One-to-One felting sessions. Make what you want with expert tuition

Moira's lovely sunny studio, complete with spring flowers! 

Felting is such a versatile medium and it has given me the opportunity to work with all sorts of people in all sorts of places. Sometimes I am working with large groups in a school, sometimes I am working in amongst the books in a busy library and others (like this really enjoyable Saturday) I was doing a one-to-one session with Moira in her own garden studio.

Moira is actually a Food Technology teacher but she had decided to give herself a creative treat (that didn’t involve food) and so booked me to spend the afternoon with her.

The garden studio was full of fabrics, yarns and beautiful papers as Moira is someone who loves to work with a wide range of materials, making her own soft furnishings to mixed media cards and her daughter, Laura Hallett is a professional illustrator. 

It was a lovely sunny day and Moira had the kettle on and lots of lovely biscuits too; not that we had a lot of time for tea breaks!

In our three hour session I introduced Moira to the basics of wet felting. 

One way that I like to do this is to actually make an item at the same time; usually in a one-to-one session people want to go away at the end with more than just samples so I have devised sessions where we actually make a selection of felted flower brooches.

These flowers are all made using slightly different methods. 

 a selection of felted flower brooches

To summarise, what we cover in a one-to-one session is:

• Handling the felting wool fibres (usually Merino tops as they are the easiest to work with if you are a beginner).

• ‘Laying out’ the fibres. 

Laying out two layers of wool fibres 

• Wetting, soaping and rubbing.

• Making felt to the pre-felt stage and learning to recognise what stage in the felting process you have reached. 

• Adding textured and decorative yarns and fabrics and felting them in using the wet-felting technique.

Adding sparkly fabrics and interesting yarns to give surface detail 

• Shaping the flowers - solid petal version and daisy petal version.

• Making felted balls 

• Making felted leaves and tendrils.

Moira's solid petal flower brooch

It was also relaxing for me working with Moira. I have to admit that I am someone who loves to fit as much in a day as possible but when working with Moira it was really lovely to be able to feel that I had shared a bit of my felting knowledge plus at the same time soaked up some of the lovely calming vibes from her studio.

This flower made using the wrapped technique. It requires sewing to keep the petals in place but does look very effective. 

Here I am modelling the red and black felted flower brooch that I made on the afternoon that I worked alongside Moira. 

A great felted flower completely made by Moira ... who had never felted before...with felted in sparkly fabrics

If you would like your own one to one felting session with Kirsty from AllSensesArt then don't hesitate to get in touch either by phoning 0773 995 9951
or e mailing kirstyallsensesart@gmail.com

Mental Health improved by Wonderful Scenery and Creative Activities

A sneak preview of one of the countryside inspired felted pictures made during our day in the Peak District.

Borderland Voices, the Leek-based Community Arts for Health and Mental Wellbeing charity is an amazing organisation! 

When I first read about it and the work that it has done over the past 16 years I knew that I wanted to work with them if at all possible.  Based in Leek in Staffordshire their lovely bright art room is haven for anyone who is suffering from any form of mental distress as it is a place where they can regularly spend time on creative activities. 

The art room (previously a vegetable shop) has a deep bay window which they use for an ever changing exhibition of creativity. 

"The projects on offer provide a safe, supportive and friendly environment for those taking part – which gives people the ability to express their emotions in artistic terms, something that is especially useful during times of emotional distress, such as bereavement. The fact that there’s no referral process, as well as the knowledge that those involved can drop in or out at any time, means that everyone can be included as much as they feel necessary." Excerpt from their listing on the ArtsHealthandWellbeing website. 

Andy Collins is the coordinator at Borderland Voices and working with her was a real pleasure. Andy devised a way that we could make the felting activity, that I had proposed, a full day and also a very special offsite activity in the heart of the Peak District National Park. Firstly she linked with Rethink Mental Illness in Leek so that some of their service users could also take part and next she devised a plan where our felting day could be part of 'A Breath of Fresh Air' (a project part funded by Ecominds and the Peak Park’s Sustainable Development Fund)

Fresh air, exercise, being in the countryside and creativity often go together but it is certain that they each contribute to a better sense of wellbeing and can definitely contribute to improved mental health.

Andy booked a minibus and planned the creative trip to The Dove Valley Centre in Sheen. 
I drove up from Lichfield and wow what wonderful scenery! We had an enthusiastic group of fourteen, including Andy, Elspbeth from Dove Valley Centre and also our minibus driver. 

The fresh air and scenery was inspirational 

A poem was written on the day too. 

No one had made hand-made felt at all before so after soaking up the scenery and a cup of tea we got started by making some pre-felt. 

The rubbing motion is rhythmical and always relaxes people

Then I showed the group various ways of ‘painting’ with wool fibres. There are so many options, blending small tufts of coloured wool fibres to get subtle shades, cutting shapes from the pre-felt that we had made in the morning and also using some interesting textured knitting yarns to add surface texture and lines. 

Some hand-spun jacob wool yarn used here. (photo by Andy Collins)

A good use of shapes cut from pre-felt for this design

As we were part funded by the Peak Park’s Sustainable Development Fund we were aiming to take our inspiration from the countryside around us. Even though we were working indoors this was still easy as the barn studio is upstairs and so we had a clear view from the windows. 

You can almost feel you are out in the wide open countryside here 

Really colourful and with a couple of sheep on the horizon too

At the end of the day we had more tea and cake and it was great to look at everyone’s felted pictures and have that wonderful sense, not only of personal achievement, but also of shared creative experience. 

This man is a keen amateur photographer and decided to play with inverting colours. 

This creative lady took inspiration from some geraniums in pots in Dove Valley Centre courtyard. She is a keen card maker and applied her design skills to felting.

Me (Kirsty E Smith) admiring everyone's felted pictures. (photo by Andy Collins)

It was a lovely day and I was really pleased that images of the felted pictures featured on the Borderland Voices calendar. And I also had the pleasure of another creative session with the group a few months later up in their art room in Leek. In that session we made some multi-coloured felted balls which we made into hanging decorations and also a few multi-coloured felted bead bracelets too.

  

Roomy and Stylish Felted Handbags that you'll use every day!

Bryony models one of my spotty big bags- notice the mauve colour that I used for the inside.

I have often seen bag making felting workshops advertised but when I have checked the dimensions of the bag I have realised that it is a very small bag; and even some felting kits that are available online are for tiny bags, the kind of bag that I call a ‘wedding handbag’. 

So I decided that if I was going to run hand felted bag making workshops it would be to make a practical and roomy handbag; the type of bag that I would like to use everyday. 

I made my first All SensesArt 'big bag’ back in Summer of 2011 and I have been using it everyday since. Over the months it seems to have softened and moulded to my body shape...a bit like an old Harris Tweed jacket, so it has actually improved with age!

I have run several day long AllSensesArt Felted Big Bag workshops since making my own so I thought it was time to share some of my creative process. 

This is how much it will shrink in size!

I used a favourite bag as a guide for the shape and proportions that I wanted my bag to be. From experience I know how much shrinkage to expect so I scaled my outline up and then cut a template from plastic. I like to use the builders' roofing plastic that is easily available (and very cheap) from builders merchants like Wickes and B&Q.

Laying out the wool takes time but is worth the effort.

To get a good finish and to help reduce the chances of the surface of the finished bag pilling I laid out twelve very thin layers of wool fibres (six layers on either side of the plastic). 

This is much better than laying out fewer thick layers.

I love Cate's choice of rich colours and flamboyant design. 

Even in a day long workshop there isn’t really lots of time to lay out a very complex  design. At the beginning of the session we make our own two sided pre-felt i.e. with two different colours of wool fibres so that it can be used either way up. I often keep my decoration simple by cutting circles, but simple flower shapes, leaf shapes and other geometric shapes are all possible.

Extra decoration can be added using whisps of other coloured wool tops or fluffy knitting yarns such as mohair. 

Cate. These projects can seem enormous at this point!

As we are working on a large scale I have kept the size of workshops quite small- with just four participants per workshop. This means that everyone can have a table to themselves and also that there is enough room when we need access to the kitchen sinks (the hall that I have used has two stainless steel sinks which is great). 

Cutting open to remove the template and further work the handle strap.

It is always an exciting moment when the fibres are felted together enough to cut the template out. But not the time to get too relaxed as there is still quite a bit of felting to be done to further shrink the bag! 

Getting smaller but not quite there yet.

Trish with her finished bag.  For her design she needs to sew on her orange and red felted handles.

Some people like to add a magnetic closure but I have opted to sew a gusset of heavy duty satin lining in with a zip closure. I really like this as it isn’t visible from outside, doesn’t spoil the way that the bag hangs and makes sure that everything is secure inside. 

Cate's completed bag; it is fantastic!

If you would like to make your own felted big bag with me then just get together a group of friends or work colleagues and I can run a full day workshop for you. I need just four people to be able to run these full day classes for only £69 per person. These classes are usually held at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane, Lichfield, Staffordshire. WS13 8AY but if you prefer I can come to a venue of your choice. 

Cost: £69 (this includes all wool fibres, use of equipment and tea coffee and biscuits).

Family Arts and Crafts fun at The Art Shop in Wolverhampton

It has been noticed that we, as a nation, see a trip to the shops as an activity. An activity that many of us seem to enjoy even when we aren't really looking to buy anything. Find Me Swap Me is a project that has been devised to make a trip to the shops even more rewarding.

Various shops in shopping centres are being transformed into temporary art galleries and art workshop spaces. Popping into one of the Art Shops you can have a cup of tea, hot chocolate etc, nibble on some biscuits, view an art exhibition and take part in an art activity.

The Art Shop that I am currently working in is in the Mander Centre in Wolverhampton.

We have only been open a few days but already we have attracted a good range of visitors; Young mums with babies, teenagers with an afternoon off college, couples out doing some midweek shopping and older people too.

We have had visitors who simply wanted a hot drink, others who were interested in viewing the exhibition (especially as it’s a photographic show of local Midlanders and the subject is the sea). Being in the very centre of England people here often yearn for the sea. We do definitely get excited about a trip to the it!

There is also currently an exhibition by the Wolverhampton Society of Artists in another empty shop across the way so we have had other local artists in to visit us too.

Yesterday I chatted to a lady who told me how she has continued to sculpt using air drying clay now that she doesn’t have any access to a kiln. She showed me photos of her work and it was lovely to hear the passion in her voice.

While at the Art Shop I have been showing people how to make various hand felted items. The ancient art of feltmaking using only sheep’s wool, soap and water.

This is Alexander's totally unique Christmas decoration complete with lots of jingly bells!

Gwen was interested especially when I showed her photos of the beautiful felted portraits made by the ladies in the St Chad’s Arts and Crafts group.

I also had a couple of visitors who made a bee line for the Art Shop when they saw our sign saying, “Free Felting Workshops”.

One lady said, “ I’ve wanted to make felt for ages” can anyone do it? The answer.... “Yes!” I was really pleased when she enthusiastically sat down and got started! While she was rubbing the wool fibres a lady called Jean arrived. She is a spinner who is also a felting enthusiast. She had actually attended some of felting workshops in the States.

Gwen's finished flower (she will add beads later). Jean and I both agreed that she should be very proud of herself. This is her very first piece of hand felting!

Gwen enjoys art and craft activities with her twin 14 year old granddaughters and now she has another activity that she can share with them.

I have been felting for 14 years now. I first learnt when my daughter was 2. It’s a wonderful craft especially for parents with young children.

Some projects can be made very quickly so even if you only have 10 minutes to spare you can make a hand felted Christmas bauble.

Kirsty and Rhii had such a lot of fun. Rhii’s earrings and bracelet are the perfect colour scheme matching her headphones perfectly!

We shared lots of stories while making our hand felted Christmas Decorations and Jewellery in The Art Shop.

Only when you make your own handmade jewellery can you make something that is absolutely perfect for you!

On the first day in the Art Shop we made a lovely range of felted Christmas tree and Santa Helper decorations; here are a few of them.

The Art Shop will be open Tuesday - Sat 10.30am - 5pm and runs until 18th December 2010.

Everyday there will be art activities to get involved in. These include storytelling, mask making, puppet making, printing, animation and even some sound recording.

For more details visit the website www.findmeswapme.co.uk

If you would like to have a go at feltmaking then I will be back in the Art Shop on Friday 10th December.

Hand Felted Christmas Decorations and Santa Stockings

As Christmas gets closer I am being booked to run more and more Christmas themed felting workshops.

Last week I worked with sixth form Students at The Friary School in Lichfield. They wanted to learn to make felted items to sell at Christmas fairs to raise money for their Young Enterprise Project.

So last week we made:

-Magic Felted Ball Christmas tree baubles,

- Fairies and Santa’s Helper decorations

and also

-Hand Felted Christmas Stockings using the seamless felting resist method.

The day was so full on that I am afraid that I didn’t manage to take any photos of the students work but I do know that they had a successful sales session on the same evening...

Their felted items were barely dry before the Young Enterprise Students’ cash register was ringing!

This week I was at Rolleston on Dove WI group. Again we had a busy ... but definitely fun... two hour felting session.

Every stocking is completely unique. All the above are the fantastic handiwork of the Rolleston on Dove WI 'felting team'.

Thanks to Joan she recommended me to the WI committee. Joan had made a felted stocking with me back in 2008 when I ran a session for the Arthritis Care Together Group in Burton on Trent.

This time Joan brought a spare hand towel; so handy to dry your hands on between laying out and wetting each layer during the resist felting process.

Joan pictured above on the left.

Stripes; a simple but effective choice of decoration.

The beauty of hand made felt using the resist method is that you can make your item with a complimentary or contrasting colour on the inside.

The finishing touch; adding some tinkly bells.

We had lots of fun and Verity who was a self confessed ‘Craft Dunce’ made a really lovely cerise pink stocking which she has decided to give to her mum.

In Verity’s words, “I am giving it to my Mum for Xmas. She is the only one who will appreciate how hard I worked to do this! Especially as she knows how bad I am at practical things!!!”

And as all mums know we love our home made Christmas presents the best!

Presents made by our children are treasured for years to come.

Verity pours the tea. This felting lark is thirsty work!