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Creating a new wet felting workshop

Creating a new wet felting workshop

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I’ve recently created and run a new wet felting vase workshop to fundraise for my local community arts centre (the Horsebridge Arts Centre in Whitstable). I’m going to describe here how I planned it and show you the results. 

Previously, I’ve taught wet-felt picture-making (flat felt) and bowl-making (3D felt) but these have been full-day classes (six hours with a lunch break).  To keep the fees down, I decided the new one would be three and a half hours, so I needed to think about what we would make and how to manage the time. 

I decided on a fairly simple wet-felted sleeve, using a rectangular resist, shaped to fit a tall, straight highball glass, on the grounds that a vase would be both useful and attractive. 

I knew there was a degree of risk around the timing. If you’re making a picture or bowl and don’t have quite enough time, at the end of the workshop you will actually have a picture or bowl, it’s just that it would benefit from some more fulling at home. If you’re making a felt sleeve to fit a vase and run out of time, you’ll just take home a glass and a baggy bit of near-felt that is too big to do its job. 

After some deliberation, I decided to give it a go. I bought some inexpensive highball glasses from a local supermarket and made some examples. Firstly, I wanted a few different effects to show people the sort of thing they could make rather than prescribing a particular design. And secondly, I wanted to ensure the process was as quick and streamlined as possible to make best use of the time. 

Example 1 Lavender 

I started with this white background with sprigs of lavender. The lavender pattern was a bit fiddly, so more time consuming, than I’d expected.

Sample 2 colour fade 

Example 2 Colour Fade

A less fiddly design to show how colours blend into each other 

Example 3 – Stone effect

An even more simple design using a variegated dark grey merino topped with a small amount of white merino to give the impression of stone strata

. 

Example 4 – Blended Sea

For this one I had a base layer of blue then hand-carded a mixture of blue and green colours for the second layer, adding small amounts of white silk fibre. 

For the lavender and stone effect samples, it didn’t matter whether the vertical or horizontal layer of wool was laid down first. But for the colour fade it was important to have the vertical layer on top and for the water sample, the horizontal layer needed to be on top. 

I added this point to my notes and used these to write a sheet of instructions for participants to take home as a reminder of what they’d done.

Just before running the workshop, I made one more sample to check how long it took me to make a vase and also to demonstrate the use of wool nepps. I wanted to see if it was possible to make a flower design, without making prefelt, in a maximum of two hours. 

Example 5 – Flowers – showing layout around the resist

Example 5 – Flowers

It was possible (though I think it would have been better to have used prefelt for the flowers) but the layout did take a long time. I’d have to warn participants that if they went for something like this or the lavender they would be unlikely to finish within the class. 

On the day of the workshop I was fully prepped with lots of wool & embellishments and all the necessary equipment in the back of my car. 

I’d heard first thing that some of the town was without water which ratcheted up my stress levels, but didn’t turn out to be a problem. 

And then my car wouldn’t start. 

I was allowing 45 minutes to set up the room. Ideally I’d have liked more but the Horsebridge opens at 9am and the workshop started at 9.30am so I was already pushing the boundaries.

I won’t drag this out (having drawn a blank on a taxi and a lift from a friend I did eventually manage to start the car) but in essence I had 10 minutes to set up the room ….. and two people arrived early. 

This was not a great start for me (I was in a flat spin or as we might say in Yorkshire, a right tizzy) but I managed to calm down and the workshop went well. After unloading the materials I also managed an incredible feat of parallel parking into a tiny space, so it seems adrenaline has many uses!

The table set-up and everyone hard at work

Nine people were booked into the workshop although only seven arrived.  Here’s a view of the workspace set up.  I devised this in the ‘post covid peak’ period when people were allowed to gather but were still maintaining some distance.  Rather than push all the tables together to create one large work area, I’ve kept this table layout as it means I can interact with individuals and their work without leaning in from behind. 

I kept the introduction brief, talked participants though the samples I’d brought, then demonstrated wool layout and how to use silk fibres, nepps and wool yarn as embellishments.  

People were soon able to crack on with their layouts. When the first ones were ready, I demonstrated rubbing to take the wool to prefelt stage.  As they worked, I also introduced tools to assist with rubbing – scrunched bubble wrap, old Tupperware jug lids and plastic printing barens – for those who wanted to try them.

At this point I remembered to take some photos!  I always explain in the introduction how I am likely to use any photographs (eg to include in this blog) and ask for permission. In this workshop there was one child (his mother was also participating) so we were clear there would be no identifiable photos of him.  I also say that even if they have given permission at that stage, they can still opt out at any point in the workshop by just letting me know they don’t want to be included.

Here’s one participant at work. I like how her design is a little like her sweater.

As soon as the first people reached prefelt, I showed participants how to full using pool noodles and bubble wrap. I like to break the demonstration sessions into parts rather than showing everything at once as makes the steps easier to remember and keeps the pace clipping along rather than having one long demonstration session before people can get their hands on the wool.

Here are some shots of work in progress.

In the later stages I also introduced bamboo mats to help speed along the felting process.

And these are the finished vases ready for home. 

Five of the participants with 6 of their vases (one had finished and left before I remembered a group photo)
A lovely blue and yellow striped vase
Notice how this beautiful brightly coloured vase matches the maker’s towel!
Mid and dark blues with a little white cloud: gorgeous
Pretty in blues, which also matches her outfit
This participant fit her lovely felt to her own vase
A very dramatic blue and white seascape
A delicious seascape with beach, sea, sky and clouds
All seven finished vases – I thought they all did a fantastic job

Was timing a problem? Yes.    

I had discussed the timing issue with some felting friends (some fellow-blog writers on this site) before running this workshop. They made excellent suggestions, particularly around limiting colour choices (choosing takes some people a long time). I did intend to follow that advice, honestly, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to have a small colour range for participants to choose from. Instead I just urged participants to choose quickly, and they did. I love that several people made colour choices that matched their clothing or the towel they had brought.

Fortunately everyone was able to stay a little longer than the scheduled end time to finish their vases. For one person it was an additional 10 minutes, for most it was about half an hour.  If I ran the session again I would add at least half an hour to the class time, possibly an hour as I’d rather people finished early than overrunning.

I always use a simple feedback form at the end of a workshop.  Two main questions: what did you like most about the workshop and what could have been better, plus a box to tick if they’re happy for their feedback to be quoted, for example in advertising future workshops.  There was a lot of positive feedback around being creative, choosing their materials, the small size of the class and the way it was taught.  The only issue raised by a few people in ‘what could have been better’ was the need for a bit of extra time, which I thought was absolutely true.    

What next? I will run another fundraiser early in 2027. All of the workshop fees go to supporting the Horsebridge and I donate my time and materials. Because Whitstable is on the coast, I may run a seascape picture workshop. Some of the coast is North-West facing giving fabulous sunsets so maybe a seascape and sunset will be an option. There was also an appetite among this group to try making a felt bowl so that’s another possibility.

Now it’s November. I have a week in the Fishslab gallery in December, sharing with two friends, and my work will also appear in local makers’ markets at the Horsebridge and Creek Creative (in Faversham) so plenty to keep me busy until the end of the year.

What if I ……?

What if I ……?

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Like a cat (and like most of us here) I have had many previous lives. At one stage I worked in finance, I was never really let loose on customers (possibly a good thing for all our sakes). When not fitting out apartments, I was strictly a numbers gal. This was before computers landed on all our desks. When they did, I found them mouth wateringly fascinating (I guess you are beginning to understand why I was best kept in the back office). The first software I had a chance to get my head around was called Symphony. It was one of the first spreadsheet packages the company bought into. I loved it. It had a great function called “What-If”. It’s still around today although Symphony is long gone.

You might now wonder why I am bringing this up. Well, I was bored recently. So I decided to play and to resurrect my own version of the ‘What-If’ function. In short, I had fun. Honestly I don’t do it enough.

So I just kept asking myself ‘what if’ questions, actioning them and seeing the results. I suppose this is the question we all quietly ask ourselves when we play….

Anyway, back to my playtime. What got me started was the question, what if I just doodle a resist? The only limitations I put on this was that I wanted an opening at the top and the bottom. Here is the result:

The resist I used

 

Next, it was decision time, the background colour…. What if I used black merino for this? Would it swallow up all my decorations? Would the whole experiment be a waste of time? So what if it was! Chickening out was not an option!

The last big question I wanted to ask was what if I laid all of the decorative elements against the resist and then laid my background? That’s not really rocket science, is it to felt blindly. But it does add to the loss of control over the piece but also provides an interesting element of surprise when the piece is turned the right side around after the resist is removed (and there’s no going back).

So here is the result of my what if experiment. I will take you through each element briefly to give you, I hope a clearer picture of the game. Each decorative element began with the question ‘What if’ so I won’t bore you with constantly repeating this. Let’s get started:

I laid a thick mix of linen and viscose on the widest opening of the vessel.

shiny viscose and no sheen linen

The reaction was quite interesting. The sheen of the viscose disappeared to a great extent so I suspect what I am looking at is more likely the linen element which was a dull red to start with. Both have adhered well and have produced a nice wavy pattern as they felted into the shrinking black fibre.

Viscose with linen fibres – viscose sheen is drowned out by the linen

I laid down some art yarn that I had purchased from someone who was reducing their stash.  This was in no way guaranteed to work as I don’t feel that person who sold it to me ever experimented with it. Here is what it looks like on the ball. I have absolutely no idea of its composition but I reckoned it was worth a try.

Art Yarn from a stash someone was selling off

 

So I meandered it around two sides of the vessel. I actually love the result! It was caught by the black merino and is firmly embedded but not swallowed. A total win!

art yarn

Next I laid down a thick layer of viscose in two different colours; first the red and then a beautiful shade of purple.

red and purple viscose (purple too close in colour to back merino – swallowed in felting)

The purple was laid over and alongside the red. Because I was working in reverse, I expected that the red would dominate the line with the purple acting as an edging when the vessel was turned right side out. I was hoping that where the viscose laid on top of each other, they might decide to mix a bit. This result was surprising as the purple viscose was swallowed up by the black merino. The red adhered beautifully and kept its sheen so it looks quite different to the fibre mix used at the opening (mentioned earlier).

red and purple viscose

 

 

Next, I used a piece of lightweight silk chiffon that I dyed some years ago and had been foolishly keeping for a ‘special occasion’. I do have to ask myself why I find it so hard to cut into beautiful fabrics (I have too many of these!).

I dyed this silk some years ago (clamped)

 

 

I expected the black to swallow up the silk completely but this didn’t happen (confession: I did give it a light shave to see what would happen). Very pleased with the result here.

Hand dyed nuno

 

 

On a rummage, I found some prefelt I made ions ago, it was time to throw this into the mix.

Remnants of thick red merino and viscose used in raised lines

I had made this red prefelt using viscose as a decorative element so I roughed up the back, cut it into strips and laid it down on the resist. I was able to play with these lines when I was fulling it and create a 3 dimensional surface on the vessel. It was fun twisting and turning these as I worked them. The black fibre migrated through and they now remind me of coils for some reason.

red viscose and merino prefelts felted in and then pinched to create ridges

Turning over to the other side, I played with the notion of a felted ‘shibori’ element. I found some prefelt and made the 3D elements stuffing the prefelt and tying it off. I then roughed up the back. I laid some black merino on top of the prefelt (avoiding the balls) so that the ‘shibori’ would protrude from the vessel background. These were then laid face down on the resist. I did not have the same control when felting as I could not get my hands near the bases of the ‘shibori’ That said, it produced interesting results.

Prefelt – shibori effect

 

My next experiment was to nuno felt some fabric into the vessel but to leave a hole where there was no merino used.

Silk, lace and pencil roving used in window and nuno (purple silk)

I was inspired by something I learned on a course with Jorie Johnson but I used a different process to Jorie’s here.   I decided to double up on the fabric to make the hole a little more interesting I used a purple silk behind a very delicate lace which came from an old mantilla someone donated many years ago. Before laying down the fabric I outlined the future hole with pencil roving, then popped the fabric on top. The purple silk extended way beyond the featured hole and it felted in wonderfully. I love the overall effect.

Purple Nuno, and window (black lace and purple silk)

 

Then I used some very special locks. The donor was a Leicester Longwool sheep aptly named ‘Bright Eyes’. These were sourced from my buddy Leonor who is the creative genius behind Eleanor Shadow (https://eleanorshadow.com/) Be sure to check out her website and all her beautiful hand dyed products.  Here are some of the locks I used.  The colours are gorgeous!

Eleanor Shadow’s beautiful hand dyed locks

 

I thought I would add a little of Bright Eyes to the mix to see how it would react to being totally felted into the vessel. The fibre kept its lustre and happily felted in without being swallowed. I do have to add that I would prefer to see these beautiful locks move freely as a statement on a piece rather than being ‘imprisoned’ in this way. Just glad I only used a few!

Bright Eyes locks felted in close-up

 

Finally, my last experiment involved taking some of the hand dyed silk I had used earlier, I gathered it by hand stitching, I laid it down on the resist so that the hand stitching was uppermost and then added the black merino background. I had no real control as to how this would felt in so I needed to do a bit of pulling to loosen up the fabric once I turned it as the black fibre had come right through all the layers. All a learning experience. Next time I will work with the stitched fabric on top of the fibre as I will be more in control and have less tugging and pulling (and cussing) at the end.

gathered silk then nuno’d

 

All in all, the play was fun. No methodical approach to sampling here, just good fun. And sure don’t we learn when we are having fun!  Here is the final piece:

 

Next: the update on workshops taken. Just one this time, flowers with Diana Nagorna. I supersized one of two of the flowers (just for fun of course) Here are the results.

 

 

Lastly, registration is open for my online course wet felting a spiral. The course will start on 30th October and run through the month of November.     You will have access to step by step videos, a downloadable PDF and, of course yours truly here in the virtual classroom. Please feel free to click on the following link to find out more https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/classes/hanging-felted-spiral/   It will be the last spiral session for 2026 and as I plan to do a bit of travelling next year I am not sure of my scheduling for 2027.

Happy felting (and playing) all!

Helene x

September 2026: Photography, shopping, student and teacher

September 2026: Photography, shopping, student and teacher

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The fall has started out with photography, a bit of shopping and the taking and giving of workshops. It has been busy but also fun. Would you like to join me?

We are first off to the town of Almonte. It is about 30 to 40 minutes away depending on traffic, and this year very pretty but hidden by thick fog. The drive displays more trees, a bit of swamp, a small escarpment, and rocks. The Mississippi River runs through the town. The river has cut falls in some of the rocks. When settlers arrived, some built mills (one of the cloth mills was later converted into expensive condos, and the stone building beside the mill, which held the mill office and cloth storage, was turned into a museum). Many of the houses nearby were used by mill workers but have long since lost their fibre workers. There are still lots of people who remember the mill working; my neighbour’s father worked there.

To help support itself, the museum runs Almonte Fiberfest each September on the weekend after the labour day long weekend. The local arena is filled with booths. In the hallway, many of the local guilds and fiber related groups have their displays. This year there was a local food vendor selling empanadas. I have no idea if that is spelt correctly, but the two I tried were delirious.

For a number of years I have taken pictures and sent them off to the museum to both give historical documentation, and future publicity options. I finally have a good working system to sort and organise shots. I have a small book with the booth number written in; I have a pack of Post-it notes with the names of the booths. I spend time Friday afternoon organising the booth page with the name. Then I take a picture of the page with the name, then take shots of the booth. This works until it gets very busy on Saturday morning when I try to get crowd shots. As it gets a bit quieter Saturday afternoon, I go back to booth shots and shopping vignettes. (Vignettes are shots to entice people to come shopping). I took some on Friday night, about 380 shots, so I can pull, crop and colour correct some of the best temptation shots to send to the museum to post on their social media. There were over 470 shots Saturday, and a few, 162, on Sunday while I was demoing needle felting. I still have to finish sorting them. Sorting is extra challenging this year, since I have been working on the old laptop and can’t see the tiny images clearly. (My beloved geriatric desktop computer died and the new tiny tower is not yet working). I mention the number of photos just so you can see the restraint I have shown in not showing you all of them!! OH no! Death by slide show!!!

lower 2 pictures are demoing at the OVWSG table1.1- 1.5)A few shots from Almonte fibrefest, to top up your virtual fibre horde

2.1-2.2)Felting Booths: two suppliers and 2 creators

Taking a workshop:

Before and after Fiberfest, the museum runs workshops. This year one caught my eye and I was excited to try it. How can I describe leatherworking so it sounds like a fibre art? Hmm, not sure I can stretch fibre or leather quite that far. Decades ago I made Viking booties(the leather was lightweight, so I would not say they were boots). Now I was going to try to make a cover for a small notebook or journal. This will involve stamping leather with patterns, dyeing it, then sewing it up.

It was a small class since it was a full day during the week. But we tried our best to be quality students, to make up for the lack of quantity. The teacher was great; she had everything we needed and had the leather pre-cut for us. Starting with a scrap piece, we tried out stamps (she brought a lot of options) on dampened leather. After a very difficult selection, we started on stamping the cover pieces. I chose a flurry of dragonflies across the front and back cover and up the spine. I continued with a few flying around on the inner pieces too.

stamping leather work at workshop3.1 ) Dampening and stamp-ening the unsuspecting leather

Then the box of leather dies came out, and again the choices were fabulous and a bit overwhelming. So I went from light to dark: a light golden brown, a green, then a blue. It was hard to tell when the first selection of die was dry so I could start the next colour. It was fascinating to see the die pool into the indentations of the stamps. At first the dye seemed to be just on the surface, but suddenly it was outlining the dragonflies in a darker line of the green or blue.

adding colour to leather4.1- ) Dyeing the leather

The next step was to stamp holes around the ends of the cover. To keep the leather in place, we needed to add a bit of leather glue, but just around the edge, or the notebook will not fit! We had used an adjustable tool to run around the outside edge of the cover. This was to guide the stamping of stitching holes. It is also used if you were stamping a straight border. Thinking ahead, I kept checking that the holes were clear on the back side, in hopes the stitching would be easier later. The stitching punches came in different sizes (number of points) to make it easier to turn corners. I have one of these at home; I can’t remember what I got it for, but I am pretty sure I did not use it to punch holes.

punching holes in leather5.1) hole punching for stitches

The stitching was assisted by a stand called a pony. It was so helpful to have the piece held, so you could use both hands. The thread was waxed, and the stitching required 2 needles, one on each end of the thread. (3.5 x the length needed to stitch). She showed us a cool trick to split the thread so the needle didn’t fall off the thread.

sewing leather6.1- ) pony stand, stitching and sneaky thread trick

We took quite a while to do the stitching neatly, but it was worth the careful work! I was extremely pleased with the result. There may be more leather working options next Almonte Fiberfest, if you are in the area.

finished leather note book cover7.1-) finished cover

I had a day off to finish putting together the needle-felted landscape kits, then Saturday, I was booked to teach needle felted landscape. I had all the notes (21 pages, plus 2 pages of quick notes), samples of various pictures I have done or am working on, all the supplies the students would need and a carload full of bags of various colours and types of wool for them to work from.

needle felting samples 2 pictures 2 partly 3d moose8.1) the samples of pictures and two of the moose bags

Taking a workshop allows the opportunity to learn something new or a new way of working. For new felters, it can also let them try different options. How will you know what you like to work with if you haven’t tried a few options? When you first start, you may not even know you have options. I brought them a few options to try.

For work surfaces to felt into; I have supplied them with a garden needling pad in a foam like a pool noodle (you have seen me working on one before). It has been seasonally available from the dollar store (Feb-Aug). It is not too expensive compared to the thicker wool mats. If you leave the plastic on, it reduces wool transfer. It has two sides to felt into, so it should last long enough to create a few pictures, which should let students decide if they are enjoying needle felting or not.

I also brought other surfaces for them to try;

  • -100% wool pad 1-1.5” thick (I like this one the best but not everyone does, and it’s quite expensive now.)
  • -Ann’s Woolie buddy, which is similar to the wool pad but has a different end feel: (how the needle feels as it is inserted into the work surface) (I have put it in a zip lock plastic freezer bag and like it much better, Unfortunately i still have to give it back to Ann!)
  • -the craft felt covered foam or sponge (I think I like this one the least, but someone may like it, so it’s good to let the students try it.)
  • -black packing foam, and the black foam sold for needle felting
  • -a burlap bag of rice (I like this one too, but it’s rather heavy to carry around for portable/movable felting).

I forgot the pink foam insulation (this is excellent to teach students not to stab too deeply; it screams at you with each stab). It comes in sizes up to 4’x8’ sheets, which allows for very big landscapes. I could not find my cellulose sponge (never leave a needle in this; it will rust since the sponge absorbs humidity – we are in a high humidity area in the summer).

9.1- 9.5)various surfaces to felt into, students’ pictures in progress, trying some of them

To use as a base or backing to felt their picture on, I had;

  • -a piece of 100% wool felt
  • -a thinner piece of Not-wool craft felt
  • -and a piece of 100% wool Horticultural felt, which we used to make a name tag. They can add more details or images to the name tag after the workshop. Having them felt their name is good eye-hand coordination practice before starting their picture.

I also had small samples of;

  • -100% Merino Pre-felt (because its thin it can stretch or distort as you felt into it) but it is worth trying to see how it works as a ground.
  • -hot-press craft felt (which is usually a mix of recycled fibres and glue); it can be felted on, but I do not like the feel to work with. If you don’t try options, how would you know if you hate it, are willing to work with it, or love it?

I also made sure they had a selection of needles to give them an idea of the options available and how they move more or less fibre depending on gauge and number of barbs. I gave them a reverse needle, which has the barbs positioned in the opposite direction to the other felting needles. The reverse needle is active as you remove the needle. It can loosen overworked areas, pull up under colours if you have a different core or under layer, or they are used to blend colour transitions that are too hard-edged. I also gave them a crown needle, since it has such a shallow working depth. It also is not an everyday needle but it is handy to have when you need it.

I asked them to come a bit early so we could start at 10 am, and they did, and I forgot to take pictures (my hubby forgot too, but he did carry in all the workshop bags and boxes, so he was probably tired! I know I should have been tired; I had a weird nerve irritation late Friday night, so I didn’t get much sleep, but my green caffeinated beverage kept me wide awake.)

The students mostly chose the window (Light-box) tracing option, but one tried Templating to transfer the image. She is an abstract painter and only used the image for suggestions. This time most of the students chose at least one of the two ocean scenes.

The name tags went well. Everyone seemed to enjoy needle felting but were very focused and found it more tiring than most groups. They only took a short lunch so I may have to try to get them to take a bigger lunch brake next time. A few students wanted to keep working on their pictures at home, so didn’t frame them (they did get a wooden frame with glass and a paper mat to put it in later), but half the class decided they had achieved the landscape they wanted. All seemed happy with their pieces.


10.1–10.5) students and finished or pictures in progress.

At the end of the workshop, I went through the fibre bags, sealing up ziplock bags and piling them by the door for Glenn to take to the car. I also packed up all the supplies, including the box of “Safety Fist” finger protectors and the various work surfaces (remember to give the woolbuddy back to Ann). I was wiped, and the nerve was getting irritable, so it was time to pack up and go home.

11.1-11.2) End of the workshop packing up

I will get back to working on the Blue whale. I am still not sure if it’s too long by a bout 2 inches or if it’s fine. But since we have gone through most of September I should give you a break, and we will chat about a new fiber festival just south of Smithfalls Ontario (Canada) and how that whale is coming along. I also did a bit more testing of that wool buddy that still has not returned to Ann, and I have found a modification that makes it much more appealing for me. (I will tell you about that too.)

Have fun and keep felting!

Felted Lantern Workshop at Pinhey’s Point.

Felted Lantern Workshop at Pinhey’s Point.

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A couple of weeks ago, I did a class at Pinheys Point Historical Site. It is a beautiful site.

Rob Huntley image for Visit Pinhey’s Point web page.

We set up in what was the ballroom. The room is about the same size as my living and dining room. Not what I think of as a ballroom, but I guess there was enough room even with the big dresses. If you’re not dancing, you have to stand in another room.

They had lots of fun picking wool colours and silk. They were a great group; they listened carefully and asked good questions.

I love how they are all so different.

Here are a couple of group shots in front of the window. I shows you better how they will look with light in them. They will all lighten as they dry, too.

 

I always enjoy this class; it’s only half a day, but it gives such great results.

 

Don’t forget: registration for the expanded 3D resist (book resist) class is open. Class starts September 26, 2026

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/classes/3d-multi-part-resist/

 

Registration for the expanded 3D Resist, aka a Book Resist, workshop is now open.

Registration for the expanded 3D Resist, aka a Book Resist, workshop is now open.

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Registration for the expanded 3D resist, aka a book resist, opens today, September 5, 2026. The class runs from September 26 to Oct 31 2026.  Cost: $75 Canadian, approx. $54 US, $46 Euro, $39 Pounds, $75 Aus, $90 NZ.

This is now a two part course. The first part will show you how to make, assemble and use a 3d book resist. It will guide you step by step from building the multi-part resist to the finished piece and give you the skills to continue on to more fun with sculptures.

The second part of this course will be on design and testing.  This will save you fibre, time, and frustration when things don’t go the way you thought they would. It will show you how to test different shapes and cutting methods without making multiple felt samples. You will be able to assemble and test the concept, testing multiple assembly and cutting techniques. Then you will be able to move on to making a felt piece with confidence.

Here is a link to the materials list. You probably already have most of it. Material List for 3D resist workshop

Please join me for this expanded workshop and have fun learning some new skills.

Register here: https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/classes/3d-multi-part-resist/

 

Here are some pieces other students have made:

Renee 3D with balloon

Fay Starfish

Fay, Red six-leafed book resist vessel

 

 

 

Clicking ‘Buy’ was so darn easy, now what to do?

Clicking ‘Buy’ was so darn easy, now what to do?

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Years ago, when the kids were small, I became a collector of recipe books. I didn’t particularly want to cook out of any of these, I simply loved reading the books and marvelling at the beauty of the process and the presentation of the meals.

More recently I have found that I have started collecting felting courses. I have been rather busy over the past few years – not sure where the time has gone – but last May, I decided that I had best do a stock take of the courses I have signed up for and not done. I discovered that I have at least 20 in my list. These courses either have indefinite access or I have been able to purchase and download the videos so there has never been an urgency in completing them. That said, I don’t want these to fall into the same category as the cookery books – lovely to look at but I wouldn’t like to do them.

Over the years, I have signed up for different Felting Camps offered by Corinna Nitschmann. Each year around April, Corinna invites a number of felting tutors to join her in her studio. The tutors record their respective workshops and then deliver the workshops on a specified date during the camp. Students can opt to work ‘live’ on the day, working with the pre-recorded videos with the tutor available to answer any questions they might have; they have access to these videos for a number of months, if they prefer to work at their own pace. Alternatively a student can pay a little extra and download the videos so that they are there indefinitely. This is the option I choose but I still enjoy being present during the live sessions as the sessions are always upbeat and great fun. Corinna herself is an amazing tutor and has a great sense of humour. There are lots of other activities taking place (besides the workshops) during the felting camp. Here is the link, if you would like to find out more about these https://cornitfelt.com/. I have 3 years of felting camp courses downloaded, that accounts for 15 courses. Then I purchased some courses that I found attractive from individual tutors and need to take. But for the summer months, I decided to focus on some of the felting camp courses. I thought I might share some of the results with you.

My first venture was called “Wet Felting Jewellery Basics” by Judit Haulik. It was part of the 2025 felting camp. This is a well paced course and the videos are divided nicely into sections so that it is possible to complete a task and walk away from it for a while. Students work with very small pieces of felt and Judit herself acknowledges that it can be a bit fiddly but, to be honest, I found that once I got into the groove, going small was not a challenge. I loved the repetitive nature of the design too and I can see possibilities for upsizing the process which Judit is teaching. My main learning on the course was how to integrate very fine chain into the overall design. I chose a very light chain for this process and I reckon that I will use a more robust one next time. That said I am very pleased that I rose to the challenge of the very fine chain as, after this, I feel the bigger size will be a dawdle. Here is the piece I made. I didn’t investigate further as I wanted to move on to another course. That said, I have ideas on where I can take my learning. I have done some quick sketches before they go out of my mind!

  • Full view of the necklace. Holes felted with sequinned material
  • Top section of the necklace with sequinned fabric in the centre
  • Base of the necklace with sequinned fabric showing in the hole

My next workshop came from the 2026 Felting Camp. It was one of the courses that originally attracted me to this year’s camp. The introduction to “Stool Covers” by Bea Nemeth was very joyous and depicted a variety of different shapes and sizes of stools which could be worked on. Bea also presented different possibilities for fibres which could be used in the design. We worked our design on prefelt and then if we wished we could adorn the stool cover with locks. Bea was fun and a little mischievous and at one stage headed to a dye pot with one of her samples. It was fun to see all this in real time at the session. As for the result ….. beautiful! I didn’t have a stool to work off so I headed out to our local Ikea. I made a variegated colour strong merino prefelt and I used my own geometric pattern for my design. I had some Bergschaf left over from making boots a number of years ago so I used this for the background. The resist was huge and I don’t know if you ever have that moment when you feel that a piece will never shrink down sufficiently (I had that on the stool) but it didn’t disappoint and, finally, with lots of patience, shaping and using tools it fit perfectly. I love the result and it acts as a reminder that patience works wonders when I am trying to fit to size.

  • full view of the stool – blue base is bergschaff
  • pattern on stool made with merino prefelt

Next up, it was a bit of a return to a comfort zone for me, fine art felt. I checked out Jorie Johnson’s ‘Fine Art “Small Works”’ Jorie studied textile design both in the USA,where she is originally from, and in Finland. She moved to Japan in 1987 and has been based there ever since. If you would like to find out more about Jorie you can visit her website at https://joirae.com/biography/. There was something very special about Jorie’s approach to the workshop – it kind of gave me permission to play with my design while being mindful of her teaching. While students had the freedom to use any style resist of their choosing, I decided to use the one Jorie presented, principally because it had some really challenging angles and shapes included. I also favoured roving over prefelt when I was laying out my background. I got a bit carried away with the design (Jorie recommended leaving more space between each element), but this was playtime and experimentation was the key for me here. Here is the result. Again, there was lots of learning on what can work and it is a great reference for future pieces.

  • sculpture with resist to show shrinkage (resist design by tutor)
  • front view of the sculpture
  • Nuno felted ‘window’
  • closeup of raised area and nuno felted pattern
  • closeup of textures and nuno
  • detail of some of the locks and textures
  • closeup of the linen section
  • Second side of the sculpture featuring a variety of textures

That’s all I have for now. I know there are 17 more courses to go, but at least I have made a start. If you like, I can keep you updated on my progress, but the danger is that I am likely to disappear down the odd rabbit hole (I can already see two opening up). Like Alice in Wonderland, there is a possibility that I might meet (or transform into) the Mad Hatter although I wouldn’t mind having some of White Rabbit’s energy (perhaps it would help me get through the classes quicker) because at the moment in this (what appears to be at time of writing) never ending heat wave, my character is more akin to the Dormouse, constantly ready to roll over for another sleep!

Is there anyone out there in the same boat with lots of outstanding courses? Please tell me so that I know I am not alone.

Happy felting!

Hugs

Helene

The Curious Case of Percy the Purple Piggy

The Curious Case of Percy the Purple Piggy

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One of the unexpected joys of moving to New Zealand has been discovering fibre retreats.

For some reason, they seemed to be relatively rare in the UK, and when they did happen they were often centred around a tutor-led, multi-day course. They were wonderful, but by the time you added tuition, accommodation and travel, they weren’t exactly budget-friendly.

New Zealand seems to have embraced a different philosophy and I absolutely love it.

Here in Auckland we’ve been lucky enough to have at least 4 fibre retreats every year. Rather than everyone working on the same, tutor-guided project, they’re more like a creative escape. We spend two or three days away together, sharing accommodation, meals and ideas, while everyone works on their own projects.

The best part? Inspiration is wonderfully contagious.

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Someone will usually demonstrate a technique, that others will then add their own interpretation to, someone will try a different fibre, another will change the resist or shape and someone else will scale it up… and before long half the room is experimenting with the same idea, each taking it in a completely different direction.

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It’s impossible to come home without learning something new. This is a post I wrote after a previous retreat that perfectly demonstrates how everyone will take the same idea and take it in so many different directions my mind boggles.

Of course, retreats aren’t just about making things. They’re about uninterrupted creativity, glasses of wine, home-made cakes, solving each other’s problems, enabling each other’s fibre purchases (“Go on, you know you need it!”), and those conversations that only make sense to fellow fibre enthusiasts.

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Sadly, at our last Auckland Felters retreat we received some disappointing news. Bella Rakha, the retreat centre we’ve called home for years, has been sold, and the new owners won’t be hiring it out.

Our March retreat was our last one there 🙁

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The extensive collection of works made at our last AFF retreat

Finding a replacement is proving much harder than any of us imagined. It turns out we are (mostly) well behaved but rather particular guests.

We need a large hall with hard floors (water and carpet are not natural companions!), comfortable single or twin-share bedrooms rather than bunk rooms, somewhere to prepare or reheat shared meals and enough space for up to 20 felters to spread out with what can only be described as a completely reasonable amount of wool and equipment. 😉

So far we’ve discovered that most venues can offer either the accommodation or the workshop space but rarely both.

I have been contacting boarding schools to see whether they’d hire out their facilities during the holidays. So far… no luck.

Fortunately, Lyndal, one of our AFF members who makes the 1.5 hour journey from Hamilton to Auckland for our regular meetings and retreats, came to the rescue. She found a lovely venue closer to her home and very generously organised a weekend away.

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It cost a little more than Bella Rakha, but the facilities were wonderful. Bright workspaces, comfortable rooms… and, perhaps most excitingly for a group of wet felters, a laundry complete with spin dryers and tumble dryers right next to the hall! Luxury indeed.

Sadly, it’s probably a little too far south to become our permanent home, as it would mean a three-hour drive each way for members travelling from Auckland’s northern suburbs. Some of whom can only attend retreats as day visitors due to family commitments.

Still, every retreat produces at least one memorable story…

This time, mine involved a boring, green plastic mailbox.

I’d decided to make a cover for our rural letterbox in the shape of a purple tabby cat. Everything was progressing beautifully until I fitted the felt over the postbox and discovered I’d positioned the ears incorrectly.

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They were so far apart that my elegant feline looked less like a cat and more like… well… something more porcine.

After a few moments of artistic denial, I accepted the reality.

My purrfect, pampered purple pussy became a pig.

A very cheerful, glittering, purple pig. He looks like he is ready go dancing!

We called him Percy, Percy the Purple Piggy 🙂

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Mr TB sporting traditional Kiwi footwear while installing a worried looking Percy, “Where are you going with that screwdriver?!!”

Even though he isn’t what I imagined when I started this make, I love him to bits and Jaq’s idea to add an ear tag for the house number was inspired!

Perhaps that’s another lesson retreats teach us. Sometimes the best creations aren’t the ones you planned—they’re the ones that happen after you’ve made a mistake and decided to embrace it.

Can You Help?

The search for a new Auckland retreat venue continues.

Do you know of somewhere within an hour’s drive of central Auckland that might suit a group of enthusiastic fibre artists?

We’re looking for:

  • a large hall with hard floors
  • at least 10 single or twin-share bedrooms
  • kitchen or meal facilities
  • somewhere affordable enough to keep retreats accessible

If you know of a retreat centre, boarding school, scout camp, church facility or hidden gem that might fit the bill, we’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or send us a message.

Who knows—you might help us find the next home for many more weekends of creativity, friendship… and the occasional accidental purple pig.

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Felted bag class

Felted bag class

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Last time you saw the bag I was making, as a sample for this class. The class was at https://www.forestcovefarm.ca/. It was lovely. It was outside, and it was quite hot, but not as hot as the next week. There were a couple of pop-up tents and lots of trees for shade. There is also their store that is air-conditioned, so we could cool down if needed.

Most of the pictures are quite blurry. I am having trouble with my camera not focusing. Near the end of the day, I did find out that if I zoomed out to .9 it would focus, so the final shots are better. I have been to the Apple store, and they are ordering me a new camera.

It was a great group, with a wide range in ages from late teens to retired.

Adding the colour to the ropes took longer than expected, but I was glad I made the cores for them.

Corinne sent me a few pictures of the day, so here I am teaching.

Here are the blurry shots of everyone’s bags before felting.

I seem to have missed one. There should be 8.

Last night Corinne from Forest Cove sent me a few pictures. She had a shot of the bag I missed.

 

After much rubbing and rolling and them all thinking nothing was happening, I had them check the bags against the resists, and they were very surprised at how much they had shrunk. This gave some more energy, and they were able to finish the fulling. I only managed 3 pictures of the finished bag. Everyone was in a hurry to pop into the store and get cool and do some shopping.

The grey and purple one was much better in person. And I suspect that the purple will show much more when it is dry. I am hoping some people will send me pictures of thier dry and finished bags. They had to add the handles after they were dry. I did get one, but my email seems to have eaten it. I sent them home with instructions on blocking them and drying them and some tips on blocking them more with a steam iron if they want to.

Everyone seemed happy, so I am happy. I think I will switch to a bag with a slit handle next time, as the rope handle took longer than expected. By my next blog post, I should have a new camera in my phone. Hopefully that means I will take better pictures.

Deeply Felt (and the stories carried within)

Deeply Felt (and the stories carried within)

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This post is from guest author and our multi-talented felting friend, Sarah Ritchie, please check out her website to see all the incredible things she does (it’s not all felting!): https://www.sarah-ritchie.com/

 

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of being part of Deeply Felt (and the stories carried within) – a group exhibition by Auckland Felters, a Creative Fibre community of contemporary felters from across the Auckland region. The exhibition was held at Nathan Homestead Pukepuke in Manurewa, Auckland.

This exhibition was spearheaded by Teri Berry, whose vision and leadership brought the group together to present a cohesive and thoughtful body of work. Auckland Felters is a diverse group, and what makes this group so special is the breadth of practice within it. While we are united by wool fibre as a medium, the way each maker approaches it is entirely individual.

That diversity was evident throughout the exhibition. Works ranged from finely detailed fibre paintings and wall hangings, to sculptural forms and wearable works, each reflecting the interests, techniques, and creative voices of the felters involved. There was no single style or narrative, but rather a celebration of process, patience, and the tactile nature of fibre. It was also a privilege to bring fibre to the attention of the public as an artform – more than just a functional material or a craft.

As needle or wet felters and fibre artists, we all understand the time it takes to bring a piece into being. The process itself becomes embedded in the finished work. That sense of time and touch was present throughout the gallery, inviting visitors to slow down and engage with what had been deeply felt and carefully made.

This was the second exhibition held by Auckland Felters and it felt like a natural progression for the group. There was a sense of growing confidence – both individually and collectively – and an excitement in sharing felted works as art.


Held in Remembrance

Alongside the exhibition sat a special art installation titled Held in Remembrance.

The original idea came from Clare Hocking, who envisioned a collective work of handmade felted poppies to mark ANZAC Day. What began as a simple concept quickly grew into something much larger.

A call-out was made through our personal networks, social media channels and Facebook felting groups, inviting contributions from the wider felting community. The response was immediate and generous. 287 poppies were sent in by more than 50 felters from across Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world. Each poppy was handmade and unique, and many were accompanied by messages of personal connection with the men, women and animals who served.

What arrived was not just a collection of objects, but a gathering of individual acts of making. Different techniques, fibres, and interpretations came together, unified by a shared intention of remembrance, and a remarkable generosity of time, resources, and care.

I had the privilege of leading the installation, with the support of Clare Hocking, Teri Berry, and Jaq Spirrett. Jaq also created the felted barbed wire that formed a central element of the work, adding both visual structure and symbolic weight.

Constructing the installation was not without its challenges. Covering 3.6m wide and 2m tall, each poppy was attached to clear nylon thread and suspended between two battens. The felted barbed wire added a strong narrative to the artwork. Every poppy could be seen. Every maker’s contribution held its place within the whole.

The installation was created as a fundraising initiative for the RNZRSA (Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association), supporting the health and wellbeing of New Zealand’s veterans of military service and their families. All qualifying donations will receive one of the poppies from the installation as a thank-you gift.

Apart from its fundraising purpose, what stands out most to me is the sense of international connection and camaraderie the project created. Felting can often be solitary, yet Held in Remembrance brought together a wide and generous community of makers – many of whom we have never met in person, yet are now connected across distance through a shared act of making.

The Open Day that wasn’t

We had originally planned to hold our exhibition Open Day on ANZAC Day itself, bringing together the Deeply Felt exhibition, Held in Remembrance fundraiser installation, a fibre market, and a workshop. However, we were advised (at short notice) that Auckland Council-run galleries would be closed that day, and the event could not go ahead (though, fortunately, the workshop ran as planned in an alternate location). This was immensely disappointing to everyone involved.

Clare and Beth demonstrating the art and magic of felt-making

And yet, in some ways, it felt fitting. ANZAC Day is, at its heart, a day of pause and reflection. While we had hoped to gather, the quiet absence of that event served as a reminder of the deeper purpose behind both the exhibition and the installation.

The finished poppy paintings – it’s hard to believe none of the participants had tried wet felting before!

What remains is the work itself – the hours of making, the shared effort, and the connections formed along the way. For Auckland Felters, Deeply Felt was more than an exhibition. It was a continuation of a collective journey, and a reflection of what can happen when individual makers come together with a shared intent.

A Catch Up

A Catch Up

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In my last post I mentioned several pieces I was working on and some events that were coming up and I thought I’d use this post to update you on how those went.

I’d made several superfine Merino pendant samples in preparation for a wet felted workshop I had been asked to run for IFA Region 8 in Arnesby, Leicestershire. I had tried to cover options for all abilities from a very simple design that didn’t require a resist, through to a complex design requiring multiple resists. As it turned out all of the samples proved useful because between them my 10 students chose to make one of each of those designs. I was too busy on the day to remember to take progress photos (sorry) and nobody got fully finished before we left but these are some of the images Ive received since…..

One of the ladies, Leah, enjoyed making hers so much she’s gone on to make two more in a style very much of her own which I love!

Another project I’d been working on was Passage of Time, a wet felted Wallhanging inspired by a huge sandstone slab, for the IFA’s online exhibition “Time” which launched in March. You can see the exhibition here. I’d rushed to get this done to meet the deadline. It wasn’t as colourful as I’d intended and I knew it was far from finished! This was how you saw it last…..

After submitting it I continued to embroider and decorate adding colonial knots, free motion stitched mussel shells, machine wrapped cords and embroidered barnacles. As well as needing more surface texture I felt it should be larger and more irregular in shape so wet felted and embellished a second piece to hang adjacent to it. It’s now approximately 1m x 50cm and I’m much happier with how it finished up…..

The exhibition at Harding House in Lincoln went better than any of us could have imagined! Five months of planning and two days of setting up with my friend Jo resulted in an event that we were all very proud to be a part of. Fourteen out of the eighteen participating members travelled from various parts of the midlands to attend the launch party on Saturday 14th March.

We tried to cover as many different techniques as possible with our exhibits and included an “Education Station” with info boards, “touch” samples and the new promotional material advertising the International Feltmakers Association. We also ensured there was an artist in residence every day for the two weeks, either wet felting or needle felting. This meant visitors not only got to see felt being made but they had a point of contact if they wanted to learn more about the art they were seeing, about the IFA, or about Feltmaking in general.

We had a steady footfall throughout the fortnight we were there and it was wonderful to get to meet and speak to so many interested visitors, the feedback received was fantastic!

Earlier this month I travelled over to Risley in Derbyshire to spend the day with Material Girls and the talented, and very entertaining, textile artist known as Mr Finch. Finch creates enormous 3D fabric sculptures of animals, birds, insects, fungi and other fantastical creatures such as this owl and an onion complete with arms, legs and clogs!

He also brought along this Badger and I have to say that the photos really don’t do justice to these fantastic sculptures. To touch them they are rock hard and incredibly weighty, it’s hard to believe that they are stuffed with polyester stuffing! It was fascinating to see close up how he’d made the joints and details such as the paws and fingers.

Finch provided lots of laughs and kept the ladies entertained throughout the day as we learnt his tips for designing templates and creating fabric sculptures. If I’m completely honest I was disappointed that we were hand stitching and not using machines during this class so I’m looking forward to creating another hare very soon using cotton fabric and my machine, putting in to practise some of the useful tips and ideas I picked up from Mr Finch. I think you can see from the photos how much fun we had!