Felt Making Workshop 2010 Birmingham and District WSD Guild

I have been sorting through photographs on my computer, I have not been very effective in organising them.  I came across this photograph taken at the Birmingham and District WSD Guild's Annual Exhibition in November 2010.  I thought I would show you the display of Felted Bags that were made in a one day workshop with Marietta Alker.  Marietta is a Felt Artist, she runs a variety of workshops. 


Felting Workshop WSD guild 2010

 The Green bag is mine, made from Merino and Corriedale, the Grey and Pink bag is my Moms made from Merino and Grey Gotland.  Marietta keeps her own Gotland sheep.  I have Spun Gotland fleece and really loved it to work with, very soft and springy.

As this was our first attempt at felting the bags took 4/5 hours to complete.  The process involved layering, wetting, soaping and agitating the wool to felt it.  The agitating was done by a rolling the soapy wet fibres in a bamboo mat or 'sushi' mat and you need a will of Iron and a fair amount of stamina.  I must be a wimp because I found this quite exhausting and my hands and arms really ached the next day.  I was fascinated with the felting process though and the following morning made numerous felted beads in the kitchen with my son, who also loved it and made some wonderful shaped beads.  I have found a tutorial on the net here on 'Rosiepink's' website for beginners to wet felting.  I would recommend anyone interested has a go.  Felt is a fascinating, durable fabric that has been made and utilised by many cultures for thousands of years. 

"Feltmaking is still practised by nomadic peoples in Central Asia and northern parts of East Asia, where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic yurt, while others are designed for the tourist market, such as decorated slippers. In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile."  Wikipedia.

A traditional Kazakh felt Yurt