Felt….different….stay with me on this one….it will make sense by the end of this posting – honest!

I am a sewer at heart. I very rarely stray from my 100% cotton, the exception being this time of year when I tend to give the nod to wool.  So when I had the fortunate luck of meeting Beryl Woodcroft, I had no idea that my horizons would be extended to the world of felt and that my only real work with felt – think art class and making animals out of the felt squares that all art classes have in abundance – was about to be extended to include felt cuffs, balls and bangles. And that the kids would be able to do this too! 

The wool is getting ready to be made into felt….

Here is the finished felt, with beads attached and made into a small bag.

The same principle applies to the way in which the children learn to make felt, it just takes longer to get the finished product. It took two hours, from start to finish to make the small bag but with the children, and waning attention spans and a limited amount of work stations, it can draw the process out. One funny aside, the children spend much of them time using soap and water in the felting process so I contacted the parents to ensure that working with soap was okay and that there were no allergies that would be kicked off by the soap.  One mother e-mailed back and said that her daughter " did not have an allergy to soap but did have an aversion".  Made me laugh

 A whole new set of kids to get excited about making and doing.…

Beryl at the helm…in amongst the ears.

I also noticed that one of the higher profile American fabric designers, Heather Bailey has decided to carry felt along side her fabrics. Her reasoning – the felt and the fabrics can complement each other when combined in some great combinations. And she is right!

If you fancy a go at making your own felt, we do have a few adult classes that can get you there. The photos of the pink bag are from the last course that was held.  It was relaxed, creative and good fun.

Maeri