With Storm Alex’s wind and rain battering my window I have succumbed to lighting a fire. I suppose that means autumn is really here and therefore Christmas won’t be far behind. (By the way, will we still feel the influence of French storms after Brexit?!)
Now, more than ever we need to escape the COVID-19 confines and get creative so please do think about a socially distanced workshop for two attendees in my riverside cottage studio. Even with ‘the weather’ outside you’ll be warm, stress free and can release your creative potential to make 3 fabulous wet-felted samplers. Who knows if and when we’ll be under total lockdown again.
Since I finished the weekly zoom sessions a couple of months ago, I’ve been organising an evening zoom session once every few weeks for ‘like-minded’ felters to catch up on what we’ve been up to and I’ve been setting challenges - involving new techniques - for us all to try out and have a bit of fun.
So far, we’ve made wall hangings using felted ‘found’ objects (such as shells), another picture using thick felt then embellished using ‘cuts’. The next challenge will be to make a felted vessel – using a resist – and then further resists and cuts on the outer surface to embellish. If that sounds like something you’d like to do, let me know and I’ll send you the meeting link. You can of course just join in for the chat without taking up the challenges!
So where will you be Christmas shopping – out and about in the High Street or on-line? It’s so difficult to know just what to do isn’t it, but supporting small businesses has never been more important than right now. I’m ‘not on the High Street’ but do have a website shop -
Fabulous Feltings Shop - where you will find many fabulous and unique gifts. All of my wraps may be used as throws when not being worn – they’re far too bea
utiful to be put back in a cupboard – drape them over your favourite piece of furniture for year-round pleasure.
My ‘Fiery red cobweb wrap’ has been likened to a Vivienne Westwood piece – with some clever sewing it would make a most stunning top for the festive season.
In addition to wraps there is a collection of curls – no piece is a felted fleece – all items are made from 1000s of individual curls felted onto the softest of merino fibres, ensuring they drape beautifully over your sofas and ready for you to cwtch (Welsh for ‘cuddle’) into.
You may have perused my ‘vintage’ pieces before, but did you know – none of these ‘patchworks’ have been sewn? All are nuno-felted – during this process wool fibres migrate through the vintage fabric and as the wool shrinks the silk and linens ‘crinkle’ giving them a ‘quilt-like’ texture. I have used vintage silks, vintage Liberty prints and even vintage table linens to create exceptional heirloom items.
Each and every felting is a one-off piece. I can’t ‘batch-make’ and you definitely won’t see them ‘on the High Street’ or any online selling platforms. If you need any further information please don’t hesitate to contact me – jane@fabulousfeltings.co.uk
Until next month, stay warm and safe.