CIE Social Club Inchicore – Page 3

Reminder: Clodagh Mac Donagh’s Textile Journey -This Sunday Session

Published on Apr 11, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

Sunday Session - the 13th - Clodagh Mac Donagh - Adventures in Indigo

This Sunday, the 13th of April, longtime Feltmakers Ireland member, artist and educator, Clodagh Mac Donagh will share her travel and textile experiences with feltmaking and indigo dyeing for our Sunday Session. She has traveled to Japan to study dyeing and will bring her fantastic collection of textiles. Additionally, she will demonstrate various techniques of achieving patterns through Shibori methods.

Due to health and safety, our Sunday Session will ~not~ be a hands-on Indigo Dyeing demonstration or workshop, but Clodagh will demonstrate shibori techniques.

Please bring the following items:

10 baby wipes
10 A4 sheets of paper, preferably white/plain (These will be used for demonstration purposes)
some small rubber bands
a few short lengths of strings (different thicknesses)
a few beads or glass pebbles
a ruler
pen or pencil, and a small bag to bring items home.

Note: These items are for demonstrating purposes only, not for dyeing.

Additional Details

Where: CIE Sports Hall and Social Club, Inchicore.
When: the 13th of April, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served at this Sunday’s Session. Home-baked goods to share are always welcome! If you can, please bring a travel mug to replace disposable paper cups.

As a member perk for 2025, we no longer charge 5 euros per session. (If you still need to renew your Annual Membership for 2025, you can now pay online here – https://feltmakersireland.com/membership-application/ )

This Sunday’s Session will ~not~ have a Zoom link. We apologise for this, but we will use a projector to share some of Clodagh’s photographs of her projects and travels. There is only so much technology we can juggle during a single session.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we prefer you not to share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell. We will have a photo-filled recap on the blog in the coming week!

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.

Sunday Session: Clodagh Mac Donagh’s Textile Journey – Adventures in Indigo – 13th of April

Published on Apr 2, 2025Apr 21, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

On April 13th, longtime Feltmakers Ireland member, artist and educator, Clodagh Mac Donagh, will share her travel and textile experiences with Indigo Dyeing for our Sunday Session. She has traveled to Japan to study this subject and will bring her fantastic collection of textiles. She will also demonstrate various techniques of achieving patterns through Shibori methods.

Due to health and safety, our Sunday Session will ~not~ be a hands-on Indigo Dyeing demonstration or workshop, but Clodagh will demonstrate shibori techniques.

Please bring the following items:

10 baby wipes
10 A4 sheets of paper, preferably white/plain (These will be used for demonstration purposes)
some small rubber bands
a few short lengths of strings (different thicknesses)
a few beads or glass pebbles
a ruler
pen or pencil, and a small bag to bring them home again.

Note: these items are for demonstrating purposes only, not for dyeing.

From an Indigo / Shibori Dyeing Workshop in 2024

The photos above are from a workshop taught by Clodagh and Mel Bradley, which was held at Mel Bradley Silks, in the Millmount Craft Quarter, Drogheda, in the Spring of 2024.

Additional Details

Where: CIE Sports Hall and Social Club, Inchicore.
When: the 13th of April, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served at this Sunday’s Session. Home-baked goods to share are always welcome! If you can, please bring a travel mug to replace disposable paper cups.

As a member perk for 2025, we will no longer charge 5 euros per session. (If you still need to renew your Annual Membership for 2025, you can now pay online here – https://feltmakersireland.com/membership-application/ )

This Sunday’s Session will ~not~ have a Zoom link. We apologise for this, but we will use a projector to share some of Clodagh’s photographs of her travels. There is only so much technology we can juggle during a single session.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we prefer you not to share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell.

Here is a fun video from the workshop in Drogheda!

Students are airing the indigo-dyed fabric and having a little dance, too!

The recap of this Sunday Session is HERE – https://feltmakersireland.com/2025/04/15/recap-clodagh-mac-donagh-april-sunday-session/

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Education: Fine Felt Technical Workshop with Annika Berglund – Saturday, the 26th April

Published on Mar 24, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

FIne Felt - Wet Felting Workshop - shows black to white gradiations of flat and 3 D felting.

Fine Felting Technical Workshop

We are excited to announce our upcoming technical feltmaking workshop, ‘Fine Felt’, which will be held on SATURDAY, the 26th of April, from 10:00 AM to 4 PM.

This ‘Fine Felt’ Technical Workshop is recommended before taking our more advanced ‘Basic and Beyond: Felted Bag with Handle’ workshop on the 8th of June.

This year, we are offering a Technique Improvement Workshop aimed at beginner and intermediate wet felters. The course aims to examine “Fine Felting,” which is traditionally desired in the craft of felting.

The class is a repeat of last year’s Fine Felt Technical Workshop, but students are welcome to retake it if they wish.

The Schedule

The class is made up of two parts: A Square 2D sample and a Small 3D Vessel.

In the morning, beginner wet feltmakers will learn how to lay out wool using a flat 10-inch template and how to felt, full, and shrink. We will look at the graduation of colour and shrinkage rates.

A team of helpers will be available to anybody needing support.

During the morning session, more experienced feltmakers can focus on creating a very light, even layout using 10 grams of wool for a 10-inch square. We will look at how to get the densest, finest felt possible while working on creating a perfect square sample with a shrinkage of 30%, 40%, 50% or possibly 60%, depending on our speed of felting.

This may not be how we would do felting on an everyday basis. But, this session spent truly concentrating on careful felting should improve our overall felting work.

We will break for lunch. Please bring something to eat as we will only have 30 minutes. Tea and coffee will be provided. Bring a ‘travel mug’ to cut down on paper cup waste.

In the afternoon, we will apply our learnings from the morning to make the finest little vessel possible. We will use a different layout (spokes and wheel), laying out 10 grams of black and white wool around a 20 cm circular resist. The goal will be to create a very thin, fine vessel, that is well-felted and sturdy.

SUPPLIES

We will supply ALL wool and materials needed for the workshop.

Please bring TWO towels.

We will have spares, but if you have the following items, please bring them with you:

A bowl
A water sprinkling brauser or similar (optional as we will have spares)
Small sharp scissors
Ruler with inches AND centimetres

When

We will start at 10:00 on the dot as we have much to cover. Please try to be there a few minutes early to get settled in.

Where

CIE SPORTS HALL is in Inchicore, Dublin 08, where we usually meet.

Cost

Feltmakers Ireland is keen to promote Fine Felting, and for this reason, we are offering this all-day workshop at the low price of 30 euros for members.

If you have friends who have been wanting to join the Guild or will want to take the Basic and Beyond Workshop in June (The Felted Bag with a Handle), this Fine Felt Technical Workshop is the perfect opportunity to learn how to make Fine Felt.

Become a member of Feltmakers Ireland – https://feltmakersireland.com/membership-application/

The Members Only price will be in effect until Monday, the 14th of April.

There are only 27 spots available.

Registration

Please register BEFORE the 14th of April to reserve your spot at the lower price. After the 14th, the workshop will cost 40 euros per person (for non-members and members).

Note: Members have ALREADY received an email announcement with a Payment Link on Friday, the 21st of March, 2025.

If you have not received the email or have ~just~ joined Feltmakers Ireland and want to register, please email feltmakersie@gmail.com.

We will send you a link to pay online via credit or debit card.

This will be an in-person class, and, unfortunately, Zoom attendance will not be available.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via the above email.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Recap: Artists’ Creative Journeys for ‘Symbols of Ireland’ Exhibition

Published on Mar 13, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

On Sunday, the 9th of March, a dedicated group of twenty Feltmakers Ireland members attended our Sunday Session. Five members joined the rest of us via Zoom. We enjoyed learning about the processes and challenges of creating artwork for our exhibition, ‘Symbols of Ireland’.

The nine artists discussed techniques such as wet felting, needle felting, free-motion stitching, hand embroidery, stiffeners, and mixed media and shared their challenges.

In order of appearance –

Marie Hopkins

Guild member Marie Hopkins shared about creating her detailed cottage scene, ‘An Tigín’, which contains wet and needle felting techniques and even a bit of woodworking! She has a background in architectural model-making, which is clearly demonstrated in all the tiny details.

Marie Hopkins – March Sunday Session
Marie Hopkins- showing the wool collected from the Curragh plains in Co Kildare, and processed by friends.

Elizabeth Redding

Committee member Elizabeth Redding used Romney wool from her neighbour, Minister Pippa Hackett. Initially, she wanted to use the ‘cracked mud technique’, but then her design evolved, and she used a combination of wet felting for the base and needle felting for the details. She dyed her wool using instructions from the guild’s book ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’ instructions.

Photo of Elizabeth’s piece with a rough sketch and a version of her needlefelted cottage in the foreground.

Annika Berglund

In October, committee member Annika Berglund attended an in-person workshop with tutor Gladys Paulus. The students focussed on perfecting the wet-felting technique of their choice; Annika chose the ‘Cracked Mud Technique’. She said that previously, the “Edges {of her samples} were not nice”. Using knowledge gained in the workshop, she created a segment of pieces for her solo show, ‘Tapestry‘, at the Olivier Cornet Gallery, which was exhibited in November 2024.

In addition to showing us squares with the cracked mud technique, she shared a very finished-looking circular sample. She did not submit the completed version of this piece because it was slightly larger (by 2 centimetres) than the maximum width requirement for submissions.

Eva Salamon

Guild member Eva Salamon generously brought many sketches, partial samples, armatures, a completed sculpture, and photographs to show her process. Her piece is needle felted, with the fairy’s cloak being wet felted. It is genuinely a mixed-media artwork, which fascinated us.

She explained how she no longer needs to plan as much as did when she was still learning.

Lorna Cady

Committee member Lorna Cady had us laughing at what she didn’t finish in time to submit to the exhibition. Many of us can relate to her ‘Mislaid Plans’ for the past three years. Her current project, ‘Soft Border,’ is a piece she started while invigilating at the exhibition.

Amanda Robinson Kelly

Guild member Amanda Robinson Kelly explained that she has previously created many pieces using free-motion stitching. For this technique, she uses dissolvable backing, fabric, and thread. For her exhibition piece, she included felting and used the wool roving on hand, fortuitously in the colours of the Irish flag.

Fiona Leech

Guild member Fiona Leech amazed us with the scale of her resist, which was made from thin underfloor laminate. Her fibres encased it for her most ambitious project yet. Fiona’s vessel features six layers of wet-felted Galway carded wool from Cushendale Woollen Mills. The piece was so large that she had to rinse out the soap in the bathtub, and it took a whole week to dry!

Juliane Gorman

Committee member Juliane Gorman shared how sometimes it is necessary to change one’s design. Because she included lots of thick felt in the bottom half of her double brim, she was unable to shrink it down. So, she had to chop it off and hand-sew in millinery wire to make it work.

Juliane shows us the resist she used is the same as the one for the hat she is wearing.

Helena Mc Guinness

Guild member Helena Mc Guinness shared how she combined raw wool from Carlow with other types of wool to create her piece. She worked on her needlefelted project while she was travelling and received many curious questions!

Apologies: The photographer forgot to take photos while Helena presented her work.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Sunday Session was a celebration of creativity and a rich exchange of knowledge and inspiration. From discovering new materials and techniques to learning about hidden resources like free creative spaces in local libraries, everyone left with fresh ideas and valuable connections. Special thanks to Helena McGuinness for sharing her experience creating art in the reservable rooms of Ballyfermot Library—proof that feltmaking can flourish in the most unexpected places.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Sunday Session: This Sunday – Your Creative Journey – ‘Symbols of Ireland’

Published on Mar 7, 2025Mar 6, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

March Sunday Session - The Creative Journey behind the artwork - Symbols of Ireland. — Photo of in-process eco printing for fabric to be Nunofelted.

The previously scheduled topic for this Sunday’s Session has been changed.

Our session with Clodagh Mac Donagh will now occur during our April Sunday Session. The March Sunday Session will be devoted to our members’ behind-the-scenes experience creating artwork for the ‘Symbols of Ireland’ exhibition.

Behind the Scenes

We invite members to bring the samples, sketches or resists that led up to the creation of the exhibited pieces. We would love to hear about the creative challenges you encountered—whether it was perfecting a technique, sourcing materials, or reworking an idea.

We also warmly welcome members who could not submit a piece for the exhibition—whether due to time constraints or works that did not fit within the exhibition guidelines. Your creative journey is equally valuable, and we’d love to hear about your experiences.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to share, each member will have a limited time to present their work and reflections.

Additional Details

When: THIS Sunday, the 9th of March, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Where: CIE Sports Hall and Social Club.

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served at this Sunday’s Session. Home-baked goods to share are always welcome! If you can, please bring a travel cup or mug to decrease our use of one-time cups.

As a member perk for 2025, we no longer charge 5 euros per session.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we would prefer if you do not share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell.

We will have Zoom access to this Sunday’s Session, which will be emailed to members today, Friday, the 7th of March.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Sunday Session: The Creative Journey Behind the Art in ‘Symbols of Ireland’

Published on Mar 3, 2025Mar 3, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

The previously scheduled topic for this Sunday’s Session has been changed.

Our session with Clodagh Mac Donagh will now take place in April. Instead, we will dedicate this Sunday’s Session to our members’ behind-the-scenes experience creating the pieces for our exhibition, Symbols of Ireland.

Behind the Scenes

First Lady Sabina Higgins opened our exhibition to the public on Sunday, March 2nd, drawing admiration and enthusiasm from approximately 375 visitors. While the finished pieces showcased our members’ remarkable talents and creativity, we know each artist had their own ‘Creative Journey’ to make their piece.

This Sunday, we invite members to bring their samples, sketches or resists that helped them make their exhibited pieces. We would love to hear about the creative challenges you encountered—whether it was perfecting a technique, sourcing materials, or reworking an idea.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to share, each member will have a limited time to present their work and reflections.

Additional Details

When: Sunday, the 9th of March, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Where: CIE Sports Hall and Social Club.

As a member perk for 2025, we no longer charge 5 euros per session.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we would prefer if you do not share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell.

We will have Zoom access to this Sunday Session, which will be emailed to members on Friday, the 7th of March.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Recap: Dee Crofts’ Sunday Session

Published on Feb 12, 2025Feb 13, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

Deirdre Crofts shared her work at our recent Sunday Session

Written by Committee Member Loli Cox

Feltmakers Ireland was honoured to host Deirdre “Dee” Crofts on Sunday, the 9th of February. Dee shared her Felting and Art journey with 30 visitors and members of Feltmakers Ireland.

Dee, with some of her sculptures

Dee, a long-time member of Feltmakers and until recently on the Feltmakers Ireland Committee, is a woman with many talents. In addition to feltmaking, Dee works in ceramics, weaving, metalwork, printmaking, plaster castings, knitting and horticulture. Her focus now is on automata – creating sculptures that can move.

So Much to See

Dee brought many art pieces along with her to display and explained the process of creating each piece with passion and precision. A few ‘stand out’ pieces included a ceramic likeness of St. Brigid, which she exhibited with the Liberties Weavers; Dee incorporated felting and weaving into the work. Another was her automata piece of ‘The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly’; here, she created a wind-up toy with gears, causing the old woman to swallow the various characters named in the well-known poem. Finally, her wet felted seagulls illustrated ‘the magic’ of wool; Dee said, “It’s an amazing thing to use sheep fur to create felted art”.

Feltmakers Ireland can’t wait to see what Dee will do next!

“Try out everything because it’s fun … and you have something in the end” – one of the many encouraging words from Dee.

More Work

Ceramic Tiles made by casting from plants.

Some of Dee’s sculptures can be found at the Kildare Gallery – https://thekildaregallery.ie/product-category/sculpture/deirdre-crofts/

Additionally, she exhibits each year at the sculpture installation at Bloom in Phoenix Park- https://www.bordbiabloom.com/sculpture-in-the-park/

In previous years, she exhibited at Sculpture in Context at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin. (It is currently on hiatus but will hopefully return this year). https://sculptureincontext.ie/

Video of Dee’s Talk

Lastly, an unedited video of Deirdre Crofts’ talk with us is on our YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/@feltmakersireland

Sincere apologies in advance for the dodgy camerawork and sound. https://youtu.be/N0S3FjGK2Io

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Sunday Session: Deirdre Crofts Creative Journey this Sunday

Published on Feb 7, 2025Feb 7, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

Deirdre Crofts - Sunday Session, the 9th of February — *Photo of Deirdre Crofts at the January Sunday Session- Leiko Uchiyama’s Pine Needle Felt Workshop. (Apologies to Jane Fox and Fiona Leech, who have been cropped out of the picture).*

On Sunday, the 9th of February, Feltmakers Ireland guild member Deirdre Crofts will share her creative journey with us during our Sunday Session. In addition to feltmaking, Dee works in ceramics, weaving, and horticulture. She is particularly interested in automata – creating sculptures that can move!

On the left is *Deirdre’s piece from the ‘Building Bridges’ exhibition, 2022*, and on the right, the artist and her piece from the ‘Bountiful’ exhibition in 2023

Where: CIE Sports Hall and Social Club, Inchicore.
When: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

There is a ‘Meet the Maker’ interview with Deirdre from 2020 – https://feltmakersireland.com/2020/08/30/meet-the-maker-deirdre-crofts/

Deirdre Crofts piece from the Endangered Exhibition — Deirdre’s piece from the ‘Endangered’ exhibition in 2020

Additional Details

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served at this Sunday’s Session. Home-baked goods to share are always welcome! If you can, please bring a travel mug to replace the use of disposable paper cups.

This Sunday’s Session will have a Zoom link, and we hope to record Deirdre’s presentation. The Zoom link will be mailed to members today, Friday, the 7th of February.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we would prefer if you do not share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

Sunday Session: Creative Journey of Deirdre Crofts – the 9th of February

Published on Feb 1, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

Photo of Deirdre Crofts at the January Sunday Session- Leiko Uchiyama’s Pine Needle Felt Workshop. (Apologies to Jane Fox and Fiona Leech, who have been cropped out of the picture).

Her piece from the 2020 exhibition, ‘Endangered’

Where: CIE Sports Hall and Social Club, Inchicore.

When: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

There is a ‘Meet the Maker’ interview with Deirdre from 2020 – https://feltmakersireland.com/2020/08/30/meet-the-maker-deirdre-crofts/

Additional Details

This Sunday’s Session will have a Zoom link, and we hope to record Deirdre’s presentation. The Zoom link will be mailed to members on the Friday preceding the event.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we would prefer if you do not share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.

News: Feltmakers Ireland’s Open Day – National Heritage Week Awards – County Winner, Dublin City

Published on Jan 20, 2025Jan 16, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

On the 15th of November, Feltmakers Ireland was awarded the County Winner in the National Heritage Week Awards for the Dublin City Council local authority area. We now have a beautifully framed award to share.

Every year, the Heritage Council celebrates the work of communities and organisations that hosted National Heritage Week events, which kick off on the third weekend of August and run until the end of the following weekend. Feltmakers Ireland hosted two Open Days, where we shared the magic of wet felting with the public. One event was in Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, and the other was in Inchicore, County Dublin, at the CIE Sports Hall and Social Club, where we typically hold our monthly Sunday Sessions. In addition to sharing how wool fibres transform into felt, we displayed felted wearables and artwork created by members. A second display area had information on Irish wool, how it can be used for feltmaking, and copies of our book, ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’.

To see a photo-filled recap of our event in Dublin, visit here on our blog – https://feltmakersireland.com/2024/08/22/recap-august-craft-open-day-felted-vessels-inchicore/

A video of our Open Day can be found on our social media:

The video is also on our YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/edUGtYr94_g

Thank you to the Heritage Council for recognising feltmaking as a cultural heritage. Additionally, we want to thank the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI) for supporting our guild throughout the years.

We don’t know who kindly nominated our event for the County Dublin Award, but we are ever so appreciative! Go raibh míle maith agaibh, (which is ‘Thank you very much’ in Irish).

The Awards

In addition to County Awards, there are eight other categories:

There is a category that relates to the theme of the year. The theme of 2024 was ‘Connections, Routes and Networks’
Wild Child Event Award
Water Heritage Award
Inclusive Heritage Award
Irish Language Award
Sustainability and Climate Heritage Award
Intangible Cultural Heritage Award
Heritage Hero Award

To learn more about award categories, visit the Heritage Week website- https://www.heritageweek.ie/awards

Awards Ceremony

To watch a full video of the National Heritage Week 2024 Awards Ceremony, visit RTE’s YouTube page here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IziFzpG3ltM

To see a photo-filled recap of our other Open Day in Kilbeggan, visit here on our blog – https://feltmakersireland.com/2024/09/04/recap-feltmakers-ireland-open-day-in-kilbeggan-co-westmeath-august-craft-month/

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

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.