When I’m in the midst of running a feltmaking workshop I am always amazed at the wide variety of colour schemes emerging on the table. I always have a full range of colours to choose from, as well as some beautiful silks and yarns for embellishment – it’s like an adventure playground of colour! I love it every time.
Feltmaking allows us to explore our creativity with freedom and does not require particular skills in the way that drawing or painting do. So, those familiar feelings of uncertainty, anxiety & lack of confidence are replaced by curiosity about the process, enjoyment of the colourful materials and a general feeling of wellbeing.
It’s fun and expressive – everybody goes home with one or two pieces of beautiful material, made with three simple ingredients – dyed sheeps fleece, olive oil soap and water – oh, and a bit of rubbing and rolling!
We start with flat pieces of felt, which make lovely table mats or even framed artworks.
Then we move on to learn 3D feltmaking processes using resist templates. Start by making a decorative bowl, a beret, a hotwater bottle or tablet cover, a tea cosy. Whatever you fancy. Again the fascination is in the process and the creativity in the choice of fibre/colour/shape & form.
One of my most popular feltmaking workshops involves making a pair of slippers which hug your feet. This is achieved by putting the slippers on when they are almost finished, and rubbing them into the actual shape of your own feet. A workshop in the summer saw 8 pairs of slippers made in a day, and this picture is a good illustration of what I mean when I say I’m amazed at the range of colourschemes people choose!
So, come on, unleash YOUR creativity in 2014 by learning feltmaking – a wonderfully expressive, tactile medium which is so versatile you can keep on learning new things forever!
If you don’t see the workshop you want in my listings, do email or ring me and I’ll see if I can set a date either at a weekend or during the week.
New this year was our Needlefelted dogs workshop, run by Janet Thompson. She had envisaged that everyone would make a little Jack Russell as a first piece, but participants had other ideas and whole array of little dogs trotted out at the end of the workshop!
Shisha mirrorwork embroidery is proving very popular, with some finding that once they start they can’t stop!! The possiblities for doodling with thread around your mirrors is endless, so it’s very easy to just carry on, and on, and on …
Carol's Creative Workshops 
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