Monday 6 February 2017

Felting Workshop

Hello. It's cold and foggy here, so I have been staying in and reading lots of Australian sewing blogs, warming myself up looking at all their sunny pictures! But today I braved the cold, and went out to do a felting workshop at Hove Museum. When I arrived, all the materials were out on display and looking better than sweets in a sweet shop!





So many nice goodies. Nadya, our teacher, demoed a basic technique whilst we had coffee and croissants! Bliss. There seem to be two main ways to felt: needle felting with a hooked needle with which to interlock the fibres, or smooching them together with soap and water. The latter seemed more fun and hands on, so I went for that.

Demonstrating rolling felt beads

A fellow student needle felting

Some of my fellow crafters made felt beads, one made a felt bowl, another a flower,  and one a really cute little bee!

Needle felted bee, made by another student

First step is to choose your wool and colours. I tried to keep my colour palette simple, so I could embellish with glitter and small beads (which you can trap in the felt between the fibres).

Light and fluffy before felting

We worked on a rattan table mat, and trapped our wool between some netting to create a felting sandwich. After rubbing the soapy wool for five minutes, we washed the soap out and dried our pieces on the radiators.

My work drying on the radiators!

A versatile craft and one I really enjoyed. But will I be rushing out to buy felting wool?  Probably not. It's not an expensive craft; Nadya explained you could buy a mixed bag of wool for £10, and we found that a little went a long way.  So possibly in the future it would be fun to dabble and make a no-seam bag or hat. But for now I have to get my thinking cap on and decide how I am going to use my finished pieces!

Pinks and purples

Felted sausage

Reminiscent of grass or meadows, actually looks much nicer in real life!

I'm thinking of making a couple of brooches and a bracelet, but any other ideas would be welcomed.

13 comments:

  1. You should check out this artist - lots of inspiration for things to do with felt - the pictures she creates are astonishing!

    http://www.moymackaygallery.com/product-category/current-exhibition/moy-mackay/

    Louise

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    1. that was a great link. Thank you so much.

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  2. Looks good! I think you should frame them. You can also felt on top of a silk scarf so that the felted wool sticks to the scarf. Definitely make brooches too!

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  3. Could you use it to embellish a bag or cut it into small pieces and use it for several bags (as Samantha of Stitched Up by Samantha has been doing with)?

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  4. These look lovely. Yes frame them or make them into brooches x

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    1. Not sure they are good enough to frame, but one day maybe!

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  5. Looks like you had fun! I did a felting workshop a couple of years ago and I enjoyed it, but I still haven't got around to putting the piece that I made to use - hope you do better than I did on that score!

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    1. I have turned the sausage into a bracelet, but the falt bits are still flat!

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  6. Sounds like a really fun workshop! I love all the colours you've used in the pieces you've made.

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    1. Me too I was pleased with my colour choices.

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  7. This is a wonderful workshop that you are attending. It will give you a chance to learn something new and exciting. By learning this craft you can make many exciting and interesting things.

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