a life of felt

Posts Tagged ‘past workshops’

Mixed media workshop

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Saturday was just such a lovely workshop, people were chatting away, organising tea runs and generally having a good time, it was inspiring to be around these ladies.

It was very much a play / experimentation day as we combined, rag rugging, weaving, knitting,
crochet and other textures with felt making.

Each piece is so individual. We were speculating on whether anyone would be able to tell who had made each piece from the colours and textures used. I reckon if you knew someone in the room you’d have a good chance but may not know without that prior knowledge. What do you reckon?

We also wondered what our felt said about each of us but perhaps it’d be better not to go there.

Some people pushed themselves on colour, some on technique but every single one is fabulous. the
worst part for me is that I don’t get to keep any of them.

p.s. Thanks for the cake Dawn.

I’m delighted to be able to show you Claire’s finished cushion. It looks brilliant.

Tags: felt, past workshops
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Remember this?

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

At the beginning of October I ran a workshop where we made 3D items in British wool. A couple
of the items were well on their way but not quite finished.
Do you remember these from my earlier post?

Well just look at them now. They look fantastic Judith thanks so much for sending in your photos.

Tags: 3D. wet felt, past workshops
Posted in Felting | 1 Comment »

Weekend wool work

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

A whole weekend of making great felted items from a variety of British wools with a very friendly group.
That sums up my weekend and here are the photos to show what was created.

Created by Alex using hand dyed Swaledale wool. I like using Swaledale fleece, it’s hardwearing
and takes dye very well as you can see.

Liz worked hard on this cute little pot. It’s Black Welsh Mountain with Jacob and Wensleydale curls.

This characterful chicken (Betty, yes we do know it’s the cockerels that have long tail feathers)
is destined to be a doorstop in Cheree’s home. It’s made from Swaledale wool.

Liz tried a different style of bag which wasn’t quite as planned but was a great first attempt at this style.
It’s made entirely in Blue Faced Leicester wool.

Cheree’s Black Welsh Mountain handbag with bright red Blue Faced Leicester interior.
The plan is to decorate it further with crocheted flowers.

This unusual sculpture is from Alex and it’s based on a seed pod acquired on her travels. So sorry
the photo isn’t better but it’s the only one I have. Alex made it using Black Welsh Mountain and plans
to use french knot stitches to give it a textured exterior.

This fun sheep was made by Judith using Swaledale, Cheviot and Blue Faced Leicester wools.
It’s going to get legs and an even shaggier coat, I can’t wait to see the photos.

Using the same shape as Cheree, Judith made this lovely bird for a very
special purpose – to keep her eggs in!
I’ve been promised pictures of it finished with more feathers around the tail end.

Over the weekend we had two clear winners on the wool tops front – Swaledale
and Black Welsh Mountain. Both are coarser wools from hill sheep
but it goes to show that they felt very well and can even earn places as favourites.
Go on, give British wools a try, you may surprise yourself.

Tags: 3D. wet felt, british wool, handmade, past workshops
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Pre-felts and wool papers

Monday, April 18th, 2011

This was the subject of my workshop last Thursday. Firstly an explanation for you non or new felters. Pre-felt is part made felt where you stop working at an early stage and the felt is still very soft which enables it to be cut up and re-used. Wool paper is made in the same way as silk paper but using wool fibres. It’s quite a simple process and I’ll put up a tutorial very soon.

The two examples above show work with pre-felts using a mosiac (sometimes called inlay) technique. In the green and yellow example a shape has been cut from each piece and swopped over. After stitching together with wool yarn to become part of the pattern it has then been felted into one piece of fabric. The colourful example is many pieces stitched together to form a picture also with stitching that has become part of the piece. It is possible to do invisible stitches but unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the one that Judith made. Working this way gives crisp edges to work, clear colours (no background fibres coming through) and allows the felt to remain an even thickness.

The examples above show the pre-felts cut up and laid on top of other pre-felts to create pictures (onlay technique). Again, you retain great control of shapes but where you place the pre-felts you’re actually building up the layers of fibre and making the felt thicker in that one area. You can see the extra thickness best perhaps on the red flower in the bottom left hand corner.

Wool papers are used in the same way as pre-felts, by cutting up and placing onto other fibres or pre-felts. As you add the soapy water the paste is dissolved and the fibres felt together. One advantage it does have is that you can make the wool paper much finer than a pre-felt and still get a crisp edge to shapes whilst allowing colours beneath to show through a lot. The examples above have both pre-felts and wool papers on them.

Tags: past workshops, pre-felt, wool paper
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Nuno felting workshop

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Eight fabulous ladies made eight magnificent scarves on Saturday, I apologise for my tardiness in showing them to you.

We began by making a sample using cotton muslin and tried incorporating, silks, curls, rovings, pre-felts and other fabrics. This allowed us to see which effects we liked before moving on to make a full size scarf.

The scarves were worked on a base of silk chiffon and after some rolling and some very vigorous throwing they look brilliant. Be warned by Liz’s comment “I could hardly move my right arm above shoulder height yesterday – repercussions of enjoying the “throwing” stage a little too vigorously I think!”

The yellow ribbon like structure on the final scarf is where cotton muslin has been felted onto the silk chiffon – effective isn’t it? I hope you find these pictures inspiring.

Tags: nuno, past workshops, scarves
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Stitched in felt

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Last Saturday I was in Ulverston teaching a group to make felt book covers embellished with stitch. We began by putting some stitches into pieces of fabric, laid out the fibres and them began felting.

Once the felt was at the pre-felt stage we dried it off as best we could and put more stitches into the work.

It was then time to finish felting it. Of course now the felting is finished there’s lots more embellishing that can be done and the best thing is that the more stitch that is put in the better it becomes. It builds up layers of rich texture.

I’m not sure if the ladies realised how much they learned on Saturday – how to felt, felting to a specific size, controlling the shape and incorporating fabrics and threads. Quite a lot really for just one day. I enjoyed the day, they were a pleasure to work with and the lunch was very nice – thank you.

Tags: book covers, merino, past workshops
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Cushion workshop

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Just a quickie, but I thought you’d like to see the photos from the cushion workshop this month.

As Jill was a first time felter she chose to make just the front panel for the cushion and this landscape is wonderful. It was inspired by Andrea Hunter’s felt pictures of sheep and the curly wensleydale locks on the sheep really works.

Liz has produced a 3D cushion cover in an envelope style. This abstract use of colour and all the textures gives it a real feeling of movement and Liz felted it to size perfectly. Well done ladies!

Tags: felt, handmade, past workshops
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New felters

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Last Friday saw the mixed media workshop taking place and everyone was a new felter, not that you can tell from how well they made felt. We did use some crochet, rag rugging and weaving in the workshop but quite a lot of texture too, pre-felts, silk, fabrics and even a little low relief work. A busy day.

Keep up the good work ladies,I’m sure you’ll be making more felt. It was a pleasure to meet you

Tags: mixed media, past workshops
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Summer rug making workshop

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

It doesn’t seem a year since my last felt rug workshop, the time has flown by. The weather has been fantastic for us and we managed to do quite a lot of the work outside once the wool was wet. Each rug began with what most people think is the best part of rug making, laying out the design. For those who did double sided rugs this began and ended with a pattern. Each rug looked gorgeous and fluffy like the one below.

Then of course we had to begin working on them. After wetting the fibres, we rubbed to set the design then began the rolling. We rolled with hands, with feet and with ropes. After this we beat the rug with stones and my special tamper tool,which my husband had to repair after day one thanks to Demolition Debs, just kidding Debs. Not content with that we also walked on it to compress it.

So it was lots of work, lots of water, lots of good company and lot and lots of sunshine. Here’s how they all turned out.

They are fantastic and you wouldn’t believe that two of the creators are novice felt makers. We also wrote a communal toast to our rugs.

May it tickle my toes gently

May it bring sunshiney memories

May mother and daughter share it happily

May the cat love it not scratch it

May it fit by the side of the bed

May it last many years

Margaret has been kind enough to send me the following feedback and picture. ” My rug has been safely delivered to the Relax-U massage room. My friend Lynne was delighted, the colours were perfect and she loved the design. We are going to put a plaque on the wall to describe what wools it is made of, and we thought a felt rug was very appropriate for a massage room as both involve heat and movement. Lynne gave me a free massage as she was so pleased, and it did indeed tickle my toes gently – it is so soft. Haven’t had so much fun giving a present in ages – or been so exhausted producing it!”

Some of the pictures are courtesy of Jennifer who also had this to say “Thank you for a wonderful weekend. I learnt a lot as usual and also really enjoyed myself.” Our novice felt makers survived and were also happy, “Thank you for an absolutely brilliant weekend. I really enjoyed it (I know Debs did too), and we learnt an awful lot, both being absolute beginners. My hubby (and the neighbours) are very impressed with my rug which was hung outside in the garden to continue drying when I got home. I’m sure we’ll be back for more”

Thanks for a great weekend ladies

Tags: feedback, felt, handmade, past workshops, rug, swaledale, wool
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Felt for your home workshop

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

It was a exceptionally warm and sunny day last Thursday which meant we managed to get out and eat our lunch in the churchyard. A pleasant change indeed.

We had a variety of items being made all of which can be used in the home. These first two are table runners. the first inspired by the bark of a silver birch tree and the second by a black and white cat in the hope the hairs won’t be noticed on this one!

This second set comprise; a wallhanging, table mat and tea cosy. You can just imagine the smile the tea cosy would bring to your face at breakfast it’s so sunny.

These last ones are obviously vases, the first set hand modelled and the second modelled around a beaker giving them a crisper outline. Really lovely colours used on these.

Margaret was also kind enough to give the following feedback “thank you for a great workshop yesterday. I really enjoyed myself!! My runner will look really handsome on the dresser (once I declutter it of course!) ” Well done all.