The craft taster day

After a nice long summer break, we returned to making last Saturday. There wasn't only one craft to try but three! 


Felt making, cross-stitching and beading with wire were all at our disposal. Once you get in the making zone, time seems to disappear rather quickly. 

That is until you stab yourself with a felting needle. I forgot the plasters, oh dear... 


Busy crafters in this picture are carding and needle - felting. The colourful results of their labour can be seen below. 

Fantastic intricate designs can be needle - felted, a great example below...

And then there was cross-stitch... 

...that I love to do on the train, or any other sort of transport, well maybe not my bicycle... We were putting some of the designs onto cover buttons too. The one in progress above ended up as a butterfly and it was taken home to complete. 

Making something on the commute to work prompted conversation about the kind of things that you can make while watching the telly, or in this case waiting for the plumber. One of the crafters got busy making so many beaded wire flowers... 

From homemade bread to handmade creations

We started our day with yummy homemade bread and delicious soup from our hostess Laine before getting stuck in to some great felt creations. There were some new members to the crafty circle today who hadn't tried needle felting before and it wasn't long before they were getting the knack. Laine started with an abstract piece, regaling the stories of her ten year old beads she was sewing onto it...now they have a new lease of life. 

It wasn't until the end when the needles started breaking! I was impressed that there wasn't much finger stabbing happening, hmmm, I make needle felting sound like an extreme sport... but with lots of cups of tea of course. The felt balls are a necklace work in progress that Alessandra will be finishing the next time round, as she was layering different colours around the balls to wet felt them again.

This picture is before the finished felt brooch is put together. They were completed in time to wear out the door. How good is that? 

Wet felting continues...

Combined needle felting and wet felting going on today... and more members both little and big. The wet 2-D stuff can get messy with lots of water all over the place, but the results are worth it. This is the start of so many things you can do with this fantastic material. 

And also lots of friction needed. This is a bamboo blind that you can pick up very cheaply and it's the best thing for rolling the felt so that it shrinks. 

And voila! the finished piece by crafter Clare...you can use this to make all sorts of things with some needle and thread, or just keep it the way it is. 


The wool that I use in the workshops is Merino 70's which is super soft and I get it from Wingham Wool Works. It needs to be carded first before it's made into felted pieces. I'll have to get a picture of this process the next time we have a felt making gathering.