Wild Women

Last Sunday I went to a workshop with Tania at Rumpelstiltskin, a fibre crafts shop at Broadwindsor Craft Centre. It's been a while since I've been to one and it was great fun to do a class again. We were making wild women based on Sarah Lawrence's creation. I already had the book but hadn't got round to having a go so a class was just what I needed to make me sit down and do it. We made a piece of felt first using wet felting and my favourite colours, then we cut out 2 shapes each and decorated them with Artgirlz charms and beads. We also did some needle felting to add other fibres and small snips of chiffon etc. I was able to try out the Clover felting mat which is like a brush and the needle tool - the mat is much easier to use than the car sponge I was making do with so of course I had to buy one! I also got to have a go with an embellisher machine and fell in love! Where would I put one? When would I find the time to use it enough to make it worth the investment? What the heck, it's going on my Christmas list....

Feltmaking

My second class with Tania (see previous post) was feltmaking. I'd always wanted to have a go at this but thought it was something it's easier to be shown rather than try to learn from a book. I also thought it would be a lot messier than it actually was - though it was lovely putting my fingers in the gloopy soap and working it all in. Tania learnt her feltmaking in Turkey and does it the way she was shown there using olive oil soap which smelt and felt lovely. I don't particularly like my finished piece, it's a bit garish for my taste but I was pleased at how successfully it felted and I think it will look good if I cut it up and use small pieces at a time.
My third class was silk bowl making but the bowls are still upside down and drying so I'll try to take a photo in a few days.