In this tutorial, I'm sharing how to make wet-felted wool balls using wool scraps, natural materials, and a beautiful assortment of plant dyes. This is one of my favorite handwork projects because it can be adapted for children of different ages, grades, and abilities. Younger students can complete the project with a beautifully felted and dyed wool ball, while older students can continue with embroidery to create something even more elaborate.

We begin by making the core of our wool balls using scraps of yarn, wool felt, and wool fabric saved from previous projects. I love finding ways to use up materials that might otherwise be discarded. Everything from the core to the outer layer is 100% wool, making this a wonderful project for using those little scraps that accumulate over time.

I'm also sharing how we prepare raw wool by cleaning and carding it. When I introduced this project to my students, we had limited carding tools, so we found ways to keep everyone working while taking turns preparing the wool. Interestingly, I found that the wool we carded ourselves held the shape of the balls even better than the professionally prepared wool.

Once our cores are ready, we wrap them in layers of carded wool and begin the wet-felting process using warm soapy water. I'll share some tips for forming a nice round ball, avoiding folds, and using alternating warm and cold water to help the fibers felt together. We also experimented with bouncing the balls on a hard surface and using the dryer to finish the felting process.

Now comes one of my favorite parts of this project: plant dyeing!

We're experimenting with a wonderful variety of natural dyes, including black beans, red onion skins, yellow onion skins, shallots, turmeric, madder root, chamomile flowers, and pomegranate skins. Each produces its own beautiful range of colors, and I'm sharing some of the methods we used to extract those colors and dye our wool.

Black beans are especially interesting because they require a cold dye bath. I prefer refrigerating mine for about 24 hours to develop a lovely soft blue-purple color. Red onion skins produce one of my favorite results, a beautiful olive green when used with an alum mordant. Without the mordant, the same onion skins produce a completely different brownish-red color!

We're also experimenting with turmeric for vibrant yellows, chamomile flowers for delicate yellow-greens, shallot skins for warm mustard-orange tones, and madder root for soft coral and rusty orange shades. I particularly love the madder root because the depth of color can change so dramatically depending on the amount of dye material and how long the wool remains in the dye bath.

I'll also share why I sometimes prefer dyeing silk when experimenting with new plant dyes. Wool balls can absorb dye well beyond the outer layer, sometimes all the way to the core, requiring more dye material than expected. Since some plant dyes are more difficult or expensive to obtain, I like to be mindful of how much we're using.

The results were even better than I expected! We ended up with a beautiful collection of wool balls in soft blues, rich olive greens, golden yellows, warm oranges, and delicate coral shades. Some were dyed in a single color, while others combined different plant-dyed wools or were placed into more than one dye bath. I especially love the unexpected combinations and the subtle variations that developed throughout the process.

Not every wool ball turned out perfectly round, and some became quite firm during the felting process, but when you see the entire collection together, those little imperfections hardly matter. Each one is unique, and the colors are absolutely beautiful.

What I appreciate most about this project is how easily it can grow with the students. For younger children, the completed wool ball is a lovely finished handwork project that requires patience, coordination, and perseverance. For older students, the softer wool balls become a wonderful surface for embroidery, allowing them to continue developing their handwork skills.

Natural Plant Dye Recipes for Wool

WOF stands for Weight of Fiber and refers to the dry weight of the wool before dyeing. The amount of plant material is calculated as a percentage of the wool's weight. For example, 50% WOF means using 50 grams of plant material for every 100 grams of dry wool.

For most plant dyes, wool should be premordanted with alum at 15% WOF. Cream of tartar at 5% WOF is optional. Turmeric and saffron do not require a mordant.

Chamomile

WOF: 50–100% dried flowers

Colors: Pale yellow, butter yellow, golden yellow.

Soak the dried flowers in water, then heat gently for approximately one hour to extract the color. Strain the flowers and add damp, premordanted wool. Maintain a temperature of approximately 180°F (82°C) for one hour.

Using less chamomile produces lighter yellows, while more flowers generally produce richer golden tones. Allowing the wool to cool in the dye bath for several hours or overnight may deepen the color.

Red Onion Skins

WOF: 30–100% dried skins

Colors: Mustard yellow, olive green, muted gold, reddish brown.

Simmer the onion skins gently for approximately one hour, then strain. Add damp, premordanted wool and maintain approximately 180°F (82°C) for 45–60 minutes.

Smaller quantities of skins generally produce lighter shades. Larger quantities and longer soaking times may create deeper colors. Red onion skins can produce surprisingly different colors depending on the minerals and pH of the water.

Yellow Onion Skins

WOF: 30–100% dried skins

Colors: Golden yellow, amber, orange, rust.

Heat the dried onion skins in water for approximately one hour to extract the dye. Strain and add damp, premordanted wool. Maintain approximately 180°F (82°C) for 45–60 minutes.

Using fewer onion skins generally produces lighter golden shades. Increasing the amount of skins can create richer amber or orange tones. Leaving the wool in the dye bath overnight may intensify the color. The remaining dye bath can often be reused for lighter shades.

Madder Root

WOF: 50–100% dried root

Colors: Peach, coral, terracotta, orange-red, brick red.

Soak the dried madder root overnight before heating. Warm the dye bath gently to approximately 140°F (60°C) to extract the color. Add damp, premordanted wool and maintain a gentle temperature for one to two hours.

Smaller amounts of madder generally produce lighter peach and coral shades. Larger quantities may produce deeper orange-red and brick-red colors. Lower temperatures tend to favor clearer reds, while higher temperatures can shift the color toward orange or brown.

Allowing the wool to remain in the dye bath overnight can help develop deeper shades. Avoid boiling madder.

Turmeric

WOF: 5–10% ground turmeric

Colors: Bright yellow, golden yellow, yellow-orange.

Mix turmeric powder with warm water and heat gently for approximately 15–20 minutes. Add damp wool and maintain approximately 175°F (80°C) for 20–30 minutes.

Turmeric produces strong yellow colors even in small quantities. Using less turmeric creates lighter shades, while increasing the amount produces stronger golden yellows, up to a point.

Turmeric does not require a mordant, but its color is not particularly lightfast and may fade considerably with exposure to sunlight.

Saffron

WOF: 5–25% dried saffron threads

Colors: Pale yellow, golden yellow, brilliant yellow.

Soak saffron threads overnight to extract the color. Heat the infusion gently to approximately 158°F (70°C) for 30 minutes. Remove the threads, add damp wool, and maintain approximately 176°F (80°C) for another 30 minutes.

Smaller amounts of saffron may produce delicate yellow shades, while higher concentrations can create richer golden yellows. The 25% WOF concentration comes from a historical wool-dyeing recipe; lower concentrations are useful for experimentation.

Saffron does not require a mordant. Because it is expensive and sensitive to prolonged light exposure, it is particularly well suited to small dyeing projects.

Additional Tips for Plant Dyeing Wool

For lighter colors: Use a lower percentage of plant material relative to the wool's weight. Shorter dyeing times may also produce lighter shades.

For richer colors: Increase the WOF percentage and allow the wool to remain in the dye bath for several hours or overnight. Longer soaking does not always produce darker colors, particularly once the wool has absorbed most of the available dye.

For softer colors: Reuse an exhausted dye bath with a fresh batch of wool. This often produces beautiful, lighter variations of the original color.

For consistent results: Use the same mordant, water source, temperature, and dyeing time for each batch. Remember that natural dyes vary with the plant material and growing conditions.

For wool batting and fleece: Avoid boiling, vigorous stirring, and sudden temperature changes, which can cause the wool to felt. Allow the wool to cool naturally before rinsing and dry it away from direct sunlight.

Natural Wool Dyeing Shopping List

These are the plant dyes, mordants, and basic supplies used in my natural wool dyeing recipes.

Plant Dye Materials

• Dyer's Chamomile, Dried Flowers

• Red Onion Skins

• Yellow Onion Skins

• Madder Root, Dried

• Turmeric Powder

• Saffron Threads

Onion skins can also be collected and saved from your kitchen rather than purchased.

Mordants and Dyeing Supplies

• Potassium Alum for Natural Dyeing

• Cream of Tartar

• Calcium Carbonate

• Stainless Steel Dyeing Pot

• Digital Kitchen Scale

• Digital Cooking Thermometer

• Reusable Cotton Muslin Bags

• Stainless Steel Strainer

• Heat-Resistant Gloves

Wool for Natural Dyeing

• Natural Undyed Wool Roving

• Natural Undyed Wool Batting

• Natural Undyed Wool Yarn

Choose undyed, 100% wool for the most predictable results. Use dedicated dyeing equipment that will not be reused for preparing food.

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