I thought I’d show a few things I’ve been up to since my last post in December, starting with some pendants. A while ago I did an online workshop with feltmaker Aniko Boros to make her beautiful wet felted Fuchsia pendant. It wasn’t my intention to carry in making more fuchsias but rather to learn Anikos technique for making complex pendants so I could apply it to my own designs. And so the fuchsia led to this yellow/grey pendant which in turn has led to a recent request from Region 8 of the International Feltmakers Association to teach how to make it.
Yellow/grey necklace
I was concerned that some in the group I will be teaching may not be used to working with Superfine fibre on such a fiddly scale, so over the Christmas/New Year period I created three more sample pendants. Two of these involve some different techniques to Aniko’s, making them easier and quicker to create than my grey one, but they will produce a similar look. The third sample is made without resists and aimed more for absolute beginners, just in case we have any attend. The other obvious difference with these new samples is the addition of beading which can be optional. I’m looking forward to teaching this class on the 8th March.
Another project I’ve been working on recently is a planned IFA exhibition of Feltmaking titled Felt Connected: Bringing People and Fibre Together. It came about after we surveyed Region 8 members as to what they wanted from their Regional Coordinators and one of our members, Jo Cook, suggested we organise an exhibition of members work. Since then Jo and I have been working together to organise the event which will take place next month in Harding House Gallery in Lincoln. We have a total of 17 IFA members taking part with the aim of not only showcasing their talent but demonstrating the versatility of fibre and what can be done with it while at the same time promoting the IFA and hopefully attracting more members. If you are in the area we will be holding a Meet the Artists session from 1pm – 3pm on Saturday 14th March and it would be great to see you there.
Examples of our members work
Earlier this month I started work on The Passage of Time, my submission for the IFA 2026 online exhibition “Time” that launches during our AGM on March 28th. When I first read the theme title I have to admit that for a day or two I struggled to see anything other than clocks! Then I had a lightbulb moment, I’d make an Ouroboros, the mythical serpent that is often represented in Alchemy art depicted eating its own tail. It’s a symbol of the cyclical nature of time, the universe, and self-renewal and represents the concept of eternity and endless return. Image source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20171204-the-ancient-symbol-that-spanned-millennia
I created my 3D mobius wet felted version using Merino fibre but when it came to photographing it, no matter what angle I took it from, it looked really dull and boring. So I abandoned that idea and instead I’ve taken inspiration from the beautiful sandstone slabs on Seahouses beach in Northumberland. Coastal erosion and fossils are both dramatic indicators of the passage of time so seemed a fitting replacement for the failed Ouroboros!
My inspiration for The Passage of TimeExperimental piece depicting fossilsAnother fossil experimentWork in progressAdding free motion stitch
The base is a mix of Carded Corriedale and Bergschaf fibre with silk fabrics, wallpaper, Tyvek, free motion stitch and hand embroidery. I’ve included a piece of felt I made a few years ago which mimics fossils, it’s one of two experimental samples I made and didn’t get around to using until now. After auditioning both of them in the pre-made hole I went with the darker option, which doesn’t look as dark in the flesh as it does in the photo. I’ve submitted this piece for the online exhibition but I’ve since felted another slab to add to the first one. It will be embellished in a similar way, to create a larger piece of work for another exhibition that Jo and I are hoping to launch in July.
I’ll leave you with a piece of work that was created by a lovely lady called Avie, also known as The Curly Sheep. Avie came to spend a day with me last month to learn how to wet felt a picture and how to do free motion stitch. Turns out she’s a natural at both as I’m sure you will agree!
One of the UK’s major textile events, the Knitting and Stitching Show, is held annually in November in the Harrogate Convention Centre. It’s packed with “must have” products and showcases inspiring work by a wide variety of textile artists. Within the show there is a dedicated exhibition area called the Graduate Showcase, which highlights outstanding textile art from recent UK BA undergraduate courses. This initiative, run in partnership with the Embroiderers’ Guild, provides a platform for emerging talent in the textile art world and it was here last November that I first saw the work of Charlotte Farrant.
Charlotte hadn’t originally planned a career in textile design, in fact growing up she had formed a fascination for mechanics and saw herself becoming a mechanical engineer. At some point Charlotte discovered she also had a love of embroidery and enrolled in the Royal School of Needlework, graduating with a first class degree.
Charlottes “Codification of Stitch” is an innovative coded embroidery system developed by the textile artist herself and it is used to form hidden messages within the garments she designs, transforming textiles into wearable narratives. Specific embroidery stitches represent letters, forming hidden messages amongst the exquisite, decorative Goldwork, Blackwork, Whitework and Raised Work.
It was her fabulous “coded” Ann Lister black coat that first caught my attention on her stand at the show. In 2025, in collaboration with the Anne Lister project, Charlotte designed a range of costumes re-imagining the BBC cast of Gentleman Jack and bringing them in to the 21st century.
I hadn’t heard of Ann Lister but I’m guessing plenty of you will have, especially if you’ve seen her life story as portrayed by Suranne Jones in the BBCs series Gentleman Jack. This woman was an ardent diarist and from 1896 to 1840 she wrote a five million word diary, approximately one sixth of which was written in code. She combined the Greek alphabet, zodiac, punctuation, and mathematical symbols allowing her to document, but also conceal, the most private aspects of her life. It’s fitting that this beautiful coat should also conceal its message which is a quote from Ann in August 1823. It reads “I am not made like any other I have seen, I dare believe myself to be different from any other who exist.”
Ann Lister Coat
Sampler for coat
Another “Ann Lister” inspired piece on Charlottes stand was a waistcoat inspired by the diarists love of nature and the coded message on this garment reads “We are not alive if we’re not taking the odd risk now and again.”
Ann Lister WaistcoatDetail of waistcoat
There was also a selection of beautiful intricately stitched, coded brooches on display, each with a printed label providing its deciphered message.
Check out Charlottes website charlottefarrantembroidery.com where you can see her portfolio of designs as well as her shop selling Coded embroidery kits, brooches and many other embroidered coded art works.
Throughout history textiles have been used not only for protection and comfort but also to communicate our personal values and identity. Long before the written word came in to use Ancient civilisations would use specific colours and symbols to convey their environment, spiritual believes and culture. In this way meaning could be woven, felted or stitched into rugs, blankets, clothing, etc. delivering visual messages that could be easily read by the people around them. Examples include the felted rugs created by ancient nomadic tribes which would embody powerful symbols across different cultures signifying the wish for good health, long life, prosperity, etc.
Examples of just a few of the Symbols used in Middle Eastern rug making.
On the other hand, hidden “coded” messages in textiles have been used for a very different, but very important role in history. While imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots embedded complex and personal symbols within her embroideries to express her frustrations, assert her claim to the English throne, and comment on her unjust captivity. This panel depicts a grapevine and a hand holding a pruning knife. It references Mary’s claim to the throne, suggesting the need to cut away the fruitless branch of the Tudor tree represented by the childless and ‘illegitimate’ Elizabeth. The point is driven home by the Latin motto ‘Virescit Vulnere Virtus’ (virtue flourishes by wounding). (source:vam.ac.uk)
Embroidery also enabled Mary to communicate with her supporters by sending coded messages hidden in her needlework.
In the realm of espionage, traditional handicraft skills were to take on an even more covert dimension during the World Wars when prisoners, spies and resistance members used embroidery to pass on information under the noses of their enemies. After all, who would suspect that something as innocent as an embroidery or tapestry could offer any threat from the enemy? Morse code and binary code were easily represented using a combination of long and short stitches, or French knots and seed stitches, and these would go undetected when hidden amongst other decorative stitches. Other methods required the person receiving the work to “undo” the embroidery as messages were hidden in the padding of trapunto or concealed beneath a second layer of embroidery.
Knitting was another innocent looking but very useful craft when it came to espionage. Morse Code knitters employed single purl stitches for dots and sequences of three purl stitches for dashes. Their sequences translated into short and long coded signals. Some knitters used knots to conceal Morse code by tying specific configurations to represent dots and dashes, or varying the distances between their knots. These encoded messages could then be discreetly passed across enemy lines or integrated into knitted items such as hats and scarves to be decoded by the recipient. Written messages were also known to have been passed on, hidden in balls of wool! This practise wasn’t exclusive to the allies. Using a system similar to Morse, German agents based in the UK also passed encoded messages using knotted yarn which was then knitted in to garments.
Although an extremely dangerous occupation it’s said that the practise of covert knitting became so prevalent during WWII, some countries actually banned the posting of knitting patterns aboard, fearing they may carry coded information to the enemy. During times of war, a knitter was often more than just a creator of warm garments; they were also keen observers and messengers, their needles clicking away as they kept watch. (Source: Timoneillstudios.com)
Image Source: ww2wrecks.com
I will leave you with an embroidery created by one Major Alexis Casdagli. Alexis was captured and spent four years in a German POW camp where he passed the time in the innocent pursuit of cross stitch. He also set up a stitch school, teaching other POWs to embroider. Of the many embroideries he made this piece was so admired by his captors that they proudly hung it in the castle where he was being held and subsequently had it displayed in three other camps.
The prisoners must have found it very amusing that the guards had no idea of the defiant message hiding in the Morse dots and dashes stitched around the borders which read “God Save The King” and “Fxxx Hitler”. Fortunatelyitwas never deciphered during those four years and so the embroidery, and the Major survived the war. He told his son on his return that the Red Cross saved his life but embroidery saved his sanity!
This month Region 8 of the International Feltmakers held an Autumn Woodland themed wet felted picture workshop led by Susan Mulcock. As with many other regions we’ve been struggling with workshop numbers recently so it was great to receive so much interest in Susan’s class that we were able to fill two separate classes over the weekend. A big shout out has to go to IFA member Kerry Thomas who travelled 250 miles from Lockerbie in Scotland to join us on the Sunday.
Kerry
We were encouraged to bring our own photos to use as inspiration and I chose one I’d taken while walking a local section of the Viking Way between Horncastle and Woodhall Spa. The Viking Way is a 149 mile long walking route through Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Rutland. The route opened in 1976 and its name recognises the influence of the Norse invaders on the east of Britain. The route is clearly marked with the recognisable signage of a viking helmet on the yellow disc.
I didn’t think to take photos of the process but this is my finished picture. Looking back at my original photo I think I must have been in a colourful mood when I was laying out my fibres! I’ve added some free motion stitch to help define the tree trunks and some of the finer branches but drew the line at adding hand embroidery. I feel I’d like to do some but I know that if I start I would have to add lots of it so I’ll live with it for now and maybe more stitching will be done at some point.
These are some of the wonderful pictures that were created over the weekend.
Something else I wanted to share with you, with permission from the bride, was my friend Sally’s wedding. Or rather the incredible textile/fibre creations that Sally produced for her wedding to fiance Chris. Sally joined the South Lincs Spinners, Weavers and Dyers three years ago where she learnt to spin and weave. She fell in love with both of these crafts and challenged herself to use them to create her own wedding outfit.
Chris’s mother is German and Sally has a thing for sunflowers so Sally aimed to combine both these themes for her big day. She began by purchasing green mulberry silk fibre from World of Wool which she spun. Next the spun fibre was woven and blocked before being cut out and sewn to create the beautiful bodice for her traditional German style dirndl outfit.
Extra fibre was spun and woven (just in case!) and this was used to make her usher, son Lewis, his waistcoat and to make the ring cushion. The gold apron features a white band made up of number of symbols, designed by Sally, that represent members of her family and these were crocheted using a fine thread to add a very personal detail to the outfit.
During our visit to Ampthill Fibre show this summer we saw a stall selling kits to create your own parasol. Sally bought a kit and had the fibre specially dyed to fit in with her sunflower colour scheme. She then crocheted her parasol cover and put the whole thing together to create a stunning accessory for her outfit.
Another beautiful touch was the wet felted Sunflower with Tyvek daisy’s that she made with me. It was attached it to her veil which in turn was lit from beneath with fairy lights.
At our Spinning meeting the month before the wedding we had a drop spindle demonstration and members that took part had the chance to spin a short length of fibre to take to Sally’s wedding. At the reception we took it in turns to add our yarn to a small piece of weaving which Sally and Chris will keep as a memento of their special day.
At the end of the ceremony I can imagine Sally breathing a huge sigh of relief that all her hard work had paid off and resulted in a day that was incredibly creative, unique and very much “Sally”!
As I sit down to begin this post the sky has darkened and the rain (fingers crossed) is about to fall, heaven knows we need it, but what a fabulous summer it’s been so far here in sunny Lincolnshire! I don’t know about you but I tend to not do too much in the way of creative stuff through July and August as there are too many distractions and this year the intense heat has made me feel very lazy so lots of time spent relaxing, reading and watching creative videos. Consequently I’ve now got a table of projects I want to finish and a head full of others I want to start!
A couple of projects I did do this summer are two wet felted vessels. The first one, inspired by a shrivelled seed pod, was made at the İFA Region 8’s Summer School in Arnesby near Leicester. Our region encompasses several counties and is so spread out we struggle to get our İFA members to attend. On the other hand we have a regular group of creative ‘non members’ in the locality who are more than welcome to come along to our events, and thankfully they do! It was a busy and fun two days…..
My seed pod began life as five leaf book resist measuring 27cm x 36cm and various colours of Merino and Corriedale fibres.
It’s final shape was formed after lots of pushing and pulling and using strong clips to get it to stay as I wanted it.I decided to keep the opening as tiny as possible and, as a consequence, the resist had to be ripped to shreds in order to remove it! I’m wondering about adding some hand embroidery here and there in the shape of circles using a dull gold thread, I think it’s lacking something but is that it?
The second vessel was started last Friday when I was working at the Usher Gallery in Lincoln. I’d seen a post somewhere mentioning they were having their second Artist Studio Day and inviting local artists to apply. If successful it meant I would get the use of a table in their ground floor workspace and get to spend the day with four other artists. It sounded like a great opportunity and I’m so glad I applied! Only four artists turned up on the day and unfortunately one of those had to leave early. My other two companions were both painters and it was nice to get to know a bit about them and watch them work. We had a few members of the public come in to see what we were doing but for most of the time it was very quiet which allowed us to focus on what we were doing.
Knowing I wouldn’t get finished, but would need to get my vessel to a stable state before leaving the gallery, meant I needed to do a bit of prep the day before. So I decided on a size, cut my circular resist and made this piece of prefelt combining threads, fabrics and fibres to cut up and use as surface decoration.
Prefelt for surface decoration
By the time we had to leave I had a stable prefelt that looked like a pizza and could be folded into my bag….it was too large to carry it flat!
The finished rock inspired vessel
One of the Summer pieces I’ve yet to finish is an Iris which I started at the end of July. This is going to be for the Lincolnshire Textile Groups Bountiful Botanicals competition taking place in October. I’m creating it from hand painted Tyvek fabric and wire and the flower will be approximately 30cm dia by 115cm tall. I’ve just got the leaves to do now and then I’ve got the perfect spot for it in my lounge when it’s finished. I don’t want to reveal too much before the competition so this is a sneak preview for now…..
Finally I’ll leave you with some images from this year’s fabulous Asylum Steampunk Festival. As ever there were some outstanding costumes, some very strange costumes and some that looked like they’d missed the theme altogether but it really didn’t matter! There were steampunk enthusiasts represented from all over the UK and from various European countries. One lady said she had come over from Hong Kong especially to join in the festival! The atmosphere is the friendliest you could imagine and the whole Cathedral Quarter was buzzing!
True to form I didn’t make time to create a costume but this year I did dig out a long skirt and a waistcoat as a (very) token gesture in order to wear my oversized steampunk dragonfly brooch.
In my last post I showed you my wet felted conch shell made from Merino and Corriedale fibres with ribs made from Sari silk yarn. I liked the shape of this and wanted to make another, this time in off white with pale coloured ribs. I found a site on Etsy selling a beautiful subtle coloured variegated sari yarn but unfortunately when it arrived it was so loosely spun I realised it wouldn’t be suitable for this particular project.
As I was in the mood for felting I didn’t want to have to reorder so decided to search for a pastel “slubby” knitting yarn which I knew was hidden somewhere in the depths of my yarn stash.
It turned out to be far easier to work with than sari silk as it was less inclined to move while felting and it had just the right amount of colour and texture for the look I was after. I was intending to leave this shell plain white but now it’s made I think it will benefit from a bit of shading so that’ll get added at some point.
I increased the size of this one to approx 31cm long x 15cm wide x 6cm high. My spinning group has a coastal theme for our 2026 exhibition so there will be lots more shells being made in various fibres, fabrics, techniques, shapes and sizes.
Wet felted spiral shells crop up a lot online and I’d been wracking my brain for ages trying to work out how these are made. I had a light bulb moment back in December when I made this small spiral shell from 10gm of carded Corriedale. Since then I’ve worked out another way of achieving a similar shape and so made this larger version using 20gm of carded Corriedale fibre and measuring approx 13cm x 9cm.
At one point the shell was sitting next to this bowl and I wondered how the centre piece from the bowl would look inserted in the shell…..
…..I quite liked it so I’m now wondering whether to leave it in there as an abstract hermit crab or make the effort to felt a more realistic looking crab, what do you think?
Another theme I’m working on right now is insects, particularly dragonflies and butterflies. It all stemmed from a tutorial by textile artist Anastasiya Goleneva to make this beautiful dragonfly brooch. It’s made from hand and machine stitched and painted calico. At 16cm long x 21cm wide it worked out a bit too big for me to wear as a brooch so instead I’ve put a Command strip on the back and mounted it to the wall.
Having enjoyed making it I decided to do another but using interfacing and my own technique for the body and legs that would allow it to stand and give it a more delicate, longer, slimmer look. One thing I’m not happy with is the “flat” face which suited the brooch but doesn’t look right on the standing dragonfly so version three is underway!
The dragonflies led to my friend Diane asking me to show her how to make a simple butterfly brooch so I made a couple of samples with body and wings made from painted cotton velvet. This fabric takes on a beautiful leather like look and feel when painted with fabric paints or acrylics and remains very soft and flexible. I was thinking of hand embroidering the wings but decided to keep it basic as Diane could add more detail if she wanted to.
Back in March Mark announced that he fancied taking up a new hobby and was thinking of having a go at making automata or possibly creating “gravity art”. He’d been looking at examples online of incredible, complex rolling ball creations by a guy who goes by the name of Copper Gravity. I love anything like this so did a bit of my own googling and discovered there’s a place in Stratford on Avon called The MAD (Mechanical Art & Design) Museum that showcases this type of art. If you look at their website you might get the impression that it’s geared for children, and maybe it is, but on the day I visited there wasn’t a kiddie in sight…..it was all adults having a great time marvelling at the exhibits! Stratford isn’t exactly on the doorstep but I knew I would be down that way mid March to run a workshop so decided to plan my visit around that. On arriving in the town the first hurdle was to find the entrance which is very discreet. Even with Google maps telling me I was in the right place I walked past the museums narrow open door a couple of times before spotting it! On the positive side, having walked in the wrong direction to begin with, I did get to see Shakespeare’s birthplace.
The museum exhibits range from very simple to incredibly complex with everything in between and in front of each exhibit is a button which you wave your hand over to start the automata working. If I tell you the vibe is a mix of Wallis and Gromit, Heath Robinson and Scrapheap Challenge you’ll get the idea. Some of the pieces are behind glass, which made it difficult to video them, but hopefully you can get the gist of this one. Keep your eyes on the tank and the rabbit!
There were several clocks on display but I thought this one, Gold Clock by Gordon Bradt, was particularly beautiful…..
The majority of pieces were displayed on open shelving. This submarine and its wonderfully weird operatives has to be my favourite! There is so much going on here and it’s quite hypnotic the way those little characters move. I would love Mark to make something like this, but I’m not holding my breath!
The “Platform Lift” by Keith Newstead was amusing and this was very “Wallace and Gromit”…..
Some of the exhibits are wall hanging and I loved this one by Chris & Angela Margett. It has three cheeky gremlins defacing a portrait of Shakespeare, Stratford on Avons most recognised figure!
Although the museum is small it’s jam packed with exhibits as well as having a small cinematic area playing a fascinating video and there’s a small shop selling automata kits and souvenirs. I must have spent over two hours in there and absolutely loved it!
The following day I was at Stitching Kitchen in Brackley to teach my Wet Felted Chickens. This was my second visit to this venue run by a lovely lady called Hannah Thompson. I had six students which meant plenty of one to one time and they all worked really hard to get their birds finished in the time allowed. What was all the more impressive was that two of the ladies had never wet felted before!
I’ve done very little felting since my last post but I have been collecting images of shells and thinking about how I can interpret those as “Structures” for Waltham Textile Groups next exhibition. This image inspired my first wet felted Conch shell.
The Conch is a medium to large sea snail which inhabits the Indo-West Pacific. This is my wet felted version of the Conch made from Corriedale, Merino, sari silk and paint. It’s approximately 25cm x 12cm.
Hopefully I will have a few more shells to share next time…..or maybe I’ll have gone off at a tangent and be doing something completely different, who knows!
I know that some of our readers are members of the International Feltmakers Association and therefore know all about our upcoming exhibition “Connections”. For those of you who don’t, the Feltmakers organisation uses their AGM at the end of March as the launch for a themed annual online exhibition to showcase our members work. The wonderful thing about these events is that they are not juried, there is no right or wrong so no one is judged, it’s open to any ability and how you interpret each theme is entirely up to you. All of the online exhibitions can be viewed by anyone, not just members, simply visit Feltmakers.com and click on Our Feltmakers from the menu and then choose Online Exhibitions. Last year’s theme was Hats Off! Hats and fascinators are simply sculptures for the head so we could let our imaginations run riot and you can see the wide variety of headwear created for that event here.
For me this year’s brief took more thought as there are so many different ways it could be approached…..”you can find connections in the way you interact with other feltmakers, in the way you are inspired by nature, other mediums or other artists. You can also explore the literal: how can I connect one part of the felt to another?”
I finally whittled my thoughts down to two ideas. The first would take the form of another head piece, because I’m developing a bit of a thing for fascinators, and the second would be a 3D vessel.
I am a huge fan of the Dutch Feltmaker and Milliner Saar Snoek. Saar has a different approach to many other feltmakers I know and her imagination and creativity when it comes to felted headwear is phenomenal!
Some of Saar Snoek’s amazing wet felted headwear.
How I approached my Fascinator might sound like a cop out to some of you but remember the theme of the exhibition is Connections🤩 So rather than start from scratch I decided to “connect” three existing pieces of my own to create a Fascinator, these are pieces that were never intended to be worn on the head. One of these was originally designed as necklace which I’ve worn on several occasions along with the second piece which was a matching bracelet. They were both Nuno felted, stitched, embellished with beads and backed with fabric.
Next I looked around for something suitable to top off my head piece. I’d been working with organza earlier that day so auditioned a piece of that but decided against it. It needed something with much more impact!
The organza wasn’t doing it for meThe Splash would make more of a statement!
I’d previously made a blue version of the Splash, inspired by the wonderful Australian feltmaker Pam de Groot, and thought I’d try that out for size. Although it was far too floppy at this stage I could envisage it working as the third piece of the Fascinator. I used acrylic paint to colour it to complement the other two pieces and to give it enough rigidity to keep its shape.
Next I removed the necklace chain and invisibly stitched everything together.The final stage was to attach it to a gold metal headband repurposed from another project and then talk a friend into modelling it for me. Fortunately Maria was all for it and I think she really suits it too!
I called this piece Crowning Glory.
For my second piece I started by sketching a variety of shapes including cords, spikes and balls which could be used to join individual pieces of flat felt in a decorative way. While I was considering how this would look my design changed several times and ended up becoming a four sided hinged structure. At this point I realised it would be a good project for Waltham Windmills next challenge which is Structures. So having only made four connectors I decided to park that design for now and moved on to plan B.
The first four connectors are now being saved for another project
Plan B was based on a very rough sketch but became more of a “let’s make a start and see where it goes” sort of plan to avoid any more procrastination!!
I started with an egg shaped resist, covered it in green and grey Merino fibre and worked it to prefelt. Various thicknesses of hand made prefelt and fully felted offcuts were then arranged on one side and covered with a thin layer of white Corriedale fibre. At that point I decided to add the grey concertina protrusion before attaching the ropes, balls, cords and several other pieces of prefelt on the top side. In all I connected at least 60 separate pieces of felt as well as small pebbles, acrylic wallpaper and dried seaweed. It’s very tactile and I’ve left it hollow so it can be pushed and pulled and reshaped allowing the viewer to also connect with it.
I’ve called this one Biomorphia
I hope you’ll take the time to visit the Feltmakers website after the 29th March and see the exhibition for yourself.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m not big on Christmas and up until last year I rarely gave, let alone made, Xmas cards. Then Ann reintroduced the holiday card swap and after making Caterina’s “non Christmas” card I found myself sketching comic reindeer and having fun making a whole batch of stitched cards! This year I’ve resurrected the same designs but changed the colour schemes. I enjoy making these and using free motion stitch to attach appliqué fabric shapes on to a card base. Finer detail is then added using felt pens before stitching the coloured base on to a blank card using the machines zig zag stitch.
For Helene’s card I wanted to incorporate some fibre so decided it should be a quirky Santa with a bushy Merino beard. This is how he started out but in my rush to meet our agreed deadline for posting I completely forgot to take any other photos so you’re just going to have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks!!
Let’s just say that when I received my wonderful Christmas Box from Helene with her gorgeous felted card, red bells and those lovely papers I wished I had put more time and thought in to my contribution!!
Anyway, moving on…….There must have been something in the air the day I was making my cards as Mark wondered in to my workroom and asked if he could make one too. This is a man who rarely (and only at a push) sews his own buttons on and who has never ever used a sewing machine in his life. Here he was saying he wanted to sew a card!!! I suggested he draw out a basic shape and we’d take it from there. He drew a snowman (thankfully simple enough) and traced the shapes on to fabric before cutting them out. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive at the thought of teaching him how to use a sewing machine. Turns out he’s a natural and I was amazed at how well he did, not only that but he looked to be enjoying it, just look at the concentration on his face! He doesn’t know I’m sharing these photos though so, if you’re reading this and you know him, please don’t let on!!
Did I mention I’m not big on Christmas? Once the cards were made and my tree was up and decorated I felt I’d peaked and got the urge to get away from it all! A quick search on Airbnb and I found a beautiful apartment just a twenty minute walk from Valetta so we flew out to Malta on the 14th December for a week.
The weather was changeable but very pleasant with temperatures ranging from 17 to 20 degrees. You could easily spot the tourists in their sandals, shorts and sleeveless tops because even on the warmest days most of the locals wore boots, sweaters, hats and coats!
Malta’s capital Valletta is a fortified city located on a hilly peninsula between two natural harbours. It’s built on a grid system with its narrow, steep streets fanning out from the main thoroughfare, Republic Street, and dropping down to the waters edge. Approximately one kilometre long and pedestrianised Republic Street runs from the City Gate to Fort St Elmo and houses buildings such as the Maltese Parliament, the Courts of Justice, the Royal Opera House, and many more. This is the area to be if you’re looking for lively bars, restaurants and shops but you only need to walk a few steps either side of Republic Street to feel like you’re in a different world!
Ornate balcony windows are a big feature of Maltese architecture and they are everywhere you look in Valetta.
Exploring these narrow streets you can find fabulous boutique hotels serving great coffee and home made pastries, tiny bars with wonderful atmosphere and good beer. I also came across these impressive window displays with outfits constructed from folded paper…..
Another window display that caught my attention was this one in Sliema with skull shaped vodka bottles.
And instore was even better with these bottles of tequila encased in very elaborate beaded heads. Unfortunately my budget didn’t stretch to bringing one of these home!
Back in Valetta I came across a sign for the St Paul Shipwreck Church above a narrow entrance on the equally narrow pedestrianised St Lucia Street. When you see a huge impressive building you have a bit of an idea of what you are going to find inside but when I stepped through this open door I had no idea of the cavernous interior that would open up in front of me! I’ve since read of others who have struggled to find this church so I’m pleased I popped my head through that doorway!
Obviously we didn’t escape Christmas altogether in Malta but it was nice experiencing it in such a scenic setting.
Valetta is the smallest capital city in Europe with a surface area of just 0.55 km² and approx 7,000 inhabitants and the city was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. It’s a beautiful city steeped in history with a wonderful climate and friendly inhabitants with the added bonus that at this time of year there are not too many tourists so it proved to be the perfect getaway.
I’ll leave you with a couple of small wet felted pieces I’ve made since we got back. The first is a little Nuno snake inspired by a free online wet felting tutorial from feltmaker Yaroslava Troynich (also known as Bibabo Puppets) If your not familiar with her work or online classes I recommend taking a look. Hissing Sid makes the perfect pet and now sits on his felted stone on my desk keeping his beady eyes on my every move.
The other make was this very tactile small spiral shell approx 7cm wide and made from 10gms of Bergschaf.
I hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas, however you’ve chosen to spend it, and wishing all of you a Happy New Year and a very creative 2025!
I thought I would use this post to give you a flavour of the shows and exhibitions that have been happening in my area over the past couple of months.
Last year I was contacted by a guy called Chris who is the lead volunteer at Dogdyke Pumping Station near Tattershall. This is the site of an original, external condensing beam-engine built by Bradley and Craven of Wakefield. It is the only surviving engine by this builder and is possibly the oldest steam-driven scoop wheel land drainage pumping set in the country that is still in steam and in its original position.
Chris and his team organise fund raising events for the site and had the idea of putting on a mini fibre festival. Having found me online and discovered I was only down the road he wondered if I would be interested in attending and asked if I knew of one or two others who might like to come along and, if so, what could they demonstrate? Knowing how enthusiastic the South Lincs Spinners and Weavers are to support this type of event I was confident I could get more than just one or two of our members to turn up! They didn’t let me down and neither did the weather. We had a lovely afternoon with a steady flow of visitors to chat to while we were nallbinding, knitting, spinning, wet felting, needle felting and weaving.
It’s such a nice venue and the volunteers are so friendly, everyone who demonstrated last year was keen to come back in 2024. So a year on, and plenty of plugging on social media, this August we managed to smash their visitor records!! I did feel for the ladies in the kitchen who were rushed off their feet, apparently it was the first time they’d run out of milk and cake on an open day and had to send out for more refreshments!
The Lincolnshire Textiles Exhibition “Water” was also in August, held in the Cathedral Chapter House. It’s a very difficult space for displaying textile work and personally not one I would choose to use. The lighting appears better in the photos than it actually was and hanging your work from ancient walls isn’t easy. Having said all that, the team involved with putting the work up did a very good job considering the limitations they were working with and we got a wonderful response from our visitors. I do feel we would have had more visitors if it hadn’t been for the fact that the public can’t access the exhibition without paying the £12 admission fee to the Cathedral. What a lot of folk don’t realise is that £12 allows you access to the Cathedral for a whole year, and includes the floor tours. Personally I think that’s really good value, and the money goes to conserving this fabulous building, so I will now buy my pass every year.
The main group piece was designed as a whirlpool consisting of about forty individual pieces of work. It was lit by revolving coloured bulbs making quite a dramatic sight as you entered the hall. These are just a few of the pieces on display…..
Last weekend the South Lincs Spinners, Weavers & Dyers held their biennial Fibre Festival in Osbournby Church. I think we have 70+ members with interests spanning all manner of fibre crafts. In the church we had demonstrations of a wide variety of looms (please don’t ask me to name them😱) as well as knitting, nalbinding, crochet, broomstick crochet, wet felting, needle felting, indigo dyeing and spinning, again using different styles of wheel. The main theme this year was scarves and shawls which were strung between the pillars, draped on pews and wrapped around mannequins.
The Felt area showcased work by five members, including wet felting and needle felting, some for sale, some for show.
There was work by three Wet Felters – Karen Stewart, Ann Strong and myselfThe four Needle Felters were Leah Laird, Sally Newman, Joan Maplethorpe and myself.Sally modelling the beret I made for the show.
I was busy chatting most of the time and didn’t think to take many photos. Thankfully we had a photographer called Dean who kept popping up around the Church so most of these are his images…..
Leah demonstrating needle feltingLiz demonstrating weaving with sari yarnScarves and shawls draped around the churchA stunning coat!Cal was weaving landscapes on to a hoopSpinning, knitting and weavingTamari Balls are a popular makeRoz was outside demonstrating indigo dyeingKay Abelard beautiful Dorset button broochesHunni’s statement necklacesFarmer Joe with his dad and younger brotherBett Gresham doing broomstick crochet
Our local TV celebrity, Farmer Joe, also joined us with his Dad, younger brother and some of his sheep. This young boy was diagnosed with autism, dyslexia, memory problems and severe anxiety at the age of seven. He has gone on to be one of the most driven characters, and one of the nicest young people you could wish to meet! Joe’s story is told in this article from LincolnshireLive and it is well worth a read!
Back in the Church many of the items exhibited were for sale although a few were so precious to their creator(s) that they were labelled NFS. Amongst these were my Leafy Seadragon and Octopuses which I couldn’t bring myself to part with, Sallys Owl and Duck which were very popular, and Leah’s wonderful needle felted characters. All of these are needle felted and I suppose it’s the amount of time we had to put in to make them that prohibits us from wanting to sell them!
My Leafy SeadragonSallys DuckSallys OwlLeah’s characters
On my way home from Osbournby on the Friday I called in to the Hub in Sleaford (also known as the national centre for craft and design) to see their latest exhibitions. As well as exhibitions the Hub offers a programme of workshops, talks, classes, competitions, special events and performances for all people, ages and abilities. They also deliver creative activities in schools, community & care settings and online.
As you enter on the ground floor there is a cafe and a shop selling art materials as well as an area dedicated to unique hand made items. In one corner is a small gallery. The space is open plan so feels very light and airy with windows facing on to the river on one side and a grassy tree lined space on the other.
The small ground floor Gallery shines the spotlight on emerging and developing artists. All exhibiting makers are graduates or associate members of Design-Nation and have strong commitment to sustainable practice. Eighteen artists are featured so this is just a small representation of what caught my eye.
Joanne Lamb is an Irish artist based in London specialising in woven textiles, often incorporating basketry techniques to create her artworks.
Lindsay McDonagh works as a designer and maker based in Bristol, in the South West of England. She specialises in jewellery design, particularly necklaces, earrings and bracelets using a range of silversmithing and goldsmithing and techniques.
Kesinia Semirova is an embroidery artist based in Hove. She has “a particular interest in exploring heritage, aiming to preserve traditions while also seeking alternative contemporary interpretations of historical ideas.”
Suzy Agar’s delicate, embroidered textile work was my favourite of all the displays. She says she aims “to encourage an appreciation and a reconnection with our local environment and the creatures that inhabit it.” I loved the sense of movement she achieved with her pieces which appear to be stitched on to silk organza.
The staircase Window Collection currently displays “Feathered Friends” work by Paper artist Kaper (Kate Kelly) who creates sculptures from hand printed papers, depicting various species of birds among flowers and foliage. Kate has been sculpting with paper for 18 years and owls and songbirds remain her favourite subject, largely because of their expressive poses and delightful hairdos!
Feathered Friends by Kate Kelly
At the opposite end of the building, the River Stairwell features 3D paper sculpture by Kate Kato whose work documents different aspects of the natural world and explores how we connect with it. In “Outnumbered” Kate looks at the diversity of the insect kingdom. She uses discarded paper, wire and thread to recreate these creatures and their surroundings, celebrating the scale of their diversity and the vital role insects play in our ecosystem.
Outnumbered by Kate Kato
The main Gallery upstairs is currently showing “Paperwork” which brings together works from a group of craftspeople who also use paper as a primary medium or as an intrinsic part of their process. All of these artists have developed their practice through specialist craft training and education supported by the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). “The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) is a charity that transforms the careers of talented and aspiring makers by funding their training and education, creating pathways to excellence and strengthening the future of the UK’s craft sector.”
These were some of my favourite pieces but the stand out work for me was Momentous Insight. Based on tree rings it’s made up of concentric rings of crocheted paper thread (Shifu) and Japanese and Thai mulberry paper. I loved everything about this piece, its scale (very large!) the colour palette, the textures and the depth. The whole thing was mesmerising and really pulled you in.
Su Blackwell – The WaterfallSu Blackwell – UprootedFung & Bedford – Architectural ForestMandy Coppes-Martin – Momentous Insight
My next event will be the Big Textile Show at Leicester Racecourse at the end of October. This is my favourite show of the year so if you get the chance to visit I can highly recommend it. For those who can’t make it I’ll report back on that one next time.
Several of my recent posts have been about the work that was being created by members of the Waltham Textile group for our Making Waves Exhibition. It’s been about six weeks now since that took place so many of our readers will have already seen images, and possibly the video, but if you haven’t, and you’re interested, you can view them on Facebook or Instagram.
Something else I had wanted to make for the show, but didn’t make time for, was a felted Leafy Seadragon. I discovered so many weird and wonderful sea creatures while researching for the exhibition but this species is in a category of its own!!
Image source: Treehugger.com
Leafy seadragons inhabit rocky reefs, seaweed beds, and seagrass meadows in waters off the coast of South Australia, where they have been adopted as the state’s marine emblem.
These timid creatures grow to between 20 and 30cm in length. They use their ornate leaf-like appendages as very effective camouflage to blend in with their surroundings, becoming almost invisible to the untrained eye.
Belonging to the same family as seahorses and pipefish, Australian leafy seadragons are generally brown to yellow in body colour, while their spectacular appendages are typically olive-tinted and provide near-perfect camouflage in seaweed. Depending on the age and health of the individual some Leafies can also change their colouration if they need to.
The leaf-like structures are not used for swimming. They move very slowly using their pectoral and dorsal fins which are so delicate they are almost transparent.
Image source: @animalfactfiles
So I thought I’d have a go at making a Leafie this month and I’m hoping there will be space for me to display her as part of my submission to “Water“ – the 2024 Lincs Textiles Exhibition in Lincoln Cathedral at the end of August. Our work will be on show in the Chapter House at the Cathedral so if you are in the vicinity it would be lovely to see you there!
I know these creatures are normally pictured horizontally but for aesthetic purposes I’m using artistic lisence and hanging mine vertically! So, would it be wet felted and stuffed or needle felted? I liked the idea of wet felting the body but decided against it as I didn’t think it would provide enough support for the appendages.
Best to start with a 1.2mm galvanised wire armature and needle felt the body…..but what was I thinking when I switched to 0.5mm aluminium wire for the appendages? I was thinking I could form the leaf shapes using that wire and fill them in with painted lutradur……what I wasn’t thinking was that they would twist and bend and drive me nuts all the time I was needle felting the body! That wire was making the whole thing too fragile and too difficult to work with so it had to go!
It was replaced with 0.6mmgalvanised wire which, being retro fitted, would now require careful poking and anchoring to ensure they all stayed put! This also meant the leaf/seaweed shapes would need a rethink. They wouldn’t be outlined with wire, as I’d originally intended, because the replacement wire was far too stiff for that. But at least it was easier to work on now!
I began adding detail and colour to the head. When I was happy with that I moved on to wet felting several boney spikes to attach in rows along the back, front and sides and then needle felted colour to the body.
Next the new wires that will hold the foliage were wrapped with fibre and I made flat felt to cut up for the leaves.
This is where I’m at right now. There’s more foliage to add and the de-fuzzing to do so I’ll include a photo of the finished dragon in my next post. In the meantime I just have to share some inspiring Leafie sculptures I came across online.
I was blown away by the beautiful design and detail in these first two which are the work of artist Ellen Jewett Ellen says “Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components. Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects. Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical. The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.”
In addition to her life as a professional artist Ellen operates a small scale animal refuge with the help of her partner on their Vancouver Island farm.
Image source: ellenjewettsculpture.com
Image source: ellenjewettsculpture.com
I also like this one made by Australian artist Dean Fox using recycled copper and brass on natural rock…… “I am much inspired by the beautiful environment of Kangaroo Island in South Australia where I live. The beaches and bush alike are a constant source of ideas and materials. During my working life in the building and metalwork industry I learnt the many skills I now employ in my creative work. I work in metal, copper and brass and may incorporate found objects and natural timber into my work.”
Image source: deanfoxsculptor.com
Mine is still very much a WIP but in my head I’m already working on a more abstract version for Leafie number two which may or may not involve fibre.
