Embroidered ball / Singlad boll

My embroidered ball is finished, and I am very proud. It took quite a while to cover the whole surface with stitches but I looove how it came out!

Singlad boll by iHanna
Singlad boll by iHanna

My embroidery group have been learning to make these and everyone has been fascinated by it. Most of da ladies have done three or more balls already, but I’ve just completed this one. I finished it around Easter so I’m calling it my Easter ball. I will probably make at least one more soon though. It is as southing as hand stitching, and I love making balls! We will have a lot to show at our upcoming Spring exhibition, and I will take photos and show you how they look together of course.

The technique is old but our love for it is newfound and shiny! In Swedish this is called singla, and its done with wool thread around a cloth ball. All you do is sew the buttonhole stitch (langettstygn) around a thread instead of into a fabric, round and round the ball. There is a Swedish tutorial for how this is made, called Singla en boll, but I can’t explain it very well in English, sorry about that. Doesn’t it look like its crocheted though?

Here is a photo of how it looked in-the-making:

Embroidery around a ball

Craft fun indeed.

Singla en boll!


Discover more from iHannas Blog

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

12 Responses

  1. Hi Hanna, I first thought your ball WAS crocheted. How cool…..
    Do you avoid stitching into the ball itself ? I really liked it.

  2. Amazing! I once learned (as a child) how to crochet and knit a ball, but I’ve never seen an embroidered one. Awesome!

  3. Amazing! :)
    I really like the colors you used. I’ve noticed they are the same of your last watercolor paint (“Blessed spring”). I couldn’t imagine that pink, yellow and green match in this good way!

  4. Looks like a very involved project…good for building patience as well as sewing skill! What will you do with it? Is it for decoration? I like the colors you chose.

  5. Thanks for commenting!
    Laila, yes, you avoid stitching into the ball, you don’t have to. You just cover it with the stitches.

    Andria, I’ve made it as decoration and because it was fun sewing it, but it is made from wool so it has a nice bounce to it if you wanna come play ball with me!? If I ever have kids I’ll make them lots of toys like this one. :-)

  6. Ooh, that’s a long way for me to come to play ball! It would be lots of fun, though, and I have a ready and willing two- and three- year old to play with your delightful handmade toys! :-)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment