Southern felting group

This group doesn't actually have a name, but the members come from various parts of Southland.  Today there were 6 of us, with a couple of others who popped in but didn't stay.  It was held at the home of Dawn Molloy from Felt 4 U, and she was demonstrating how to make felted baby booties.   Here's some photos from the day:

 Because booties are 3 dimensional, a template that acts as a resist is used.  This will be removed later. Here's one of the other ladies adding carded wool to her template.  Both sides are covered in wool so that both booties are made at once, then they're cut apart and the template is removed.

This is the wool I used for my second pair, laid out in thin layers on the template.

A completed pair.  These had a different colour on the inside.

Bex Pilley from Fanny Blott Designs was doing other stuff, including finishing off this hat.  I'm going to do a hat making class with Bex next month. Yippee!  There are still spaces if you want to come along.

 Sue showed off the fabulous and complex scarf she had made with Shona Schofield....

..while Rhonda modelled the scarf she designed herself.

Altogether a great day.  Can't wait for the next one!  Below are the 2 pairs of booties I made - the turquoise ones are slightly larger.  They've been rinsed and are now drying.

Stepping into ancient footprints

I have become excited by felt, that centuries-old material traditionally used in cold climates for dwellings, coats, boots, blankets and so on. I am seriously considering working with felt for my major project next year - in the final year of my Arts degree, we have to come up with a project that will absorb 3 of our 8 papers.  This project will be lived and breathed throughout that year.  Having discovered that I can do anything I want for this project, I'm researching felt artists to get some idea of what is being done in contemporary felt sculpture.

The above sculptures are the work of Marjolein Dallinga of Bloomfelt.com.  She is a Dutch-born artist who now lives in Canada.  She submitted a prize-winning entry in last year's World of wearable Art here in New Zealand (no photo sorry) and has worked for Cirque du Soleil.

What I love about felting, and wool of any kind, is that there is minimal processing required before use, it is organic and renewable, and nothing is wasted.  Wool takes dyes beautifully, and there's nothing I love more than myriads of colour.

Watch this space to see what happens next.  Shortly, I'm off to join a felting group for a day of hands-on creativity.  I'll take the camera.