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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:

https://www.facebook.com/ThingwallFelt-1737940446446227/

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:

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.

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

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:

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/

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.

Along with fellow members of the Re-View textile group I have been working on pieces for a new exhibition entitles Cabinet of Curiosities.

Watch this space for more news on the exhibition date and venue.

Please excuse the lack of content – this website is a work in progress and will be developing over the next couple of months.

Please come back soon and see what has changed!