I had 3 ancient dryer balls made of wound wool yarn covered with roving that I used for years until the roving started falling off in bits and pieces and all that was left were some ugly little misshapen lumps too small to do much laundry fluffing. I missed them a lot so made some new balls which are really working out great, I’m happy with them. But… I felt sad about the old ones and really didn’t want to waste them. Somebody suggested crocheting covers but I have a bunch of fulled natural fiber sweater scraps kicking around the craft room and thought I could sew covers instead. Sure enough!
To even out the shape and size and give them enough heft to pummel the laundry and help it dry and discharge static, I cut some long strips of sweater to wind round them before stuffing them into the ball shapes. I found the 4 segment pattern online for free and machine stitched with a narrow zigzag for stretch.
They are fantastic and having 8 of them is great, kids regularly make off with a ball to play with so now there will always be enough to help the laundry get dry even if one or two are mysteriously missing .
Great job rescuing the old battered dryer balls! They look pretty spiffy, now! And, having extra ones is certainly a good idea. While I don’t have kids that make off with them, sometimes mine get caught up in something (like s sleeve or a sheet) and I don’t find it until later.
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AIMR
(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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nice recovering…sweater strips…who knew? I think you have given life to another type of scrap!
I cut up the sleeves and awkward bits of neckline in a sort of short back and forth zig zaggy pattern to make long strips out of even the smallest parts. It was EASY! Like when you cut a piece of paper up into a very, very long strip.
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