Sandra Coote of Crafts of Ireland was recently featured in a video by Fibreshed Ireland and the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland.
On St Patrick’s Day, Fibreshed Ireland showcased their member Sandra Coote, founder of Crafts of Ireland. Sandra is also a member of our guild, Feltmakers Ireland!
Through her brand, Sandra is an avid promoter of Irish-grown fibre and works tirelessly to rekindle Ireland’s traditional crafts. She raises native Irish rare Roscommon sheep alongside Bluefaced Leicester sheep. She washes and processes their wool to produce needle felting kits. On her farm, she also grows and processes flax to spin into thread using traditional methods.
In the fall, she purchased a flatbed needle felting machine (the first imported into Ireland) to create prefelt using wool from her farm. There is a video of her unboxing the enormous machine on her Instagram account – https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1k_DYIOsn/
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 content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
The ‘Cinematic Thread: from Screen to Craft’ exhibition highlights the talents of 17 practitioners from the Made in Wicklow platform. Working in collaboration with the Irish Costume Archive Project (ICAP), each maker has created an original piece inspired by a costume from iconic films and television series. Their creations—jewellery, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork—are displayed alongside the costumes.
Feltmakers Ireland guild member Sharon Wells has a piece in the exhibition.
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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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’s members include several who teach felting. Some teach wet felting, while others teach needle felting. We even have members who use and teach both techniques!
Below is a sampling organised by A-Z by county of upcoming felting courses taught by members in their local communities.
Co Dublin
Guild member Clodagh Mac Donagh will teach a 10-week Wet Felting evening course at Castleknock College, Dublin 15. The class starts on Monday, January 27th, 2025, and runs from 7 to 9 PM.
“Feltmaking is a therapeutic but slow craft; it takes time to obtain the skills needed to make successful Felt pieces. Weeks 1 to 5 The first weeks will introduce students to wool and its properties and qualities; each class will build on the preceding one. Students will learn a little about some of the different wool breeds and the characteristics of their particular fleeces. They will produce small jewellery elements, creating felt beads, cords or ropes and felt flowers. Week 5 will combine these elements to make a neckpiece, brooch or bracelet. Weeks 6 to 10 will see students working on a small personal project of their choice, based on the skills they have learnt.”
Guild member Belinda Reid will teach a felting workshop at her studio in Kinvara on Sunday, February 9th.
“Join us for a creative and engaging Felt Painting Workshop where you can create stunning felt art using high-quality wool. This 3-hour workshop is perfect for beginners and experienced artists alike!”
Guild member Tamzen Lundy is part of the Gather Collective at Southwells, Market Square, Kildare Town. She is hosting a Wet Felted Jewellery Workshop on Sunday, February 16th, from 2 to 4 PM.
Learn how to make a wool and silk necklace, suitable for beginners, fun and full of creativity!
It would be lovely to share an ongoing monthly series about opportunities to learn feltmaking in Ireland. If you are a member who teaches felting (wet, needle or a combination, please let us know at 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.
Feltmakers Ireland guild member Annika Berglund is one of the participants at an artists’ talk that is part of the Dublin Gallery Weekend. The talk, ‘Craft in Contemporary Art Practices’, will take place at 6:30 PM on Friday, 8 November, with the Olivier Cornet Gallery artists, who will be in conversation with the art historian Jean Ryan.
Jean Ryan will present on the ‘materiality, function, and crafts’ relationship with the body’, and the panel will discuss materiality in their practice.
This talk is part of Dublin Gallery Weekend 2024, presented by the Contemporary Art Gallery Association.
Attendees will be able to see Yanny Petters’s current show ‘Fieldwork with Mainie and Albrecht’, which ends on the 10th of November 2024.
For more information on this and other events scheduled during Dublin Gallery Weekend , visit the Contemporary Art Gallery Association‘s website – https://caga.ie/dublingalleryweekend/
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.
Clodagh Mac Donagh teaches an eight-week Wet Felting Class via Castleknock Community College. This course, aimed primarily at beginners, is a hands-on course, using just your hands, wool fibre, soap (no glue), and warm water to create decorative and practical items. Among the items that participants will produce are jewellery, purses, bags, pouches, felt flower brooches, bowls, and felt pictures to frame.
Tutor: Clodagh Mac Donagh is an art educator and feltmaker who has spent most of her life working in education, teaching and lecturing art at the 2nd and 3rd levels. She has spent the last 12 years facilitating Artmaking in the Intellectually Disabled Sector. Moreover, Clodagh is a long-time member of Feltmakers Ireland!
Note: Materials provided.
When: The class starts Monday, the 23rd of September and runs from 7 to 9 PM, for 8 weeks.
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.
Due to the extremely tight number of votes between several of the category finalists, Irish Country Magazine has extended the deadline for voting in the Irish Made Awards to 11 AM on Tuesday, the 17th of September.
Two members of Feltmakers Ireland, Karena Ryan and Sandra Coote, have been shortlisted.
Karena Ryan is in the Textiles Category, which is sponsored by Foxford.
Sandra Coote’s business, Crafts of Ireland, is in the Sustainability Category, which is sponsored by Seabody.
Please help raise the profile of feltmaking and also help our guild members by voting.
Karena is pictured on the left, and Sandra is on the right.
Karena Ryan
Sandra Coote – Crafts of Ireland
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.
Many of our Feltmakers Ireland’s members use wool to create beautiful felted creations, while some express their creativity through additional mediums. The talent within our community continues to shine, as evidenced by two of our members who recently authored articles that were successfully published.
Guild member Jane Fox went on a trip of a lifetime – a Felt and Culture Retreat in Kyrgyzstan for thirteen days. Included in her trip were eight feltmaking and textile workshops, along with cultural and natural highlights.
Over the summer, guild member Hélène Dooley had two articles published.
Her first article concerns her thought-provoking experience of using treasured textile materials to create new artworks. If you have a ‘stash’ of fibres and fabrics that you are ‘saving’, this article may inspire you! The article is published on the ‘Felting and Fiber Studio Blog’.– https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2024/08/17/rethinking-old-sayings/
This photo comes from the Felting and Fiber Studio website.
Hélène’s second article, featured on the Ashford Handicrafts’ blog, is a valuable resource for anyone interested in feltmaking. It’s a detailed, step-by-step tutorial that shares her experiences as a feltmaking tutor and guides readers through the process of creating a wet felted, Frilled Vessel. https://www.ashford.co.nz/felted-frilled-vessel/
Let’s give these two members, Jane and Hélène, a round of applause for learning, creating, and sharing their unique experiences with the world. We couldn’t be prouder of their achievements!
If you, as a member of Feltmakers Ireland, have a textile-related award, exhibition, or experience that you’re proud of and want to share, we encourage you to do so. Your unique experiences and achievements make our community so vibrant and inspiring.
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.
Leiko Uchiyama in her studio.Tamzen Lundy with one of her foxes.Karena Ryan seated amongst her art.
The Design and Craft Council of Ireland (DCCI) has an ongoing series called‘Meet the Maker’, which interviews members and asks exciting questions such as, “What do you like most about your work?”. In addition, the DCCI has another feature called ‘Sunday Spotlight’, which shares information about a member via DCCI’s social media.
Three of Feltmakers Ireland’s guild members were recently featured by the DCCI.
If you are a member of the DCCI, you can arrange for yourself to be featured in a ‘Meet the Maker’ and/or a ‘Sunday Spotlight’! Contact the DCCI for further information – communications@dcci.com
Membership at DCCI allows designers and makers to:
Benefit from all DCCI services, projects and programmes
Get their regular e-newsletter, Connect
Participate in their health, personal accident and public liability insurance schemes
Fully professional members can boost their profile by listing on their Public Directory of Craftspeople. {Editor’s note: makers who work the material of felt are often found under the ‘Textile Making’ discipline on the directory.}
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.
If you are a member of Feltmakers Ireland and have recently been featured in the press, please let us know so that we can share this news. ContactfeltmakersIE@gmail.com
Feltmakers Ireland 