The Midlands Fibre Festival 2026Another photo of the hall at the Radisson Blu Hotel
On Sunday the 11th of October 2026, five members of Feltmakers Ireland (Elizabeth, Eva, Deirdre, Elaine and myself) represented the Guild at Midlands Fibre Festival at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Athlone.
Felting Demonstrations
We had a lovely, successful day and met lots of interesting people, all of whom expressed a huge interest in wool, felt, and feltmaking. We demonstrated both wet felting and needle felting on the day. People, as is usual when we demonstrate, were fascinated by the process and asked many questions, which were expertly answered by the team.
Deirdre and EvaMary at the tableElaine and ElizabethElaine demonstratingElizabeth’s workDeirdre and EvaEva’s Work – @feltedvisionOur displayElizabeth and Dee’s work
Needle Felting Workshop
We also ran a workshop where six ladies learned to needle-felt a flower brooch in just 90 minutes. They each completed their piece and took home a brooch they made themselves.
Three people joined Feltmakers Ireland on the day, with several others expressing interest.
Thank you!
It was a great day, and we must thank Chad and Mary, the Midland Fibre Festival Organisers, and their team of volunteers, all of whom were lovely and very willing to help us in any way they could.
Next year’s Festival will be Sunday, 23 May, 2027, back in Athlone!
Exhibitor Display at the Festival
Display of some of the Midlands Fibre Festival participants – includes Mary’s tunic (on the table) made with Lena Archbold and Dee and Eva’s pieces, along with fibre from guild member Katarina Hruskova of WoolstoreIE and pink tunic from guild member Karen Bowden of Fabulous Fibres.
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The Midlands Fibre Festival is VERY soon! Want to join us?
Feltmakers Ireland is giving away two tickets, with two winners, each receiving one ticket. We will select the winners at random at 10 PM on Thursday, 8th of October 2026, and contact them via Instagram DM (direct message).
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.
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By Loli Cox, with additional reporting from Deirdre Carroll
On Saturday, the 18th of October 2025, Feltmakers Ireland took part in the Dublin Fibre Festival at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin.
Opening at 10 AM, a queue formed at the door as excited visitors waited to enter the hall. Throughout the day, a steady stream of attendees arrived eager to view the various crafts, textile materials, and fibre artists on display. According to the festival’s organiser, Mira Isan, over 750 people attended the event.
The hall at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham at IMMA provided a stunning and inspiring backdrop, brought to life by the festival’s vibrant creativity and the presence of Feltmakers Ireland at its centre. Our two tables welcomed visitors to discover the captivating art of felting.
Felting Demonstrated
Siobhan and IrinaEva, Kelly, Adrienne, and Loli
At our first table, skilled volunteers wove magic with their hands, demonstrating the arts of wet and needle felting. Using wool blended with other natural fibres, they transformed fluffy tufts into sturdy, vibrant fabric through rhythmic kneading and precise needlework. The gentle splash of water and the earthy aroma of wool filled the air, drawing onlookers into the tactile alchemy that binds fibre to form.
Irish Wool Displayed
Panel with samples of wet and needle-felted Irish-raised wool
Our second table was a tribute to Ireland’s pastoral legacy, showcasing ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’, the guild’s cherished book born from a 2021–2023 community research and wool sampling endeavour, which was led by our former treasurer Annika Berglund.
This lovingly crafted volume explores forty of the island’s sheep breeds, from the silken Cladóir to the hardy Galway, and details the wool’s textures and felting potential. It offers practical wisdom on sourcing, cleaning, and dyeing wool, alongside heartfelt stories of the shepherds who tend these flocks.
A large panel, adorned with felted wool samples, invited touch, revealing each breed’s distinct character—coarse, fine, or delightfully springy.
The festival buzzed with curious visitors, their eyes wide as they watched wool transform and their fingers itching to explore the tactile samples. Many lingered, asking about our guild’s mission to champion sustainable felting and the diverse sheep breeds grazing Ireland’s green hills. The wool samples were a revelation, turning abstract knowledge into a sensory journey as hands traced the difference between a Donegal Horn’s rugged locks and a Wicklow Cheviot’s delicate strands. Conversations flowed, stitching connections between craft, culture, and land.
Artwork Displayed
Eva and KellyAdrienne and LoliKelly’s samples and amazing tools
Nearby, Feltmakers Ireland members’ artwork sparkled: elegant scarves, cosy gloves, soft slippers, and intricate jewellery like necklaces, bracelets, brooches, and earrings. Whimsical creations also abounded—lush landscapes evoking misty hills, and three-dimensional treasures like cheeky gnomes, plump pumpkins, playful puppets, pea pods, embellished vessels, and mischievous seasonal figures of ghosts, witches, and black cats.
In Summary
The day was a triumph: Several copies of ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’ found new homes, and a handful of inspired guests joined Feltmakers Ireland as members, eager to dive into this woolly world.
Members Exhibiting
In addition to the guild’s display at the Dublin Fibre Festival, four of our members were vendors at the event: Fiona Leech of @feltathome, Juliane Gorman of @felthappiness, Sandra Reynolds of @sandystitchedup, and Christine Jordan of @roughcirclestudio
Fiona
Juliane
Sandy
Christine’s display
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the Dublin Fibre Festival for including us in this year’s event. We greatly appreciate their efforts in making a fibre festival in Ireland a reality, as well as the help offered by their volunteers throughout the day.
Lastly, a heartfelt thanks to our volunteers—Eva, Kelly, and Siobhan —for their warm enthusiasm and skilful hands, and to committee members Adrienne, Deirdre, Irina, Loli, and Lorna, for their tireless work in sharing the beauty of felting. Together, they spun a day of learning and inspiration, celebrating the timeless craft born from Ireland’s woolly heart.
Join us next time at the Dublin Fibre Festival to explore felting’s endless possibilities!
Tickets are now available for this year’s Dublin Fibre Festival, which we are excited to be a part of for its second year! Volunteers from Feltmakers Ireland will share the wonders of feltmaking at the festival.
Additionally, several members* will be showing (and vending) their creations.
Along with fellow textile guilds, the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers (@weavespindyeIE) and the Irish Guild of Embroiderers (@irish_embroiderers)
*Apologies if we missed any members who are involved in this year’s Dublin Fibre Festival.
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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.
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Questions: For questions about the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.
The second year of the Dublin Fibre Festival will be held on the 18th of October, 2025 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
Applications for vendors, exhibitors and workshop instructors are open until the 30th of April for vendors and exhibitors.
Vendors and Exhibitors
All fibre artists are welcome to vend or exhibit in the following categories:
Wool, knitting and crocheting, felting, embroidery, macrame, textiles and fabrics, weaving, and wool-related technology.
Workshop Tutors
For workshop instructors, eligible categories include the following:
Teaching fibre-related techniques, crafts, products, technology, software, small businesses, and entrepreneurship subjects.
Talking about a technique, craft, product, history, culture, technology, small businesses, entrepreneurship or anything related to the fibre industry and having a small business in the fibre/craft industries.
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 26th of September, volunteers from Feltmakers Ireland shared feltmaking with visitors to the Dublin Fibre Festival. We increased awareness of our guild, demonstrated feltmaking (wet and needlefelting), sold many copies of our book, ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’, and sold felted pieces created by some of our volunteers.
We were so busy at times that you could barely see our table!
It was a fantastic day! Many thanks to indie yarn designer Mira Isan, the Dublin Fibre Festival’s organiser, for seeing the need for a Dublin-based textile event and for her skills in pulling off this endeavour! Also, thank you to committee member Adrienne Dempsey for organising our two tables and volunteers. Additional thanks to our volunteers: From A-Z, Lorna Cady, Deirdre Carroll, Loli Cox, Sam Fagan, Irina Lampadova, and Evija Mezaka.
Our Book
Here is a photograph of Adrienne sharing ‘Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking’ with Ann Gunning of Beechwood Blues Texel Sheep – her wool is in the book!
Adrienne and Ann Gunning
Our Display
Here are some of the many photographs from the lovely experience.
All ready!
Adrienne, Loli, and Irina
Sam sharing the craic with Eva
Sam and Eva
Adrienne
Deirdre
Eva and Lorna
Loli wearing a felted neckpiece
More display
Adrienne with display
Loli with a happy customer
Loli with her needlefelted work
Our Members with Stalls
Two members of Feltmakers Ireland also participated at the Dublin Fibre Festival: Sandra King from Irish Fibre Crafters and Juliane Gorman from FeltHappiness Hats.
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.
Spinning Yarns is a one-day festival on Saturday, the 7th of September. It celebrates wool and linen and will showcase the colour, creativity and craft associated with these homespun yarns, in all their forms.
The highlights will include:
Market Place with a wide range of traders, both local and from further afield
Craft and gift stalls
Displays, workshops, and demonstrations
Every aspect of the wool and linen journey will be represented, from the woolly animals, through the various stages of production, to beautiful finished products. As well as artisans and retailers of the highest quality exhibiting and selling products, visitors will be able try their hand at textile based skills.
Set in the stunning grounds of the Mossley Mill Complex, Spinning Yarns is a ‘must do’ event for those passionate about yarn or simply seeking a great day out.
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.
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Over four days, the Festival of Wool and Cloth will offer workshops and talks on knitting, weaving, spinning, wet felting, needle felting, eco printing, craftivism, and more.
Feltmakers Ireland Guild member Sharon Wells is teaching a taster needlefelting workshop on Friday, the 5th July. Sharon will be working from photographs by local photographer Alice Dennehy.
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 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.
The Dublin Fibre Festival is thrilled to bring together fibre enthusiasts, artisans, and vendors for a weekend of creativity, inspiration, and community. With a diverse array of workshops, demonstrations, and shopping opportunities, the festival promises to be a vibrant celebration of all things fibre arts.
