There is less than 2 weeks to go till this year’s Wirral Open Studio tour. Here is a sneak preview and there are more items in the picture gallery
Thingwall Felt signs up with facebook
Please like me!
ThingwallFelt can now be found on Facebook.
There isn’t much to look at yet, but I am sure it will grow in time, so please take a look at my new Facebook page:
Learning how to make felt in an evening
In preparation for my new introduction to felt making workshop, my two friends from work volunteered to learn how to make felt.
Here they are laying down the fibres for a test piece. We worked to a set size with a given amount of wool. This shows you how to gauge the amount of wool required.
Now the fibres are covered with netting and wetted thoroughly. Unperfumed soap is rubbed over the netting till a lather develops.
The netting is peeled back carefully and we check to see if there are any dry spots.
The wool fibres are sandwiched between two pieces of bubblewrap then rolled round a foam roller. Pipe insulation works fine.
Then we roll, and roll, and roll.. 100 times in each direction, then flip over and repeat on the other side.
The felt will now start to feel more solid, so time to increase the amount of pressure when rolling.
Nearly done, after a brisk rub, the felt is rolled in a bamboo mat, then rinsed thoroughly to remove all the soap.
And here are the finished pieces. I was very impressed with result.
We all agreed it was a thoroughly relaxing and entertaining evening that everyone could enjoy.
You can find out if you like to make felt by coming to my workshop in Heswall on 14th September at 6:30 (see my earlier post for details).
To book a place please email
email@ThingwallFelt.co.uk
Festival Time
Beautiful Days Festival in Escot Park, Devon starts in two weeks so it was time to think about the Sunday theme.
This year it is “stars” and I found a pattern for a star-shaped beret in Chad Alice Hogan’s book Fabulous Felt Hats.
The prefelt hearts were cut freehand to give a more jumbled look. I used Corridale for the outer layer to help the hat hold it’s shape well. On the inside I used Merino to make it more comfortable to wear.
Here is the result:
Would you like to learn how to make felt?
Follow this link to see details of my new introduction to feltmaking class.
The process of wet felting is easy to learn and a good way to unwind after a busy day.
Whilst you don’t need to be good at design to produce beautiful felt, there are many ways to create patterns and designs which will intrigue you.
Please book your place whilst as numbers are limited.
Sketching in Sorrento
On a recent trip to Sorrento I did a few charcoal sketches of the view from our balcony.
I find that sketching in monochrome helps me to concentrate of the composition rather than the colour.
When I create a felt picture using these images, it is easier to take into account the emotional and visual impact of alternate colour schemes.
And here is a wall hanging inspired by the colours and textures of Sorrento. It is made from Merino wool, wool roving, Indian cotton lawn fabric, silk fabric, Indian printed polyester fabric. For contrast, I defined the hill by needle felting pieces of cut wool prefelt made from Blue faced Leicester wool.
Useful information
As there was a lot of interest in joining me to make felt together, I am currently searching for a suitable venue and will be offering an introduction to feltmaking class later in the year.
Several people were interested in the Friday Felters group that meets every third Friday in Frodsham Community centre, Fluin Lane. The group welcomes new members, please contact Beryl if you would like to join in, email beryl_woodcroft@hotmail.co.uk
To find out more about the International Feltmakers Association visit www.feltmakers.com
To purchase wool and more online try the following suppliers
www.winghamwoolwork.co.uk
www.worldofwool.co.uk
www.threshingbarn.com
Wirral Open Studios 2016
This weekend saw my very first Open Studio weekend. It was great to meet some fellow felters from Wirral. There was a really positive response to my work and I was able pass on my enthusiasm for felting on to my visitors.
As there seemed to be a good level of interest in me offering feltmaking classes, I will be investigating possible venues soon.
Here are some pics from the weekend:
Laser Cut Felt
Recently I attended Shore Cottage Studio for a two day class in laser cutting. I took along some felt I had made from two layers of Merino wool and a design based on the cross section of an onion. The pen drawing was scanned and converted to a CAD outline telling the laser where to cut. The end result was three sliced onions created from separate pieces of felt which I then interchanged in the same manner as traditional mosaic felt.
It was a beautiful location as you can tell from my pics below and my tutor Kris was extremely helpful. See further details of the courses at http://www.shorecottagestudio.com/
Linn Park take three
I have been attempting to capture the essence of Linn Park, Glasgow for a while now and thought I would share my latest attempt. The lower picture shows my initial layout laid onto a design board.
If you would like to experiment with designs then please make yourself a design board. It is just a flat piece of felt made from 2 layers of a coarse wool such as Norwegian. The design board gently holds the fibres in place whilst you play around with the design very effectively.
This design evolved into the top image which incorporates various silk fabrics and merino wool prefelts.