Weve just finished day one of a two-day Nuno Felting Workshop at Simply Stitch, East Keswick and what a productive day we’ve had! 10 ladies are taking part and today they experimented with different lightweight fabrics, combining them with Merino fibres to produce beautiful new Nuno fabrics.
And a few close-ups showing the wonderful textures achieved….
Tomorrow we will be using apertures to identify areas to be embellished using hand and/or machine stitching.
Today’s students were Jenny, Felicia and Anne, three friends from the Derby area who travelled up for the day to make Merino and Silk Collars.
As you can see from the photos of their finished work the ladies did a wonderful job and achieved some fabulous textures. They even got done in time for a quick Tyvek demonstration and each made a Tyvek brooch.
Felicia’s finished collar
Jenny’s finished collar
Anne’s finished collar
Jenny, Anne and Felicia…..all hoping the damp, cold weather continues a while longer!
It was a pleasure working with you ladies. I hope you all enjoy wearing your new creations and go on to make lots more!
As promised photos from day two of the Yellow Poppies workshop in Hemmingby…..
Lou was the first to finish. Having worked so fast she even managed a second piece of work!
Lou’s Felted wallhanging with yellow 3D flowers
Janny’s Felted wallhanging with 3D red poppies
Zoe’s red poppy wallhanging
Trish’s sunflower wallhanging
Maggies floral wallhanging
June’s red poppies and dragonfly
Elaine’s Landscape with swan and dragonfly
Ellie and Brenda still have work in progress so I will add photos of their finished work as and when I get them.
Ellie’s Yellow Poppies work in progress
Many thanks to Ellie for inviting me over to Hemmingby and to all the ladies who took part. It’s probably too late to tell you now the workshops over but, as you may have already realised, felting is very addictive and can seriously improve your health….you’ve been warned!
Today was day one of the Yellow Poppies Workshop at Hemmingby Village Hall attended by nine enthusiastic ladies all keen to learn a new skill.
The morning was spent Wet Felting the backgrounds using three shades of Bergschaf wool. Once this was done the work was spun and put aside to dry while we had lunch.
This afternoon Lou and Jani chose to make additional pieces of felt to cut up to use as 3D flowers while the others got straight on with Needle Felting their flowers directly onto the background.
Tomorrow the ladies will continue embellishing their work with Needle Felting, couching, hand stitch and free machine embroidery.
A quick catch up on the past week’s workshops which included wall hangings and vessels…..
Wednesday saw me driving back down to Podehole for the second session of my Wet Felted Wall Hanging workshop with the Spalding Embroiderers. Last month the ladies created their wet felted backgrounds and added some needle felted flowers. This week they concentrated on embellishing their work with hand stitching…..unfortunately they are not permitted to use their sewing machines in this particular hall which is something I’ve never come across before!
One or two of the ladies had done some homework since we last met and added free machine stitching. This is just a small sample of the wonderful work being produced…..
Once again it was a pleasure to work with such an enthusiastic bunch of ladies and as you can see from the photos the standard of work is terrific! I’m already looking forward to my return visit in September when we will be experimenting with Lutradur and Tyvek to produce a forest floor themed 3D picture.
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In the studio this week I had a visit from Annie and Marisa. Neither of these ladies had ever felted around a resist before but both were keen to have a go. They certainly rose to the challenge and produced two wonderful wet felted Merino bowls with multicoloured necks and embellished surfaces……
On Saturday I was given even more of a challenge when Sue, with daughters Adele and Sharon, visited the studio. They had said they wanted to make 3D vessels but made it very clear from the outset that they weren’t prepared to settle for something straight forward or easy. They were only interested in making complex 3D shapes, the sort that require a book resist or differential shrinkage. When you consider that none of these ladies had ever done Wet Felting, either 2D or 3D, prior to this visit what they achieved in 6 hours was pretty amazing!
Today I was back at the Simply Stitch studio in East Keswick to deliver a wet felting workshop for owner Nicola Hulme and ten ladies who were there to make their version of my Irit Dulman inspired Bergschaf Clutch Bag.
Mottled Irit Dulman inspired clutch bag
Two-tone Irit Dulman inspired clutch bag.
For at least two of the ladies this would be their first introduction to Felting around a resist.
I know that if I chose the colours and put together specific kits and made students follow my instructions to the letter we would all be done in the time allowed and be taking home a finished item………..but I can’t do that! The last thing I want is for everyone to take home the same item!
When I deliver a workshop I like to encourage students to make the piece their own and this means allowing time to think, discuss options and take risks…..this morning was no exception!
As a result the ladies have all worked flat-out and produced a bag which is unique to them. They are almost but not quite finished. When I get photos of the completed work I will post an update.
Thanks to Nicola for hosting the workshop and keeping us all in coffee and biscuits and to all the ladies who took part….including Janet who managed to run away and hide when I took the final photo! Hope to see you all again.
Yesterday I was teaching in Risley, just outside of Derby, working with a creative group of ladies called “Material Girls”. They had invited me over to spend the day with them experimenting with Nuno Felting.
The ladies all brought a selection of lightweight fabrics ranging from pure silk, viscose and muslin through to polyester and netting as well as Merino fibres. The idea was for this to be an experimental session making samples which could later be stitched and framed, making a unique piece of textile art.
The results were absolutely stunning! Depending on the choice of fabrics this process can be very time and labour intensive and therefore I was a little concerned as to the staying power of my group! I needn’t have worried….there was a lot of coffee, biscuits, laughter and determination to keep us going and the results really paid off.
Once their work was finished the ladies used picture mounts to select certain area which appealed to them for stitching. Non of this fabric will get wasted as even small off cuts can be used for making brooches or used in card making, mixed media work, etc…..
Once again, it was a pleasure to work with a group of like minded ladies and be able to share my enthusiasm and passion for Feltmaking and Textiles. Many thanks to Viv and Jenny for arranging my visit and helping to make the day a success. I look forward to seeing you all again sometime.
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A quick update on the pictures made at this workshop and a big thanks to Anne who has sent me photos of the two pictures she made from her Nuno samples. Just a little stitching is all it took to transform the fabrics into beautiful landscapes…..
Last week I did a one-one Workshop for Alison who wanted to learn how to make a wet felted fish. This wasn’t to be any old fish, Alison made it quite clear that she was on a mission to create a Wrasse as part of a local community project. I’d never heard of a Wrasse so immediately turned to Google to see what it was we were aiming for. I discovered that there are over six hundred species of this fish with two being native to the British Isles, the Ballan Wrasse and it’s more colourful cousin, the Cuckoo Wrasse.
We decided to work with a combination of Bergschaf and Merino fibres. This was the first time Alison has Felted around a resist but she took to it like a fish to water (I had to get that in somewhere!)
This is how he looked once Alison had got him home and dried out, prior to embellishing…..
…..and this is the finished Wrasse complete with hand embroidery and an impressive set of dentures! Isn’t he handsome! Well done Alison, can’t wait to see what you make next!
Today saw me driving down to Colemans Craft Warehouse in Rushden, Northamptonshire to deliver a beginners workshop in Wet Felting. Colemans is a large out of town, retail outlet crammed with all manner of crafting equipment and materials including card making, stamping, fabrics, Felting, beading, knitting, etc. There is a cafe area on the ground floor while the spacious, well lit workshop area is on the mezzanine above the sales floor.
There were nine ladies taking part in the workshop and for all of them this would be their first introduction to Wet Felting. We began by discussing the basics of creating a piece of flat felt and everyone made an abstract sample using Merino fibres and adding snippets of yarn, fabric and silks.
Above are the pieces prior to Felting (apologies for the one that’s missing) and below are the pieces after Felting.
After lunch the ladies were given a choice. They could either make a picture, using the skills they had learnt earlier, or they could learn another laying out technique and make a flower. It was quite spooky how one side of the table chose the picture while the other side chose the flower…..I hadn’t realised the split until I looked at this photo!
The results were wonderful…..
The ladies all said how much they had enjoyed the day and all of them are keen to do more Wet Felting which is terrific to hear. Colemans have invited me back to do another Wet Felting workshop for them on Saturday 14th April so I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and hopefully some new ones too. Next time we will be creating felted landscapes and learning how to incorporate pre felts in our work.
Many thanks to Jo and the staff at Colemans for making me welcome and to my enthusiastic students!
I’ve discovered an unexpected benefit of running local workshops……I’m discovering villages in Lincolnshire that I didn’t know existed! Today I was at Withern Village Hall, deep in the Lincolnshire Wolds for the first time ever, with seven ladies from the local textile and art groups.
The workshop was to be an introduction to Felting so we began by laying out our Merino fibres and fancy yarns and then wet felting our backgrounds.
After lunch we did some needle felting, adding detail to the work, and then the ladies chose to either machine or hand embroider to further embellish their pictures. I love the tiny bees on Kay’s picture!
There is still a little work left to do before all of the pieces are finished but I’m sure you will agree they are all looking great! Thanks for inviting me to Withern, and for being such an enthusiastic group! It was a very enjoyable day and I hope to see some of you again soon.
Lincs In Stitches 