How to make custom bobble trim from felt balls

Everyone loves bobble trim, and it’s so on trend right now.

But you want something unique to add the finishing touch to that project, and besides who has the time to search online for the right colour, wait for delivery, or trek to the shops?

For those times when you want something really exclusive, or need to match the colours in a project, here’s how to make your own trim using ribbon and felt balls.

I promise you, it’s quick and easy and a lot of fun.

Follow along as I make some multi-coloured bobble trim to edge a cushion. The llama design was a test stitch for my multi-sized Jose embroidered llama design, (can you tell I used the wrong stabiliser in the middle size?OOPS). I decided the stitch-out would make a cute little pillow for my daughter’s birthday present.

1) choose your felt balls. I wanted a fun, informal look to go with the llama theme so I used assorted bright colours in two sizes, 20mm and 15mm.

2)  Mark your ribbon every 3/4 inch with a dot in the centre. Marking the ribbon ensures that your bobbles are even. Bigger felt balls need wider spacing, just play around until you’re happy with the look.

3)Thread a chenille needle with embroidery thread. I used some vintage single strand, but you could use a multi strand. Anything that will go through the ball. Too thin and you risk the thread breaking in use. Too thick and you’ll fight to get it through the balls.

4) Thread your felt balls onto the thread, by passing the needle through and then back on itself. This makes the balls hang down better, plus it stops them sliding along the thread

I taped one end onto my ruler to keep the threaded balls under control. Those babies just want to tangle themselves up otherwise, and believe me, untangling them takes forever!

Use the ruler to keep the spaces equal. I threaded the felt ball 1 1/2” apart. You could increase that to 2” for extra dangle.

5) Once you have a few balls threaded you can pin them to the ribbon. Make the pin go in and out a couple of times to trap the thread in place. Pin across the ribbon.

6) Once you have enough trim, you need to stitch the threads down. You can either stitch over the pins, along the length of the ribbon, or stick tape over the whole length of the ribbon to keep everything in place, then remove the pins before you stitch on the machine. I prefer this method, it stops the bobbles (and your fingers) catching on the pins while you sew. Use a zipper foot so you can get close to the edge and stitch two lines, about 1/4” apart.

That’s it. Attach your finished bobble trim by sewing or fusing in place.

Here’s how the finished cushion turned out. I really like the mix of colours and sizes.

Be creative and try different size and colour felt ball combos to add your own unique touch to your makes. This custom bobble trim is much more interesting than bought trim.

Have you tried making bobble trim from felt balls? Share your pics in the Flowerdog Designs facebook group 

Want to make a cushion like this? You can get the llama embroidery design files from Flowerdog Designs Etsy shop