Tag: Pam de Groot

Recap: A Transformative 3-Day Felting Workshop with Pam de Groot

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

By Loli Cox

Pam de Groot demonstrating fibre weight layout during the workshop.

This past weekend, a dozen passionate felters gathered for an unforgettable three-day workshop led by internationally renowned artist Pam de Groot, who travelled from Australia to share her expertise. Hosted by Feltmakers Ireland, the workshop welcomed participants primarily from Ireland, with one dedicated felter joining us from Germany. The event, held at the Bayside Community Centre, was a vibrant exploration of felting techniques, creativity, and community, leaving everyone inspired and equipped with new skills to craft unique, wearable art.

Necklaces, earrings, and brooches created by Pam to show the various techniques the students would learn.

Pam de Groot is an Australian textile artist celebrated for her innovative approach to three-dimensional felting. With a deep passion for transforming raw fibres into intricate, wearable sculptures, Pam’s work blends traditional techniques with contemporary flair. Her creations often feature bold textures, vibrant colours, and unexpected materials, pushing the boundaries of what felt can achieve. During the workshop, her warm and engaging teaching style shone through, making complex techniques accessible and exciting for all skill levels.

Pam demonstrating. In the foreground are sample pieces of felted jewellery that she has created.
Pam demonstrating. In the foreground are sample pieces of felted jewellery that she has created.

Over the three days, Pam guided participants through a variety of felting techniques, each opening new possibilities for artistic expression.

Techniques included –

  • Shaping with Resists: Creating diverse forms, from small round resists to complex structures, using simple tools.
  • Crafting Pea Pods: Using plastic moulds to shape delicate, nature-inspired, pea pod designs.
  • Dyeing Flower Stamens: In an imaginative twist, special fishing line became a medium for vibrant, lifelike stamens to enhance floral designs.
  • Designing Closures: Participants explored decorative and functional options, experimenting with various ways to finish their pieces with intention and flair.

Pam’s teaching approach was a perfect balance of demonstration and individualised support. She began with group instruction, clearly explaining each technique, then devoted one-on-one time to help participants bring their unique visions to life. Her patience and encouragement fostered a collaborative, creative atmosphere where everyone felt empowered to experiment.

From Technique to Creation: Wearable Art Emerges

After mastering the techniques, participants delved into designing their own wearable pieces, incorporating a rich array of materials, including soft Merino wool, shimmering silk fibres, textured silk cloth, hearty Irish wool, delicate silk pods, stones, and other textiles. The diversity of materials sparked endless creativity, resulting in an inspiring collection of necklaces, brooches, and other adornments, each piece as unique as its creator.

A selection of felted jewellery created by the students.
Samples of some of the pieces created by the students during the workshop.

The workshop was a testament to the versatility of felting as an art form. From bold, sculptural designs to delicate, intricate pieces, every participant left with a creation that reflected their personal style and newfound skills.

More Samples of Students’ Work

Here are some photos of some of the students’ pieces from the workshop. If we missed your work, please email feltmakersIE@gmail.com so we can add it to the display.

Lorna Cady
Silke Koch
Silke Koch
Loli Cox
Siobhán Ryan
Siobhán Ryan
Siobhán Ryan
Mary Ivell Penco
Kelly Driscoll
Kelly Driscoll

More Than a Workshop: A Creative Community

The workshop wasn’t just about learning techniques—it was about connection. The group of felters, including members of Feltmakers Ireland and our international guest from Germany, bonded over their shared passion for textiles. The collaborative spirit, combined with Pam’s inspiring guidance, made the experience truly transformative.

Portraits of the Students

Clodagh
Dee
Deirdre
Joy
Kelly
Loli
Lorna
Mary Ivell
Sam
Sandra
Silke
Siobhan

Photos by Hélène Dooley.

Appreciation

A huge thank you to Pam de Groot for sharing her expertise and inspiring us to push the boundaries of felting. Her ability to connect with each participant and guide them through their creative journey was truly remarkable. We’re also deeply grateful to Sam Fagan for coordinating the workshop and to helpers Juliane Gorman, Hélène Dooley, and Annika Berglund for each volunteering their invaluable assistance for a day.

Conclusion

This workshop was a celebration of creativity, community, and the endless possibilities of felt. We can’t wait to see how the skills and inspiration from this experience continue to shape the work of these talented felters!

Group photo of the students and tutor Pam de Groot.
All of the students and Pam de Groot assembled on the final day. Photo by Annika Berglund.

Lastly, here’s a video of the images –

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.

Education: Pam de Groot – Fibre Jewellery Workshop – A Few Spots Available – FULLY BOOKED

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

As of the 9th of July, the workshop is FULLY BOOKED. If you want to be put on the waiting list, please email Sam – see below for her details.

Workshop Description from Pam:

“In the workshop, we will learn several skills useful for fibre jewellery making. We will make one or more pieces of felted jewellery depending on the complexity of the individual design. We will look at how to design the piece for wearing, and how to construct various closures and attachments. You can also learn how to incorporate foreign objects if necessary.”

More Information about the Tutor:

There is an interview from 2019 with Pam de Groot on our blog – https://feltmakersireland.com/2019/07/03/interview-pam-de-groot/

Pam de Groot’s website – https://pamdegroot.com/

HOW TO REGISTER

To apply for PAM de GROOT’s workshop, please email committee member Sam Fagan at samantha.d.fagan@gmail.com

Please include Pam de Groot’s name in the ‘Subject Line’ of your email.

All participants will be notified via email and provided with a payment link for secure payment using a credit or debit card.  The cost is 250 euros for members / 265 euros for non-members.

Additional Information

Supplies are not included in the workshop price. Once registered, we will email students the supply list provided by Pam.

Cancellation & Refund Policy for Workshops

If you need to cancel your place in a Feltmakers Ireland workshop, please notify the Guild by email at least 7 days before the start of the class. A €10 handling fee will be deducted from your refund.

Cancellations made less than 7 days before the workshop are not eligible for a refund. However, if you can find a replacement student to take your place AND inform the Guild within this period, you will receive a refund (minus the €10 handling fee).

Please note: In exceptional or unforeseen circumstances, the committee may consider refund requests at its discretion.

More Photos of pieces by Pam de Groot

Feltmakers Ireland is grateful to have received grant money from the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland to partially cover costs.

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.

Education: Registration Open for two in-person Wet Felting Workshops – Marjolein Dallinga and Pam de Groot – ONLY Pam’s Workshop is still open

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

NOTE: MARJOLEIN’S CLASS IS NOW FULL – as of 28th of April.

Feltmakers Ireland is thrilled to announce that we will be hosting TWO exclusive, wet felting workshops this year with renowned international tutors! We haven’t hosted an international workshop in a long time and are super excited!

Each workshop runs for three days and is limited to twelve students.

Registration is now open to non-members of Feltmakers Ireland. (Guild members have already received emails announcing the workshops.)

  • The workshop with Marjolein Dallinga is appropriate for intermediate to advanced feltmakers.
  • The workshop with Pam de Groot is appropriate for most feltmakers.

Marjolein Dallinga – Beyond resist – Sculptural felting workshop

Poster for Marjolein Dallinga 3 Day workshop - 16th-18th of May - 25 euros non-members.

Workshop Description from Marjoelin:

It is from the dance of often conflicting emotions that creativity and art are born. Though sculpture is usually perceived as static I see it more as movement, and in this workshop the movement of wool fibers into felt.

And as long as there is movement there is life and possibilities.

This 3-day workshop will deepen the consciousness about experiences learned from sculpting with wool and other fibres. We will explore different techniques for sculptural form ideas, with themes like: folding and unfolding, building relief clamping, binding, etc. All to become more aware of how and why we want to use this medium. This workshop is inspired by different ideas to make three-dimensional sculptures with conceptional, intuitive and sensual sources to create from.  We will play with the processes of shortening, thickening, tightening, shrinking, and other transformations of the felted surfaces.

All out of the experience of discovery and surprise when working with this surprising wool medium.

WHEN: Friday, the 16th through Sunday, the 18th of May, 2025, 9 AM to 5 PM

WHERE: Kilteel Hall, Kilteel Lower, Co Kildare

COST: 255 euros per person.

Pam de Groot – Fibre Jewellery

Workshop Description from Pam:

“In the workshop, we will learn several skills useful for fibre jewellery making. We will make one or more pieces of felted jewellery depending on the complexity of the individual design. We will look at how to design the piece for wearing, and how to construct various closures and attachments. You can also learn how to incorporate foreign objects if necessary.”

WHEN: Friday, the 18th through Sunday, the 20th of July 2025, 10 AM to 5 PM

WHERE: Bayside Community Centre, Bayside Square N, Sutton, Dublin, D13 X8H4

COST: 250 euros for members / 265 euros for non-members

More Information about the Tutors

Marjolein Dallinga’s website – https://www.bloomfelt.com/?lang=en

There is an interview from 2020 with Marjolein Dallinga on our blog – https://feltmakersireland.com/2020/01/30/interview-with-marjolein-darllinga/

Pam de Groot’s website – https://pamdegroot.com/

There is an interview from 2019 with Pam de Groot on our blog – https://feltmakersireland.com/2019/07/03/interview-pam-de-groot/

HOW TO REGISTER

NOTE: As of 28th of April, Marjolein’s workshop is NOW FULL.

To apply for PAM de GROOT’s workshop, please email committee member Annika Berglund at annika@annikaberglund.com

Please include the tutor’s name in the ‘Subject Line’ of your email.

All participants will be notified via email and provided with a payment link for secure payment using a credit or debit card. 

Additional Information

Supplies are not included in the workshop price. Once registered, we will email students the supply list provided by each tutor.

Cancellation & Refund Policy for Workshops

If you need to cancel your place in a workshop, please notify the Guild by email at least 7 days before the start of the class. A €10 handling fee will be deducted from your refund.

Cancellations made less than 7 days before the workshop are not eligible for a refund. However, if you are able to find a replacement student to take your place and inform the Guild within this period, you will receive a refund (minus the €10 handling fee).

Please note: In exceptional or unforeseen circumstances, the committee may consider refund requests at its discretion.

Feltmakers Ireland is very grateful to have received grant money from the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland to partially cover the costs of these two workshops.


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.

Education: Pam de Groot – Online Dyeing Workshop

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

In her online course, ‘Dyeverse Synthetic’, feltmaker and teacher Pam de Groot will cover the basics and also venture into colouring and patterning fabric for use in felting projects. Using ‘Acid Dyes’, students will learn how to print and paint. Additionally, students will learn how to use fabrics in Nunofelting applications. The course will demonstrate how to ensure samples are fixed and ready for projects. It is designed to cover as many techniques as possible while keeping costs minimal and showing how to be innovative with equipment.

The class begins on the 18th of October, 2024.

For more information, visit her website – https://pamdegroot.com/dyeverse-synthetic.html

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: Online Textile Classes from Three Tutors

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Three upcoming online textile classes may be of interest.

Gladys Paulus is again teaching her ‘Inspired by Nature: Lotus Workshop’, a three-week class covering advanced wet feltmaking techniques.

Content released: Friday 19 April 2024, Friday 26 April 2024 and Friday 03 May 2024.

For more information, visit Gladys’ website – https://www.gladyspaulus.com/online-workshop-description

Pam de Groot has two wet felting classes, which start in May.

Surface Form and Space is an eight-week class that focuses on making samples using different techniques, including undulations, large foreign objects, buttons, warts, pimples, claws, lumps, bumps, brains, and connections.

Her other class, ‘Textures and Dimensions,’ runs over three weeks. It is a sculptural project-based class where students create the “Splash,” “the Spiral,” and “the Twistie.”

For more information on her two classes, visit Pam’s website – https://pamdegroot.com/online-courses.html

Irit Dulman has a new online class on eco-printing on silk and wool. The class has 33 lessons and is self-paced. She also has two other online eco-printing classes.

For more information, visit Irit’s website – https://iritdulman.com/product/colorful-silk-and-wool/

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 - Sunday Session

Recap: Sunday Session with Annika Berglund – Part 2 – Online Education

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland4 Comments
Annika at our October Sunday Session.

Member Annika Berglund shared her felting journey at Feltmakers Ireland’s most recent Sunday Session on the 8th of October.

Online Education

As mentioned previously, Annika started her felting journey with an in-person class at the 2019 Knitting and Stitching show. However, most of her textile learning experiences have been via online study. To read about her recent experience with the Hungarian Felting Retreat, visit this previous blogpost. This is a recap of her online education. Jump to the list of online classes.

How Information is Accessed

Annika explained how online classes are ‘delivered’, with many of the best ones being held on the Ruzuku platform, where new topics or projects are introduced weekly or bi-weekly. Depending upon the instructor, these classes can contain short videos, photographs, and step-by-step written instructions. This method helps to break down information into bite-sized pieces. Other tutors share their teaching via recordings of longer Zoom sessions. Typically, these classes are private links on YouTube. The drawback of this method is that students may need to fast-forward through a video to search for needed steps within the instructions.

Depending upon the teacher, classes can be for a few hours or for several weeks.

In some of the courses, students can upload photographs of their felted assignments. Seeing the work, the teacher and the other students in the class can offer feedback. Other students’ comments were an aspect that Annika appreciated through the isolation of 2020. Annika says, “When you did a course, {it} saved my sanity”.

Additionally, being a part of the worldwide felting community was a benefit of some of the courses. Lastly, courses offer one the opportunity to play!

Pam de Groot

The first online class that Annika took was taught by Pam de Groot, an Australian feltmaker.

Pam offers two online courses. Annika greatly enjoyed ‘Surface, Form and Space’. It focuses on different types of differential shrinkage with each assignment. Pam’s other class, ‘Textures and Dimensions’, is more project-based, with multiple techniques in each project. Students create three three-dimensional sculptures: The Splash, The Spiral, and the Twistie. Annika’s Spiral project is the large white ‘seashell’ in the photograph below. While the teal-coloured, star-fish shape is from Pam’s other class.

A medley of felted objects from Annika’s two Pam de Groot classes.

In May, at the AGM, guild member Ramona Farrelly won a bursary to attend a workshop of her choice. She chose Pam’s first class. You can read about Ramona’s experience on our blog.

Fiona Duthie

The next bunch of classes that Annika took were taught by the Canadian feltmaker Fiona Duthie. Fiona’s classes are so popular that they fill up. Hence, Annika could only get a spot in the ‘Over the Edge’ class. However, this eight-week class proved to be quite useful. As Annika says, it “was actually a really good one to do, because {there are} a lot of techniques in the one course and because of all these different ways to edge work, will teach you a lot of different felting techniques that you can use in the middle as well.”

The next class that Annika took with Fiona Duthie was her ‘Raised Surfaces’ class. She found this class highly rewarding. She explained, “Once you start to attach things to the surface, you get much more lively stuff. And once you can do this, … then you can make a hat, or you can make a wall piece. So consider the techniques on their own, and then figure out how they fit with what you want to make…”

Another class that Annika took with Fiona was the ‘Fibre + Paper’ course. This class required gentle feltmaking, with students trying to coax wool through various types of fine papers, including mulberry. However, one of the benefits of working with paper is that it allows crisp mark-making. It also makes the felt stiffer so you can do more sculptural shaping. {In the past, Fiona has offered a related course where students learned how to create paper lampshades.}

Annika also took Fiona’s ‘Surface Design Online Class’, which focussed on texture on flat surfaces. Note how Annika’s careful recordkeeping on her samples.

A Free Fiona Class

If students want to experience a Fiona Duthie class before first purchasing one, there is always her free online tutorial for a ‘Vessel with a Vessel’. This tutorial inspired the guild’s ‘Basic & Beyond’ class, which Annika taught at the beginning of 2023.

Mandy Nash

In this class with Mandy Nash, students learned how to make two felted fish during a live seven-hour Zoom workshop, which is now available as a recorded class. Mandy is UK-based and currently the president of the International Feltmakers Association. In 2022, she taught an in-person felted bag workshop to the Guild.

Eva Camacho

Annika particularly enjoyed learning from tutor Eva Camacho, a US-based feltmaker who is originally from Spain. Annika shared pieces from two of Eva’s classes. In one class, students used the Korean technique of ‘Joomchi’ to make projects out of mulberry bark. Annika explained, “Basically, Korean peasants couldn’t afford fabric, so they took mulberry paper and layered it.” The results were used for clothing and purses. The process is similar to feltmaking! She also took another class with Eva where students focussed on embroidering Joomchi.

Kristy Kun

Kristy Kun is a US-based feltmaker who includes the supplies in the cost of her courses. As Kristy mails the supplies, Annika advises to keep this in mind when enrolling as there can be delays due to international mail. In these classes, Annika learned how to combine thick prefelt with thin cheesecloth fabric. She further explained the types of cheesecloth: it comes in a range of 90 to 10, with 90 being the densest. The loosest weave that she can find in Ireland is grade 50. She added that you can use cheesecloth for Nuno felting; it doesn’t need to be expensive silk fabric.

HERE is an article about the different grades of cheesecloth.

Molly Williams

Annika learned about sculpting a woollen figure around a metal armature in UK-based Molly Williams‘ class. Annika shared how the metal goes through the base, which she made from ceramics.

The Felting and Fiber Studio

The Felting and FIber Studio is an international collective of felt and fibre artists with an active blog (which frequently includes needle felting). They also have a selection of online classes.

In ‘Nuno Felting with Paper Fabric Lamination’, Annika learned how to use an acrylic medium to ‘print’ onto fabric. She was especially interested in the textures the acrylic medium created.

Gladys Paulus

Dutch-Indonesian and based in the UK, Gladys Paulus only teaches in person a few times a year, and these classes fill up quickly. Annika is on the waiting list for a class that is next year. In the meantime, she took two classes with Gladys. Her first class was ‘The Lotus’, and the second was ‘Horns’ – where students made a straight and a curved one.

Annika highly recommends Gladys, “Well, she teaches you good felting. Where you can see the difference when you haven’t quite felted it enough, and when you felted it enough, that it takes shapes.”

Other Takeaways

The Links!

Some of the above teachers sell their finished products, supplies, and online workshops via their websites. Other tutors may need to be contacted directly for further information. Some of the teachers who teach online have recorded classes that are available year-round, while others have ones with specific availability. Several of the tutors teach additional classes which are not included below. Visit the links to be inspired and learn!

Links are grouped and in the approximate order of when mentioned during Annika’s presentation.

Classes that Annika took in person as part of Felting Camp

Felting Camp – https://cornitfelt.com/cornit-filztreff-2023-live-eng/

Anikó Boros – BaribonHu – https://baribon.hu/ 

Bea Németh – https://www.facebook.com/beanemez

Gabriella Kovács – https://kovacs-gabriella.hu/about/

Márti Csille – https://www.instagram.com/marticsille/ 

Nadia Szabó – https://www.etsy.com/shop/lunavifelt/ 

Classes that Annika took online

Pam de Groot – http://pamdegroot.com/

Fiona Duthie – https://www.fionaduthie.com/

Mandy Nash – https://mandynash.co.uk/workshops/upcoming-workshops/

  • Felt Fish – a YouTube recording. Email her via her website.

Eva Camacho – https://evacamacho.com/

Kristy Kun – https://kristykun.com/

Molly Williams – https://mollywilliams.co.uk/

The Felting and Fiber Studio – https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/

Gladys Paulus – https://www.gladyspaulus.com/

Both of Gladys’ online classes can be found on one page on her website – https://www.gladyspaulus.com/online-workshops

  • Inspired by Nature – The Lotus
  • Inspired by Nature – Horns

Suggestions?

If you have experienced other online felting-related courses that you have enjoyed, let us know. We will collect this information for a future post. – feltmakersIE@gmail.com

News: Ramona Farrelly enjoys Pam de Groot’s Course

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland2 Comments

Written by Guild member Ramona Farrelly

To my great surprise and joy, I received a call a while back, to be told I had won a bursary voucher from Feltmakers Ireland to put towards any course I’d like to do in felting. (Editor’s note: Ramona won the Membership Renewal Draw, which took place at our AGM in May).

I chose Pam de Groot’s surface treatment course, ‘Surface, Form and Space’. This online course is great for learning various techniques for adding parts and creating form and texture in felt.

The course consists of 7 modules/weeks with activities from undulations, lumps and bumps, buttons and claws, as well as pimples, warts, connections and brains, all of which can be used to create new and interesting forms in your felt. I very much enjoyed the first two modules, particularly as I created four little characters that my daughter and her partner fell in love with and claimed as their own. (See image below).

One of the pieces created by Ramona Farrelly in Pam de Groot’s ‘Surface, Form and Space’ online course.

Pam is ever present with helpful and encouraging comments.  Her instructions are clear and concise. The beauty of the online course is that the parts can always be revisited if you’re unsure. 

Students ask questions and receive feedback from the tutor for the duration of the course. During the last two weeks, the students create a felted project combining the learned techniques.

The Ruzuku platform also allows student interaction via posting images and commenting. This is very useful to everyone on the course. Reading each other’s comments and gaining more knowledge this way adds to the tutor’s teaching. (More information about Pam’s classes can be found on her website).

A piece Ramona created around a hard object – a ceramic vessel that she made.

On the Feltmakers Ireland website, there is a Meet the Maker profile on Ramona and an article about her piece for Sculpture in Context 2022.

Additionally, check out Ramona Farrelly‘s amazing photographs, which can be seen on her website – https://ramonaf.exposure.co/

Education: Pam de Groot Online Class – Surface, Form and Space

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Enrollment is open for Pam de Groot’s online class, ‘Surface, Form, and Space‘. This class covers three-dimensional felting techniques. Pam says it is an intermediate to advanced course. Editors’ note: I would take this class before her other class, the project-based, ‘Textures and Dimensions’, which begins in mid-October.

Via the online learning platform Ruzuku, you will learn many skills and techniques in the eight weeks of the course. The first six weeks are based on making samples with these techniques, and the last two weeks are spent on an individual project named the “Samplodicus”. This final project will be a combination of the techniques learned previously in the course and include undulations, large foreign objects, buttons, warts, pimples, claws, lumps, bumps, brains and connections.

The class begins on the 6th of October.

For more information, visit her website – http://pamdegroot.com/surface-form-and-space.html

Online Workshops for 2021

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Dear members,

We hope you are all doing well, staying safe and finding some time for crafting. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, there is one actual benefit from the pandemic, and that is that more felting workshops than ever are offered online. This means that you can learn from artists across the world and establish contact with other makers from many different countries. The best courses are quite pricey and fill up quite fast, but if you compare with the time and cost involved in doing in-person workshops they start to seem a bit more accessible. Also, remember, all renewing members will be placed into a draw for a bursary award to the value of €200 for an online international tutor workshop this year.

In this blog I want to present a list of artists whose courses I have done, or would like to do, in case any of you are looking for workshops to do in the coming year. Learning about new techniques and being encouraged to keep making has helped me retain a modicum of sanity in the last year and I am planning to keep it up in the new year as well. If any of you know of other courses and artists not mentioned here that you would like to recommend, please send us a line.

Fiona Duthie: Fiona Is well known for excellent online workshops. They one I took last year definitely improved the quality of my finished felt. She is also very generous with help and advice and added a number of extra tutorials to the course in response to what students were interested in. Fiona is opening registration for her spring courses on January 4th.

Online Workshops – Fiona Duthie

Pam de Groot: Pam’s workshops focus on 3D felting, and allows you to explore how felt can go from 2D to 3D and the effects and structure you get by varying the thickness of wool in a felted piece. Pam has not posted dates for courses in 2021 but sign up to her newsletter if you are interested and be first in line when registration opens.

Pam de Groot – online workshops | courses

Eva Camacho-Sanchez: Eva is a Spanish artist living in the US. Her online classes are mostly 2D, incorporating, mark making, stitching and Joomchi. Joomchi is an old Korean technique where water and agitation fuse mulberry papers together to create a strong and interesting surface that can be used on its own or with felting and stitching. Eva has not yet put up dates for 2021, but join her newsletter if you are interested in her courses.

Online Classes — eva camacho

The Online Felting Studio with Ruth Lane and Teri Berry have courses that are quite a bit cheaper, but much shorter that the ones I mentioned below. Ruth Lane teaches 2D embellishments and mixed media approaches to felting and Teri Berry ‘s courses include an interesting looking concertina hat. These would be good if you wish to dip a toe into online learning.

Online Classes | feltingandfiberstudio

Mandy Nash: Based in Wales, Mandy did a few live zoom classes last year. I attended two of them (remotely) and learnt how to make two types of fabulously colourful felted fish. These are now available as a video down loads. They are quite long as they include the recording of whole day workshops. They are very reasonably priced, but require a specific wool (bergschaus) for best results. This is a very interesting wool as different colours of separate layers of wool migrate through the layers and give both vivid and subtle colour gradations when felted.

Workshops – Mandy Nash

Patti Barker: Patti has a number of shorter tutorials and workshops. They are very reasonable and for the “Demystifying felt resist “ course she did Last year she even sent you all the materials needed. She does not have any dates up yet, but her courses can be found here:

workshops | patti barker | Instructor

Molly Williams: Molly’s workshops teach how to felt human figures in 3D around a metal armature. I am signed up to begin one of her courses in January, so will keep you posted.  She has opened registration for courses beginning in March.

Online Workshops | MOLLY WILLIAMS TextileMatters

International Feltmakers CiFT: The International Feltmakers offers a course that gives a certificate in Feltmaking, CiFT.  You receive course information online and send samples for feedback to a course coordinator. There is also a facebook group were students can interact and support each other. I have not done this one, but would be curious to sign up some time in the new year. If you have experience of this course, please send some feedback or information to Committee

CiFT – Introduction – International Feltmakers Association

International feltmakers also list a number of upcoming workshops on their Events page, including feltmakers Ireland’s upcoming workshop with Gabi MacGrath.

Events Archive – International Feltmakers Association

Hoping for a brighter 2021 with lots of making opportunities!

Stay making! Stay in Touch and thanks for reading

Annika.

Reviews of Felt Courses by Annika Berglund

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland1 Comment

It seems this pandemic is just rolling on, with no real end in sight. It can be hard to stay positive at the moment, especially with the days getting darker and less scope for being outdoors. There are many ways to try to cope and to keep looking for the positive, and I wanted to share something that has been very helpful for me in all this. I live alone with my 12-year-old daughter and felt I needed something to help me stay connected and hopeful in the face of a long time with limited direct social interactions.

Feltmakers Ireland and sister organisations across the world have had to cancel workshops and meet-ups across the world due to the pandemic, the knitting and stitching show in Dublin being an example in point. All these cancellations have been hard on artists and teachers as a significant revenue stream has been cut off for them. A small spark of light in these troubled times is that the number of craft courses offered online has increased a lot, allowing access to knowledge and inspiration from a wide range of artists across the world.

I am a great fan of courses and workshops and love soaking up knowledge and inspiration from whatever artist or teacher available. I was in the fortunate position to have the time and the means to sign up to a number of online courses since the early summer, and I am certain that it has contributed in large part to keeping me relative sane through this very trying year. I know I would not have been able to attend such a range of courses if I had had to travel to each of them to participate. I also made a lot of new acquaintances and contacts by interacting digitally with the other students which has helped me stay positive and feel connected.

I have been asked to introduce you to some of these courses and give some ideas of courses coming up and where to find additional information if you are interested in taking a look for yourselves. These courses do cost money, but I personally have found them well worth the investment. With Christmas coming up you might be able to hint that they would be welcome in your Christmas stocking. If you still find that you cannot justify this expense, I hope to send out some more links to free online tutorials in the near future.

If you are interested in any courses similar to the ones I mention below, the best way to get enrolled is to go to the web page of the artist whose course you find interesting and sign up for their newsletter, or to follow them. They will then tell you when they have courses coming up and how to enrol. Fiona Duthie, (https://www.fionaduthie.com/workshops/online-felting-workshops/) for example is very popular. Her courses book up very fast and I already have a reminder in my calendar for the 4th of January when she will open registration for her 2021 courses. I just managed to get a spot on one of her courses in 2020 and hope to do more in 2021.

The first course I did took place during the summer, a course focussed on 3D felting, by the Australian artist Pam de Groot. (http://pamdegroot.com/online-courses.html )

This course helped improve the quality of my finished felt no end, and showed me many examples of how to take a 2D piece of felt and work it till it became a very different 3D object, based on shrinkage and different qualities obtained from different levels of thickness of the laid down wool. It also put me in contact with people from many different locations in the world who all shared an interest in felt and we created a small community that felt very encouraging and friendly.

Surfac... logoSurface Form and Space Mid 2020 Pam de Groot

Here are some of the samples I made during this course

After this course there was no stopping me.

I signed up for a course with an American artist called Patti Barker: Demystifying felt resists. (https://www.pattibarker.com/workshops)

This was a shorter course, and Patti sent us all the materials needed for the course. All other courses send you a list of materials that you had to get yourselves. Patti shared some skills on how to get tighter, smoother felt by finishing by rolling the felt in on itself, without the bubble wrap. I made two little vessels, one as usual and one rolling it in on itself, and I must admit the second vessel looked better (the one on the left)

These are the samples I made in this course:

Another course I participated in was a two day live zoom course with UK artist Mandy Nash, making two different kinds of fish using a wool called bergschaus:

Upcoming and Recorded Workshops

After that I joined a course led by Ruth Lane, called Nuno Felting with Paper Fabric Lamination. It added in mixed media techniques into felting which I found very interesting. I am still working on finishing samples from this course, but here is one that I am working on. I plan to add some beads and stitching. (https://permutationsinfiber.wordpress.com/about/ )

I have two other courses going on at the moment.

I managed to get a spot on one of Fiona Duthie’s 2020 courses: Felting over the Edge.

As the title implies it looks at how to do more with the edges of felt pieces. I still have 3 weeks to go to create a finished piece, but these are some of the samples I have made so far:

Recently I also started another course by Pam de Groot:

Texture and Dimension October 2020

The first part of the course teaches how to make a splash bowl. Easier said than done. These are my two first attempts:

In the 4 upcoming weeks we will be learning how to make spiral shell shapes.

I also have two more courses coming up end of this year, starting the new year, by two exciting artists:

Eva Camacho-Sanchez

Official Beyond Felting: Wool + Paper + Silk

https://evacamacho.com/online-classes

And a figurative 3D course by Molly Williams called Contemporary Dancer

https://mollywilliams.co.uk/felt-sculpture-workshops/

These courses do require a reasonable internet connection. Also, you will have to invest in materials for nearly all of them. Some of them are very specific in type of wool needed. Not all students in all the classes I have participated in have had the specified wool. Sometimes that worked fine, sometimes it made it harder to get the expected results. As I wanted to take so many different courses I had some problems with needing lots of different wools in a selection of colours. It would both be very costly and take up too much room in my house. This became obvious after the first course and I decided to only get white wool of the specified type and figure out how to dye it myself.  Some trial and error ensued, but I think I am getting the hang of it. That may be the subject of more blog entries in the new year.

Feel free to contact Feltmakers Ireland – Annika Berglund-if you have any questions about this blog entry or if there are subjects you would like us to look at or information you want to share.

Stay making! Stay in Touch and thanks for reading

Annika.