Felt making Workshops Northern Rivers
with Felt Artist Suzanne McGauley
Looking for a beautiful new craft to try your hand at? Felting is a wonderful way to turn wool into luxurious textural works of Art!
Suzanne McGauley – Felt Artist from the Northern Rivers has led successful Felting Workshops over the last 10 years.
Every participant works independently on their own trestle table and can create their own individual piece. We encourage parent child teams to work together on one project as well. it’s a good opportunity for friends spend a day working creatively in a friendly environment.
BEGINNERS Flat Felting Workshop
LIMITED PLACES TO SECURE SOCIAL DISTANCES
Bookings suzannemcgauley@gmail.com
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Suzanne McGauley – suzannemcgauley@gmail.com
mobile 0490190214
JOIN MY MAILING LIST for further workshops: suzannemcgauley@gmail.com
During my workshops I’m guiding the students through the whole process and they will be able to create a flat felted piece of art like a wall hanging, a table runner, a wrap, a nuno felted scarf or work 3 dimensional – making winter slippers or a felted bag.
Group bookings available.
Child – parent teams are welcome!
For inquiries & bookings go to contact – or email Suzanne : suzannemcgauley@gmail.com
or ph. 0266243227 / 0490190214
https://www.facebook.com/Felting-Workshops-Northern-Rivers-790095411045520/
Introduction to Felt making – workshops
will be announced
Learn the fascinating art of felt making and create your own stunning piece of felt art!
This is what is typically taught in a Felt Making Workshop:
In the process of felt making, wool fibres shrink and come together to form a dense mat when subjected to heat, friction and a change of alkalinity – hot water, soap and a lot of rubbing and rolling! At a microscopic level, tiny scales on the surfaces of the individual fibers become tangled and locked together.
This Felt Making Workshops are designed to introduce the basic techniques used to make felt where students will be able to create a flat felted piece like a wall hanging, a table runner, a wrap or a nuno felted scarf. There is also the opportunity to work three dimensional to produce felted slippers, a tea cosy or a hot water bottle cover.
These workshops will be an opportunity to explore colour combinations, surface design and embellishments that can be incorporated into the felt without sewing.
The first part of the day will be used to design and lay out the coloured wool and to embellish the surface of the wool. In the afternoon the actual felting process will take place, wetting and rolling the wool. Materials will include Merino wool tops in a wide range of colours, hand spun wool, tussah, silk, mohair, and exotic threads and fibers.
NUNO Felting
“Nuno” is simply the Japanese word for “fabric.” “Nuno-felt” is the incorporation of knit or woven fabric into the structure of wool felt by wet felting. As the wool shrinks up it buckles and bubbles the fibers and fabrics that don’t shrink, yielding some pretty wonderful textures.
Creative freedom – the art of felting
The ancient craft of felting has been practiced by many cultures around the world and has its share of legends that date back to biblical times. One tale has Moses filling holes in the arc with sheep wool, which, when mixed with sea water and matted, made the boat watertight. Another tale dates back almost as far; a monk on a pilgrimage in colder climes fills his leaking shoes with pieces of discarded fleece, which when mixed with the monks sweat and the friction of walking, created the perfect pair of warm and waterproof insoles for his thin, worn shoes. Whatever the truth, felting has been around for a very long time, with most academic accounts quoting the first century AD. The Mongolians still use it to construct their yurts (nomadic tent-like homes), which are incidentally impervious to rain, snow and wind – pretty handy if you live in Mongolia! Many nomadic tribes from the Gobi desert to Central Asia have an ancient history of felting, living on the wealth of their herds of sheep, camels or goats.
Felt is a non-woven textile and is made by placing clean carded natural wool fibers in the shape or mass desired, then matting, beating, condensing, heating & pressing & fulling them to the required thickness. While some types of felt are very soft, felt can be tough enough to form construction material and may be hard enough to turn on a lathe or soft enough to be sewn. It can be of any colour & made into any shape or size, it does not ravel or fray and is water repellent.
One of the great things about making felt is that it requires no fancy or expensive equipment. The most valuable and hard-working component in the process will be yourself, so prepare yourself for the day of attending a feltmaking workshop being well rested and nourished, ready for a day of creative and physical activity. The transformation of wool into felt is magical and great fun to do. Anyone can make felt!
Using Australian merino wool you will be able to make a long flat piece of felt using techniques such as nuno or flat felting and how to add other materials such as knitting yarns, silks and materials to give effect.
Suzanne McGauley Art 