optional.

  • Now sew the next ball from the side (figure 1). The needle must come out at the bottom of the ball so that it can be attached to the middle ball (figure 2). It is important that each ball is attached to the two balls that the ball is connected to. When the needle comes out on the bottom of the white ball, it is passed into the gray ball. It is then brought back up into the purple ball and out again at a 45-degree angle, as you did when you attached the purple ball. Now insert the needle straight through the white ball and place on a new ball. If you feel unsure, see the picture in point 5.

  • The picture below shows how each ball is attached to the two balls with which it is to be connected to. The black arrow is the one you start with first. Then follow the light blue directions, then the red, then the green, etc. The numbers indicate where the needle is going in / out.

  • The first round that forms a flower is now complete. From the purple ball that the needle is in, we build on the next round. The first and last are sewn together like the other balls. But when you need to stick the needle straight through (mark 1 in red and green arrows above), it comes out on top of the purple ball, instead of on the side – see below.

  • The picture below shows the first two balls in the second half.

  • Continue with this method until you have used all the felt balls. How you sew in the six corners in each round is crucial to whether you get a round or hexagonal placemat. You choose this yourself.

Design: Benedicte Helgesen Nernes / diywithbenedictehn / benedictehn

 

Version: v3.c139.s4.l5