Tag: Felting Community

Recap - Sunday Session

Sunday Session Recap: Felting Alongside Friends – A Creative Sunday Gathering

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
A group of people engaged in a workshop or activity around a table, with various bags and items on the table, featuring a mix of ages and clothing styles.


By Adrienne Dempsey

On Sunday, the 12th April, a small but dedicated group of Feltmakers Ireland members came together for a truly enjoyable session of wet and needle felting. The day was filled with creativity, shared techniques, lively conversation, and plenty of inspiration. It was also especially lovely to welcome two new members into the group.

The morning unfolded in a vibrant display of colour and texture, with members working on a variety of beautiful pieces. Creations included felted hearts, bowls, bags, jewellery, and intricate 3D needle-felted animals. There was also great interest in embellished work using Angelina fibres, which added a distinctive sparkle to many projects.

A sincere thank you goes to Margaret Ryan Collins, Christine Bond, and Sandra Chase for demonstrating wet felting techniques and sharing their expertise with the group. Adrienne Dempsey and Sam Fagan also demonstrated printing and embossing with fusible Angelina fibres, showing how these can be used to add decorative, eye-catching elements to felted pieces.

Throughout the session, members collaborated and supported one another. Highlights included beautifully crafted wet-felted bowls and hearts, embellished brooches, works-in-progress such as felted bags, and charming needle-felted creations like a delicate bunny. It was wonderful to see both finished pieces and projects still evolving.

We rounded off the session in the best possible way—with tea, coffee, great conversation, and delicious hot cross buns. A special thanks to Lorna for providing this lovely treat. Thank you to everyone who contributed their time, skills, and enthusiasm. It was a warm, inspiring, and thoroughly enjoyable creative morning shared among friends.

Here are photographs from our session:

Two women engaged in a crafting activity, working with materials on a table. The image includes four smaller pictures showcasing their finished craft pieces against a red background.

Sam Fagan (left) and Adrienne Dempsey (right) demonstrate working with Angelina Fibres.

Two women engaged in crafting activities at a table, using colourful wool and tools, in a creative workshop setting.

Christine Bond (left) and Mary Lee (right) wet felting together.

A handmade turquoise felt heart with a central decorative pattern in shades of red and pink.

Mary completed a wet-felted heart and embellished it with Angelina Fibres.

A handmade felted bowl with a green and blue interior on the left, and a multi-coloured abstract design on the right.

Christine completed a wet-felted bowl, front and back.

A round textile art piece with a central dark pattern surrounded by a gradient of light blue and grey fibres.
A close-up of a round, blue felted wool item with a textured centre, featuring metallic threads for added sparkle.

 Adrienne Dempsey shared her needle-felted, embellished Angelina Fibre brooches.

An elderly woman with short white hair wearing glasses, focused on crafting with yarn, seated at a table in a workshop setting. She is dressed in a green coat and scarf, with a partially finished green and black bag in front of her, surrounded by various crafting supplies and materials.

Hilary Osman is working on her unfinished projects, adding a button closure to her felted bag.

A rectangular piece of felted wool in shades of blue, red, and hints of turquoise, featuring a textured surface.

Sandra Chase shared her wet-felted bag; it is a work in progress.

A woman with glasses smiles while holding a bright orange heart-shaped felted item, surrounded by various handmade felt animals including a hedgehog, fox, owl, and panda, showcased in a collage format.

Lauren Kirwan completed a wet-felted heart and shared a beautiful display of needle-felted pieces.

An elderly woman in a red jacket holds a handmade felt rabbit while smiling at the camera.

Mairéad de Burca shared a lovely needle-felted bunny.

Two women engaged in a creative crafting session, working on a table with various materials including colourful fibres and tools.

Margaret Ryan Collins (left) and Pat Duggan (right) wet-felting together.

A decorative round object with a textured surface, featuring a mix of deep orange and blue colours. It has a small, orange top resembling a balloon.

Pat completed a colourful wet-felted bowl.

Two women engaged in a crafting activity, one slicing a piece of material while the other observes. The setting is a well-lit indoor space with tables and decorations in the background.

Sandra (left) and Laura (right) wet-felting together.

Book cover titled 'The Complete Photo Guide to Felting' by Ruth Lane, featuring colourful felted materials and key highlights about felting techniques and tips.

Great book shared at the session, “The Complete Photo Guide to Felting” by Ruth Lane.

A handwritten note explaining the history of hot cross buns, detailing their ingredients, traditional consumption on Good Friday, and modern-day availability in supermarkets.

Lorna Cady’s ongoing series: Buns (or biscuits or cakes) with History!

May Session

Our May Session will be our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday, the 10th of May, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. There will be the usual business of the AGM, plus a special guest speaker, Zoë Daly of the Wicklow County-based company Ériu. There will be the annual drawing for a Bursary of 250 euros for a member to use for a textile-related workshop. Of course, we will enjoy tea and coffee, and member-supplied tasty treats.

We hope to see you there!

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Update: Felt & Fabric Design Transfer Workshop POSTPONED – Members Welcome to Come to Felt Alongside Friends instead

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Promotional image for a felt and fabric design transfer workshop. It features a round, cream-coloured felt bowl with an embroidered bee design on the front. The top text includes details about the workshop, highlighting a postponement due to fuel issues and an invitation for participants to bring their own projects.

UPDATE:

Due to the Fuel Situation, we will reschedule the Image Transfer Workshop to a later date so that members affected by fuel rationing can attend. Details to be provided later.

Felt Along Session

HOWEVER, members are VERY welcome to come this Sunday for an informal felt-along session.

If you have any WIP (works in progress), incomplete textile projects or wish to Felt Alongside Friends, this Sunday’s Session is the opportunity to do so.

Please bring your wet and/or needle felting kits to this session, along with your fibre.

The usual tea and coffee will be provided.

The Details:

When: Sunday, the 12th of April, 2026, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.

Where: CIE Sports Hall, Library Square, Inchicore, Kilmainham, Dublin, D8

Additional Information:

If you can, please bring a home-baked good to share and a travel mug (so we can reduce our use of disposable cups).

And, as this is the season of coughs and sneezes, please refrain from coming if you feel unwell.

NO Zoom Access to this Sunday Session:

Unfortunately, we will NOT be able to provide Zoom access for this Sunday’s session, as our tech support (Juliane) cannot attend. Thank you for your understanding.


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.

Of Interest: Celebrate Feltuary 2026 – North East Feltmakers Guild

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
A promotional image for the Feltuary 2026 event by the NorthEast Feltmakers Guild, featuring a rural landscape with sheep, trees, and a barn. It includes a list of creative prompts for each day of February to inspire participants on Instagram.

The North East Feltmakers Guild (NEFG) is hosting its third year of FELTuary.

FELTUARY is a unique way to showcase felters’ work on social media. A prompt is provided each day in the month of February. Participants may be as literal or as abstract as they would like, and they do not need to post every day.

To take part, you do not need to be a member of NEFG, a US-based felting group. All are welcome.

Post your work each day according to the prompt. You can tag @northeastfeltmakersguild in your post and also use the hashtags #northeastfeltmakersguild or #Feltuary2026 to bring it to the attention of those following.

The first prompt on the 1st of February is the following: ‘Stitching and Wool’

NEFG’s website – https://www.nefguild.org/

Their Instagram – @northeastfeltmakersguild

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.

Education: IFA’s Quintet of Online Felting Courses – January 2026

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The International Feltmakers Association (IFA) online courses for wet feltmaking are currently open for enrollment. There are five different courses, and each covers a specific area of interest to felters:

The January-February Coursework access begins on the 2nd of January, 20206 and ends on the 28th of February, 2026. The courses run three times a year with a period of access to the online material. The other two slots are scheduled in May/June and October/November.

The workshops are delivered step-by-step, on-screen, and as downloadable or printable PDFs through the Ruzuku platform. Students work at their own pace and can use the online group forum to ask the course mentor any questions. Students can also share their work through peer feedback and discussions.

Fibre packs can be ordered if needed.

Feltmakers Ireland guild member Hélène Dooley is one of the mentors with the IFA Discovering Feltmaking Courses. She masterfully guided us through the ‘Cracked Earth’ and ‘Geode’ techniques during our April 2023 Sunday Session!

For more information and to register, visit the IFA’s website – https://www.feltmakers.com/discovering-feltmaking-course/

The IFA also has a branch for all of Ireland – Region 14. To join, visit here – https://www.feltmakers.com/join-the-international-feltmakers-association/

These online courses are open to both IFA members and non-members, and would make a perfect gift for oneself!

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.

Education: IFA’s Quintet of Online Felting Courses – Now Open

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The International Feltmakers Association (IFA) online courses for wet feltmaking are currently open for enrollment. There are five different courses, and each covers a specific area of interest to felters:

The October-November Coursework access begins on the 1st of October and ends on the 30th of November, 2025. The courses run three times a year with a period of access to the online material. The other two slots are scheduled in January/February and May/June.

The workshops are delivered step-by-step, on screen and as a downloadable or printable PDF through the Ruzuku platform. Students work at their own pace and can use the online group forum to ask the course mentor any questions they may have. Students can also share their work through peer feedback and discussions.

Fibre packs can be ordered if needed.

Feltmakers Ireland guild member Hélène Dooley is one of the mentors with the IFA Discovering Feltmaking Courses. She masterfully guided us through the ‘Cracked Earth’ and ‘Geode’ techniques during our April 2023 Sunday Session!

For more information and to register, visit the IFA’s website – https://www.feltmakers.com/discovering-feltmaking-course/

The IFA has a branch for all of Ireland – Region 14. To join, visit here – https://www.feltmakers.com/join-the-international-feltmakers-association/

The online courses are open to IFA members and non-members.

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.

Of Interest: 4 Articles from the Felting and Fiber Studio

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Four recent blog posts from the Felting and Fiber Studio may be of interest to readers:

The first one is by Feltmakers Ireland member Hélène Dooley, who has written an article about her experiments with natural dyeing, using tea, pine cones, and the roots and bark of a plum tree. Of special interest is her experiment with felting WITHOUT soap! Instead, she used vinegar.

To learn more, visit her blog post at the Felting and Fiber Studio – https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2025/06/19/experimenting-with-household-garden-stuff-and-fibre/

As it is sunny outside in Ireland (today), it may be a good time for wool washing. Or not. If you are wondering how to wash MORE wool, TWO blog posts from the Felting and Fiber Studio may be of interest. Canadian feltmaker, Jan, explores creative ways to use agricultural equipment for washing larger volumes of wool fleece.

To learn more, visit these posts – https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2025/07/05/72651/ and this one https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2025/06/25/upgrading-my-fiber-prep-system/

The fourth article, also by Jan, is relatively recent, dated August 4. It is about demonstrating needle felting and includes invaluable tips on how to engage in conversations with the public. She even describes how, when working on 2D pictures, the application of wool can be similar to using traditional art supplies such as pastel, watercolour, or acrylic paint. You will also have a laugh, as she writes in a humorous style.

To read this post, visit here – https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2025/08/04/demoing-felting-question-how-dose-that-work/

Note: You can ‘subscribe’ to the Felting and Fiber Studio’s blog in order not to miss any posts. Just like our website, there is a sidebar with a box to enter your email address.

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Recap: Feltmakers Ireland at Bloom 2025

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Collage by Loli Cox.

On Sunday, the 1st, and Monday, the 2nd of June, 17 volunteers from Feltmakers Ireland generously shared their love of the magic of feltmaking with the public at Bord Bia Bloom, an enormous, five-day festival in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, which focuses on gardening and sustainability.

Our booth at the DCCI’s Irish Craft Village.

This year, we were in a new-to-us location within the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland‘s (DCCI) Irish Craft Village – in the special Demonstration Area – just like the Irish Woodturners’ Guild. This meant we were in a three-sided booth with more area to display and demonstrate.

After seeing helpful photos of how the Irish Patchwork Society inspiringly shared their craft on Friday, we slightly pivoted and emphasised more hands-on felting opportunities with the public. This proved immensely popular!

Young Hands Busy at Work

Several volunteers patiently guided our visitors in creating their own wet felting snakes, balls, flowers, and pictures! We probably should have counted ALL the young people who got to experience feltmaking. (Next time we will). There were a lot.

The last image of hands shows a charming Sheep Purse that one of our young visitors had made!

What Wool Can Do

Loli showed how needlefelting can be two or three-dimensional. In the foreground are fibre samples from sheep raised in Ireland from our Wool Book – ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’. We had several visitors who either grew up on farms or currently raise sheep, look for their breeds of sheep in our book! The orange-coloured wool was dyed with onion skins, while the blue and green samples were dyed with ‘acid’ dyes.

Our Volunteers

Our members donated time from their Bank Holiday Weekend to share their love of felting with the visitors at Bloom. Along with displaying their felted work, many wore felted items: earrings, brooches, necklaces, headwear, and even a jacket!

Irina and Evija
Marian showed children how to make felted snakes.
Siobhan instructing
Clodagh and Siobhan chatting with visitors
Karen wet felting a flower.
Fiona managing the wind from removing her fibres.
Denise walked amongst the crowd and talked about the Guild and Feltmaking. In the foreground is Margaret’s suitcase of fibre.
Jane demonstrated wet felting and Alison demonstrated needle felting
Ramona instructing a young person.
Margaret separating roving.
Elaine and her ‘flower factory’ of students.
Lorna demonstrated how felt can be used to create flowers and Sandra needlefelted a city landscape using a Foxford blanket. as a base.

Many thanks to our volunteers who made our event an inspiring and interactive destination to visit at Bloom: Evija, Irina, Marian, Siobhan, Clodagh, Karen, Fiona, Denise, Jane, Alison, Ramona, Margaret, Elaine, Sandra, and Lorna. Special thanks to Loli and Juliane for organising.

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.

News: Northeast Feltmakers Guild Celebrates 2nd Annual Feltuary

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The Northeast Feltmakers Guild (NEFG) invites felters worldwide to the second annual Feltuary, a global celebration where felters share their creations on Instagram and/or Facebook.

Each day in February has a woolly or felt-related prompt. You can interpret the prompt any way you desire for your post, and you need not post every day.

When sharing your posts, please include the hashtag #Feltuary2025, which you can follow to explore the work of other participants.

Check out NEFG’s Instagram account here: https://www.instagram.com/northeastfeltmakersguild/

You can also find Feltuary posts on NEFG’s Facebook using the hashtag: #feltuary2025 https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/feltuary2025.

Happy felting!


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.

Recap: August Craft Open Day Felted Vessels – Inchicore

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland2 Comments
Photograph by Guild Member Evija Mezaka

On Sunday, the 18th of August, Feltmakers Ireland hosted its first of two open days in the CIE Sports Club for August Craft Month 2024. Our second event will be this Sunday, the 25th of August, at the St James Hall in Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath. This upcoming event promises to be busy – visitors who have not pre-booked may need wait for an available tutor.

Hands on Learning

Curious students gathered around guild members and learned how to create a wet felted vessel using fine Merino wool, soapy water, a flexible resist, and their hands.

Finished Vessels

Visitors were able to work with wool and take home their completed vessels.

A Lovely Day

Photographs by Guild Member Evija Mezaka

Irish Wool

In addition to learning feltmaking, there was a carding demonstration and display of raw fibre and finished pieces made from Irish wool. Volunteers Annika Berglund and Margaret Ryan Collins chaired this table. Copies of our book, ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’, were also available.

Artwork Display

A display of wet and needle felted artworks, which included wall art, sculptures, vessels, jewellery, hats, scarves, dresses, and even an octopus, was available for viewers to admire.

With Appreciation

Many thanks to the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI) for setting up August Craft Month and helping to fund our event. With appreciation to Heritage Ireland for listing our event on their website and helping us connect with our community. Also, thanks to guild member Leiko Uchiyama for dyeing such beautifully coloured wool roving.

A huge thank you to Deirdre Crofts and Loli Cox for helping to organise the Inchicore August Craft Month open day. Lastly, the Guild appreciates all the volunteers who ensured the day ran smoothly: Adrienne, Annika, Clare, Deirdre, Elizabeth, Eva, Hilary, Juliane, Lorna, Margaret, Marie, and Sam.

A video of our Open Day can be found on Instagram and/or on Facebook.

Note: We have received some questions about the green-coloured sprinkler devices that go onto plastic drinking bottles. This item was found on AmazonUK and is often used for gardening. Not all brands of bottles fit the devices – a good opportunity to do a selective clean-up near a local school. 🙂

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.

Of Interest: Breda Fay Learns with Members of Feltmakers North

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Recently, former Feltmakers Ireland chairperson Breda Fay got together with some people in the felting community of Feltmakers North, a feltmaking organisation based in Hillsborough with around 40 members from Northern Ireland. Note: This meeting wasn’t an official Feltmakers North session.

By Breda Fay

Great day felting in Donaghadee, in Co Down, with a few members of of the Northern Ireland felting community and Mandy Nash (former chair of the International Feltmakers Association), Dympna Curran from Feltmakers North, Jane McCann, who gave us her kitchen and dining room, and three new but enthusiastic felters from Ards Peninsula.

It was my first time doing “inside out” nuno felting…. so it was a new skill and wonderful company. The weather was very changeable, but still clear enough to look over at Scotland!

Apologies: An earlier edition of this article incorrectly included Jane Fox instead of Jane McCann.

Editor’s Note: If you are a member and have taken a felting class or have other news of interest, please email feltmakersie@gmail.com

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.