What a wonderful 5 day workshop with Gladys Paulus last week. Incredibly intense and full on, but Gladys has the ability to encourage her students and bring out their inspiration and energy, and the time flew past - and everyone had arrived at the finishing stage of their mask by the time we headed off, back into the world.

To work with someone who really knows their craft and who also has the flair and eye of an artist is truly exciting. We all felt we were in a safe pair of hands: whenever one of us was feeling overwhelmed at the size of the project they'd undertaken, Gladys was there to support and help bring back a positive focus to the task.

We all took our heads home to be tweaked and coaxed into their finished glory. I've waited to do this workshop for what seems like forever ... and I now feel as if my felt making life is (very nearly) complete! 

We had an excellent weekend making slippers!

Using Piiku (because of its toughness and the speed at which it felts), students first designed the type of slippers they wanted to make, with an emphasis on the need for practicality.

The first choice was which style to use - boots or shoes. Then there was making the difficult decision about colour ... Piiku wools are available in so many gorgeous tones and colours! 

Having 2 whole days gave us all time to really work on the finish of their slippers, make a felt insole and/or arch support and learn how to sew on soles. 

Lucy's slippers were in the bootee style, made using a double-ended resist. Love the curls and the carefully considered colourways.  

Kay and Lesley both made shoe-shaped slippers using the 'bunny ear resist" shape that provides more room for the arch of the foot.

Kay incorporated layers of prefelt to build up support in her inner sole which worked really well. 

Lesley spent lots of time embellishing hers with a range of fibres, including some gorgeous curls: she also sewed on two beautiful buttons that had belonged to her mother.  

Kay's slippers seem very happy and relaxed in the their new home!

Summer definitely showed its face during this workshop weekend! While we were slaving away over fluff and fibres, the sun was pouring down, and through the windows of the studio, we watched the dappled light through the beech trees illuminating the bluebells ... 

Jenny, as always, was the perfect tutor: her explanations and demonstrations were clear and concise, and she shared her time equally among all the students, moving around the studio advising and teaching through hands-on manipulation of our masterpieces. 

We learned how to create interesting surface textures - spikes, domes and ripples - and then applied these to the creation of our sculptural vessels. Colour was an important aspect of this, with some wild and wonderful combinations that were as gorgeous and celebratory as the beautiful weather!

Many hands make spikes work ...

In the latest of our series of fleece rug workshops, sisters Gaynor and Glenda came to the studio, and chose to use two of the Gotland fleeces to make their rugs.  

The fleece that Gaynor chose was from a shearling called Freya: it was dark grey and silver with tight curls, and as it was already well felted, it didn't require too much preparation. The other fleece was from Evangaline, and was much more of an undertaking, but Glenda did an amazing job of stitching it, ready for the felting process.

The resulting rugs were quite gorgeous, and completely different from each other. Here's a photo of Gaynor's, complete with her dog, Rosie, who was well impressed! 

What a fabulous group of ladies to spend a day with, rubbing bits of wool together! Nine bright eyed and bushy tailed felt makers turned up at the studio, ready to blow up their balls and make gorgeous hats .   

Enthusiasm certainly wasn't in short supply: I left the room for a couple of minutes, and by the time I got back, there they were, proudly displaying their inflated spheres ...            

After preparing our designs and laying these out on our balls  - some used silk fabric and fibres, whereas others chose to create motifs with needlefelt, while one student preferred to make a plain hat  in order to concentrate on the technique - we then started to apply the Piiku wool.

Wet wool obeys the laws of gravity, and there were a few concerns expressed about "droopy bottoms" and "soggy underneath bits", but all's well that ends well. And that same maxim applies to valves (the balls are inflatable/deflatable) that inadvertently disappeared under layers of wool. We found that Carey had a particularly sensitive, touch when it came to locating these, and her psychic gift was called upon on more than one occasion.

Once the felt had formed a skin, the ball was removed, and the designs were stablised. The fulling process then commenced, shrinking the hat down to size and hardening the felt.

A rinse, a spin, et voila - time for the photo opportunity!

As always, everyone appreciated Nina's wonderful skills as a host, offering not only this unique workspace, but also copious amounts of drinks and delicious nibbles (including, on this occasion, a home made banana cake). 

Jacke and Carey came to make rugs, taking advantage of the big tables and the rollers. Jackie chose to use undyed Shetland for her base, and merino prefelt for the geometric design. Carey had a huge stock of Jacobs wool so that formed the base of her rug, and she then laid out a wild and wonderful design using a wide variety of fibres and yarn - much of which she has spun herself.                                                                                                    

The Shetland felted beautifully, and Jackie had her rug in the rolling machine as soon as it had stabilised and the design had attached. As you can see, the finished result was gorgeous!                                                                                                                                       

Carey's Jacobs wasn't so amenable . After hours ot rubbing - and I mean hours - it was still loose and 'marshamallowy' so out came the sander. Even that didn't have a huge effect and it was only through sheer determination, litres of very, very hot soapy water and lots of help from her friend that the wool was finally beaten into submission and agreed to hold together enough for it to go into the machine. I'm sure you'll agree that the outcome was worth it, and the exuberant design just makes you smile!e

And they even had time to make a couple of smaller items: Jackie decided to make a one-piece back to try out Piiku to see what all the fuss was about - she couldn't believe how quickly it felted! Carey also used Piiku to make a large basket as a gift her mother.

It was an exhausting - and at times, a little fraught - 3 days, but the learning experience and the items that they took home with them made it all worthwhile!                                                                              

Dagmar's taught at the studio quite a few times now, and it's always a pleasure to welcome her back! As always, the participants appreciated both her expertise and her straightforward explanations.

This time, the topic under scrutiny was "holes", and the many ways in which they can be created during the felt making process. Dagmar brought an eclectic selection of samples for us to examine and analyse: they all had something in common, and that was holes!                                                                                      

We spent the first day producing samples and familiarising ourselves with the different ways in which holes can be produced: some used resists, while others wove and cut to create spaces and voids in their work.  Dagmar worked alongside us, using her pieces to draw our attention to the effects of cutting away areas, while reminding us that pieces have two sides, and that sometimes, the side we thought would be the reverse ends up being far more interesting than the so-called front side.                                                      

Some of us chose to continue investigating their ideas through working on producing more samples, while others applied what they'd learned to making a larger piece.              

By the end of the weekend, there was a line of holes on the forecourt at FiTF ... 

A selection of eager students

In September 2017, we were delighted to host a three day workshop with the renowned felt maker, Maria Friese, who travelled from France on her first teaching assignment in the UK.  The title of the workshop was Poetic Surface Design, and Maria used her wide range of samples to talk to us about how to achieve interest and texture by creating raised surfaces which can then be cut into to reveal inner layers.

We then worked to produce our own samples: some of us chose to use carded merino wool from DHG - it turned out to be a bit like Marmite ... some of us loved it, and some hated it!

The second part of the workshop was devoted to incorporating the techniques we'd practised into a vessel. Some students opted to create a form using the 'book resist' method which produced a vessel with 10 faces, while the rest of us based our pots on a circle resist embellished with raised and cut away designs. Ruth concentrated on making a beautiful bag which she used to showcase one of the surfaces.

Maria had unfortunately arrived in the UK with a cold and was a little under the weather, but we appreciated her quiet and generous teaching style. The finish she achieves on her work was an excellent reminder to us all about the importance of completing the fulling stage. 

In April 2016, the IFA co-ordinator for region 9, Cheryl Cracknell, organised a four day workshop by the Finnish felt maker Karoliina Arvilommi.

Using Karoliina's techniques, we made wall hangings and rugs and, after a lot of hard, physical work, we were delighted with the results.

Karoliina and her partner, Rod Welch, were wonderful tutors and offered immense support, urging us on when the going got tough!