Bags of Fun!

This month Feltmakers North decided to change the format of the day, we started with the usual felt in, which was using a resist to make a small vessell. Then for those who had booked they took up the opportunity to put their new knowledge in to practice and use a resist to make a bag in the afternoon!

 The morning started with instruction on using a small resist, it was great to see the varieties of colours and finishes used, diverse as usual!

           There was plenty of rubbing and rolling and of course chat! By the end of the morning each person had produced a lovely little vessell, all very different and one lady produced a purse.                                                     

In the afternoon the business of making a bag started, with each person deciding on colours, type of wool and what style to make. It was a lovely relaxed and friendly day which always seems to be the case at Feltmakers North. Above is a bag made using a mixture of native wool and merino with very pleasing results!

     Another bag made using native wool and merino, here Barbara decided to make a bucket style bag, she is going to add a long handle to it and wear it over her shoulder.

                                                       A lovely bag bag where the design in silk fibres was carried through from one area to another, creating a dramatic finish.

   I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did, certainly they all went home with lovely bags! 
We look forward to seeing you all next month for our Christmas felt in, we will be using prefelts so if you have some bring them along and if not we will have some you can buy from us! fiona Harvey                                                                                                        

Sensational Dresses by the Sea, with Charity van der Meer!

Feltmakers North held a fabulous workshop in the seaside village of Portballintrae, with Charity van der Meer as tutor! The lucky participants had two and half days of felting under Charitiy's instruction, and above are the results. The variety of colours and styles were very interesting, each person putting their own stamp on Charity's design.
                                          

The first day began with instruction on pattern cutting and making a pattern the correct size for each individual. Charity had great patience and spent time with each person until they had their pattern

 

            Everyone got all their materials out to look at and select which order they would be added in to the garment! The colour variety was amazing!                                                             

The first day flew in, we cut our patterns and then we laid the silk and started to lay our fibres and work on our design.

 

The work continued, and before we knew it the time was up and everyone had completed their garment, this is when we decided to go to the beach for our photo shoot!

                                                                        
We are all very grateful for the generous award we received which was supported by The National Lottery through The Arts Council of Northern Ireland this made this two and half day workshop possible! We would also like to thank Coleraine Council for letting us use the Village Hall in Portballintrae, which was the ideal venue for our workshop.

Here are some of the comments from the felters on the workshop, we asked them what was good about the workshop?
"achieving a fantastic coat"
"bright spacious working environment"
"something totally different, great workshop"
"concentrated time to felt with an international tutor"
"being with like minded people"
"more residentials, the variety of techniques explored and the companionship of other felters!"
I will put up more photos in the gallery section for you to see.

We are now on facebook so if you are on facebook go and "like " us!!

Feltmakers North never stop planning fun with felt the next felt is on Saturday !7th November when we will be using a resist and also if you would like you can apply to, stay on and make a bag in the afternoon, all the details are on the workshop page.
Fiona