During the last week of July, there are two feltmaking workshops with Elina Saari and Oona Jakku. The first class is focused on creating an unusual ‘button’ textured felt, while the second class is focused on felting hats. The classes are three days each and run consecutively.
For more information, visit the FeltFaction website.
Last Sunday was our second get together at Killester and what a great morning it was. Marie Dunne, a natural teacher and born entertainer wowed us with her beautiful merino and viscose cowls made using a novel Russian technique. She found it on YouTube during the lockdown.
It is not translated to English, but gives a great idea of the process anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypegN3DmkWA&t=1s
The process began with her laying out eight even horizontal strips of merino onto flat plastic (no bubble wrap was used at all!). Followed by prizing apart the viscose (dark green in photo) and laying it on top in small cut pieces.
It was a slow process to lay out with a delicate touch, though Breda and Clodagh were on hand to help speed up.
Water next. Lots of water, thoroughly wetting it and flipping over to repeat the laying out to produce a continuous circular seamless cowl.
A quick coffee break in the very capable hands of Rita and her now infamous homemade fruit cake while Marie continued to lay out the fibres.
After coffee Marie surprised us all with the shrinking technique. Just gentle shaking and flapping.That’s it. It actually felted really well. There wasn’t enough time to completely finish the cowl but we learnt enough and could be confident to try it ourselves.
To finish, Marie was fantastic to give up her time to teach and entertain us with her knowledge and stories. She even told us about the naked felting couple! Who knew!! Worth getting out of bed on a Sunday morning? Sadly there’s no photo!
We would love more of our members to come forward and join our Sunday Session team to demonstrate any aspect of felting whether advanced or not. So if you feel so inclined you can email Deirdre Crofts at decrofts@gmail.com
Or Fiona Leech at fmrleech@gmail.com
Thank you.
Time: 10:30-12:30
Place: Killester Resource centre. Howth Road, Killester, D5
Join feltmaker, Juliane Gorman, as she demonstrates how the direction of wool layout can impact the shape of three-dimensional felt.
Juliane Gorman creates colorful and whimsical hats for grownups inspired by nature, fairytales, and fine art. Each of her pieces is wet felted from Merino wool using soapy water and her hands. Her work can be found on her website, https://felthappiness.com, and in private collections in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. Recently she and her family moved to the Dundrum neighborhood of Dublin (from Pittsburgh, USA).
Hope to see you there!
basic and beyond application form 2020
It is that time of year… and some clever people have already purchased this Day course as a present for a loved one! What a lovely present that is and perfect timing, just afer Christmas on 25th of January… going away with a new hat and a new skill… perhaps even a new group of friends in feltmakers ireland and certainly a fun day out.
If you want to purchase one of the last places on this course- for a friend- contact us.
We will endevour to help you out and can provide you with all the details and a gift certificate to give to them…. be someones secret Santa- GIVE EXPERIENCES, NOT THINGS.
Xx
pplications being taken ( and filling up) for the first workshop of the year 2020. 25th January, Portmarnock. Make a hat €80 with full membership for the 2020 yer included & fibre.
A unique “MODE – Made in Monaghan Designer Showcase” will mark the end of our Very Successful 2019 Programme
This showcase extravaganza will provide an excellent opportunity for our many talented designers to display their creative collections to other women in business and a wider audience.
Monaghan Designers being showcased on the evening will include:
The event, which will be expertly hosted by Maria Macklin, House of Colour, will include a range of refreshments and we will end the evening with some excellent live musical entertainment provided by very talented Dara MacGabhann and Andy Hogg, aka “The Two Five Ones”.
Details of the event are:
Venue: Westenra Arms Hotel, The Diamond, Monaghan
Date: Wednesday, 27th November 2019
Time: 7.30pm
Admission: €15 including refreshments and entertainment
We are really looking forward to hosting this unique event which will provide our gifted designers with an excellent promotional opportunity and will provide you with an informative, enjoyable evening out – and inspiration and ideas for supporting local businesses and buying local for the festive season and in the years to come!
Please book early to avoid disappointment. We have a limited number of places available and they really will sell out very very quickly. The booking link is here. Click on it now to grab your place!
Delighted to announce the date of our “Basic and beyond” as the 25th January 2020.
A great 1 day hat making course. brilliant for beginners, but also intermediate feltmakers as a refresher course. Fibre provided and come away with your own unique hand made hat as well as a host of newly learned skills.
Application forms available and being accepted.
basic and beyond application form 2020
Report by Breda Fay- GANS rep (edited by Tamzen Lundy)
Since the beginning of April, some members from Felt makers Ireland have been working with designers from the fashion world on a collaborative project linking craft persons and designers.
Today – August 29th– was the culmination of our work, when our projects were modeled as part of the CIFD Fashion Show/ Media Day. The fashion show itself was amazing and one could only be inspired by the address and commentary of Eddie Shanahan, chair of CIFD, a truly enthusiastic and inspiring speaker.
For the last few months, Carmen Garcia, Niki Collier and Breda Fay have been engaging with our partner designers from the council of Irish fashion design. We had been randomly matched to “accentuate learning and ensure innovative engagement”.
I worked with Michelle Kearns, a milliner from Tuam.
Michelle and I shared stories of our likes and dislikes, dreams and history to come up with a theme for the design. We also discussed different textures and shades of felt. Samples and photographs went back and forth until we finally decided on a very fine and feathery black Merino and Silk with embellishments of cerise Tussah silk that Michelle would incorporate into a wire structure. The finished work would illustrate overcoming adversity (thick and gnarled branches) growing into more open structure with birds and blooms of hope and resilience.
In all, 15 pairs brought their projects to completion and the resulting hats, baskets, dresses, scarves, etc were amazing. The crafts of calligraphy, metal smith, lace making, felt making, basket making, crochet, textile art and embroidery were all represented.
This is the second year of the collaboration and I would urge members to watch the GANS page of the website and read the blog posts for notice of next year’s event, when we will once again advertise this opportunity. For those that managed to get along this year and became involved it was certainly and enriching and lasting experience.
See a word from Eddie in thanks below.
The below was received from the Council of Irish Fashion Designers
Ladies & Gentlemen,
On behalf of all of us in CIFD I wish to express our gratitude to you for the skill, inspiration, dedication and creativity you brought to our collaboration project.
It is not often that one of Ireland’s most eminent journalists declares an event as ‘Triumphant and emotional’ – but those were her first words at the end of our presentation on Thursday.
My colleagues and I have enjoyed the process, our respect and admiration for your skills is difficult to put into words. Design and Craft came together last week in an engaging evocation of Irish culture, proving beyond doubt that our heritage crafts can be extremely engaging in a contemporary context.
I hope you too enjoyed the project and the presentation.
I know Mary has exciting plans to give the work further exposure and I will also be seeking extra opportunities in the coming months.
We can expect some newspaper and magazine publicity in the coming weeks. In the meantime I am sending you a hi res image of your contribution by WeTranfer. I hope to have some video clips of the pieces in the next short while and will also forward those in due course.
I look forward to the possibility of working with you again in the near future.
Best regards,
Eddie
We are hosting a Felt-making hat workshop on February 23rd 2019.
This is a 1 day course suitable for beginners & as a refresher. At the end of the day you will have your own felted hat!
Please complete the application form and send payment to secure your place. Would this make a great gift? treat yourself to a creative new year and a new skill!
The cost includes your fibre for the day. Take a look at the application form for a list of common household items you will need to make felt on the day. Questions can be directed to hello@feltmakersireland.com. We accept ET transfer, cheque and Postal orders.
We would love to see you there.
February 23rd 1 day workshop- learn a new craft or update your existing skills.
Feltmakers Ireland 