The Guinness Book of Records has said that the huge knitted wool map of Ireland, created by a group of knitters at Carnew Community Care, in Co Wicklow, is the largest 3-dimensional knitted scene in the world! The map is 5 by 4 metres, took over four years and thousands of hours to make. It includes buildings and places iconic to Ireland.
There is also a short, cute video on the above website – so many cool details!
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
It’s now THAT time of year – time to renew your Feltmakers Ireland membership. Our membership is valid for a calendar year, from January to December.
Good News:
If you joined Feltmakers Ireland through the Dublin Fibre Festival in October (or later), your membership will automatically roll over and remain valid through 2026.
Why Renew? Member Benefits Include:
Monthly Sunday Sessions
Take part in our popular Sunday Sessions, featuring hands-on felting, Textile Journeys, and more opportunities to learn and connect. We now have monthly meetings in County Galway too!
Exhibitions and Shows
Members are eligible to participate in our annual exhibition and additional group shows. In 2026, we will be exhibiting at:
Phoenix Park Visitor Centre (April)
European Wool Day, Tralee (May)
A group exhibition at The Leitrim Design House later in the year
Public Demonstrations of Feltmaking
Eligible members can demonstrate feltmaking to the public. In 2025, we shared the magic of feltmaking at:
Bloom
Two August Craft Month Open Days
Tullamore Show
Dublin Fibre Festival
Fibreshed Ireland’s Textile Market
Workshops & Learning Opportunities
Members can register for Feltmakers Ireland workshops. In 2025, these included:
Two multi-day workshops with international tutors
Our annual Fine Felt Workshop
Our Basic & Beyond course
Promotion & Visibility
Have your felting classes listed on our Resources Page
Share your exhibitions, courses, and other news on our blog and social media*
Be part of our Guild’s raising the profile of Feltmaking
Community
Most importantly, membership means being part of the warm, supportive, and inspiring Feltmakers Ireland community.
*We aim to be inclusive and share all members’ news. However, due to time constraints, we may be unable to share all events. We are an all-volunteer organisation. Please send your news to feltmakersIE@gmail.com
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
Image courtesy of Mayumi Nakabayashi, created at the European Land Art Festival as part of her ArtLinks bursary in 2024.
ArtLinks partners in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford have opened submissions for the Professional and Emerging ArtLinks Bursary Awards 2026.
The Awards are designed to support artists in developing their practice by providing them with the time and resources to think, research, reflect, and critically engage with their art.
They will consider applications for assistance with any of the following areas of support:
Travel and training
Mentorship
To assist with education at the graduate level
Projects with a demonstrable benefit to practice development
Artists must be registered with ArtLinks to avail of these supports, and new artists must be registered on or before the 12th of January, 2026, to be eligible to apply.
Deadline: the 19th of January.
For more information, visit their website to locate the application for your particular county – https://linktr.ee/ArtLinks.ie
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
On Saturday, the 20th of December at noon, there will be a Wool March in Tilburg, Netherlands.
The Wool March is a growing movement that supports shepherding and the revaluing of wool by literally walking together. Each year, the organisers lead a march in which local shepherds guide their flocks—along with members of the public—to and from pasture. Past editions have been held in Tilburg, The Netherlands, and have been generously hosted by the TextielMuseum, which is an inspiring destination in itself. https://www.textielmuseum.nl/
Participants and supporters of the Wool March come from all walks of life, including farmers, felters, and fashion designers, as well as politicians, breeders, and biologists.
There will also be a Wool March to the European Parliament in September 2026. The group is selling ‘Wool Activist Kits’ that include felting instructions and raw Kempische Heideschaap fibre from sheep that graze the Dutch coastal dunes. These kits are to create a blanket to be worn (or sent) to the Brussels Wool March – https://www.woolmarch.com/wool-activist-kit
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For content-related questions, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.
This Sunday, the 7th of December, Feltmakers Ireland is hosting a special De-Stash Sale for two of our longtime members: our founder, Elizabeth Bonnar and former secretary, Clare Brophy.
There will be bagged Merino fibre, Tussah silk fibre, Silk fabrics, and more available for purchase.
Throughout the Session, Elizabeth will demonstrate feltmaking using the various fibres and fabrics available. Long-time member Clare Brophy will assist with the sales.
The sale is open to ALL. One does not need to be a member of the guild.
Please spread the word amongst your textile-loving friends!
If coming by car, turn off Grattan Crescent onto South Terrace, then right onto West Terrace, and arrive at the Square outside the Hall. It is the large building facing Library Square.
If taking public transit from the centre of Dublin, the G1, G2 and number 60 buses stop on Sarsfield Road. The stop on the route from town is 2643. Facing the stone wall, turn left and walk back approximately 16 strides from the bus stop to go through a ‘hole’ in the stone wall. Walk along Inchicore Terrace North past the houses, and you will see the CIE Hall as you come around the corner.(Do not walk forward from the bus stop towards the train underpass).
Note: The Guild will also be having our monthly Sunday Session during this time. So, please do bring your in-progress crafting projects for a fun session together!
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
This is the FOURTH in our series on members who are participating in holiday craft fairs. Have a look at our previous posts, as Parts 1, 2, and 3 have events this weekend.
Apologies if we missed your event. Please email feltmakersIE@gmail.com to be included in future Members’ Events posts.
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
A piece by guild member @tamzenlundydesigns can be spotted in the section intro:
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
This is the third in our series on members who are participating in holiday craft fairs. Have a look, as Parts 1 and 2 list events happening this weekend.
Fiona Leech, Sandra Reynolds, and other members of Sow’s Ear Collective will be vending at the Bayside Community Centre on Sunday, the 30th of November, from 10 AM to 5 PM.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
Image of Presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and owner Zoë Daly.
In the second of three programs, Nationwide explores Ireland’s wool sector – delving into its rich heritage, current challenges, and future possibilities. Today’s episode will be about Ériu, a ‘Farm to Yarn’ company, based in County Wicklow.
Presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh visits Ériu’s farm to talk about their mission to revive Ireland’s wool industry. From caring for their sheep to handcrafting every garment, Ériu creates 100% Irish wool yarn and garments, all while truly caring and supporting a community of local farmers through their Farm to Yarn network.
For more information about the company, visit their website – https://eriu.eu/
Ériu’s Traceability Page is fascinating because it shows the two types of wool that they use (Emerald Romney and Bluefaced Leicester), and the actual farmers who raise the sheep which provide the wool – https://eriu.eu/pages/traceability
Ériu will soon offer Irish-raised wool tops, dyed and natural, in addition to their yarn and knitted items. Stay tuned – we will share this exciting development with the felting community when it happens. According to our book, ‘Exploring Irish wool for Feltmaking’, both fibres are good for wet felting, and the Romney is suitable for needle felting.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
On Saturday, the 22nd of November 2025, Feltmakers Ireland had the privilege of taking part in Fibreshed Ireland‘s first Textile Market, which was part of their annual Symposium held the day before.
Fibershed is a global movement that evolved from Rebecca Burgess and Courtney White’s 2019 book,‘Fibreshed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy.’ Weaver and natural dyer Burgess developed a project focused on wearing clothing made from fibre grown, woven, and sewn within her bioregion of North Central California. In Ireland, our fibreshed encompasses the whole island. The Fibershed movement champions local, regenerative fibre systems—connecting soil, plants, animals, and humans through transparent supply chains and bioregional textile practices.
At the Textile Market, volunteers from Feltmakers Ireland set up a lively demonstration station where visitors could watch both wet felting and needle felting techniques. We talked passionately about the guild’s mission to keep traditional feltmaking skills alive, to celebrate Irish wool in all its glorious variety, and to foster creativity and community through this extraordinarily versatile material.
A special highlight was the chance to promote our beautiful book, ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’. Copies were available for sale alongside an array of handmade treasures: wet-felted vessels, pocket books and bags, bookmarks, greeting cards, whimsical wool pumpkins, and gnomes—every single piece made exclusively with Irish wool from a rainbow of native sheep breeds.
Visitors loved getting hands-on: touching fleece samples from rare and heritage breeds, feeling the different textures, and discovering how dramatically each type of wool felts. Our display of members’ artwork—landscape wall pieces, sculptures and wearable art—showed just how far this simple fibre can be pushed in skilled and imaginative hands.
A thank-you to the Fibreshed Ireland team for inviting us and for creating such a warm, inspiring event. We’re especially grateful to our own guild members, Margaret and Clodagh, who gave their time so generously and demonstrated with enthusiasm. Additionally, it was also a joy to spend the day alongside our fellow artisans who spin, naturally dye and process Irish wool with equal love and dedication. Vendors included guild members Katarina of WoolStore Ireland, who shared her beautifully processed Irish wool fibre and Juliane of FeltHappiness, who shared her sculptural hats.
Closeup of Woolstore Ireland tableJuliane at her tableFeltmakers Ireland members at the Textile Market. From left to right: Juliane, Loli, Margaret, Sam, and Katarina.
Gallery of Photos
Aga + Katja (plus, Anne O’Toole on the far right) at Sound of SpinningPetra Skyvova and friendLinda Costello offered info on business suports available to fibre creatives and farmers.Charlie of Mallon Linen, Malu Colorin -co founder of Fibreshed Ireland, and Anne O’TooleMalu and Anne O’Toole of KnitAranJessica Leonard – co founder of Fibreshed Ireland with the Soil Your Scarf displayClose up of Mallon Linen’s display
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
Feltmakers Ireland 