Wool Batts Collected from Griffith's Mill

Griffith's Mill have made a wonderful job of washing and carding my Shetland & Whitefaced Woodland fleeces.  The customer service at this great mini-mill is second to none.  The team are really passionate about what they do and they share my enthusiasm for rare-breeds.

Ever since running a workshop at the Chestnut Centre Otter and Owl Sanctuary, I've been desperate to make an owl tea cosy.  So that was my first project for the Whitefaced Woodland and Shetland batts.  The flashes of orange are BFL curls that were dyed with onion skins at the Rowsley workshop.    

Natural Dyeing and Felting Workshop with British Wool

Setting the scene.

My display of felt landscapes.

Rosie's display of her naturally-
dyed White-faced Woodland
wool from her neighbour's
Peak district farm.

We had great fun running this weekend dyeing and felting workshop.  On day one Rosie led (in her unique style ;-)) a natural dyeing session, where she imparted much of her vast knowledge and experience.  Madder, onion skin, iris and privet dye baths were prepared and gradually the magic unfolded and we had some nice surprises.

Naturally-dyed,  

English Blue-faced Leicester

The following day we used the dyed fibres to create journal covers with resist templates.

Love this tweedy look.

And then it was time for recording the results...

We can't wait to do a follow up in the spring.  Watch this space!!

 

Felt Bunting Workshop for Hens

The hens from around the country arranged to meet in The Peak District for the weekend.  They had the great idea of  making colourful bunting to decorate their wedding venue.



Laying out the brightly coloured fibres.



Can you spot the bride to be?

Lots of laughs, tea & cake.



Stringing up assorted  flags.



Hey presto!  This string is a house-warming gift.

Thank you for asking me to run your hen workshop.  It was a blast!  I hope you had a fantastic wedding and the venue looked amazing. 

Herdwicks, Gingerbread & Crochet

On our trip to the Lake District we loved seeing the Herdwick sheep on the fells, with their distinctive grey bodies and happy white faces.  Needless to say, I was very excited to stumble across the Herdy shop in Grasmere and couldn't resist a couple of purchases.  The next stop was the tiny gingerbread shop for yummy supplies to keep us going on our walk up to the tarn.

The next day it was bucketing it down, so the perfect excuse to stay in all day (guilt free) and crochet together my woven squares to construct my wool blanket.

Really pleased with the result, especially as I'm a complete crocheting novice.  Hope you like it too :-)

Sleeping Fox off to the Framers

Handmade felt cut & design laid out.

The madder fox is complemented by a 

logwood bird and woad coloured leaves.

More foxy work :-)

I've had a few concentrated days cutting and stitching, so 'Sleeping Fox' is off to the framers on Monday.  Once in an oak frame, I think this quirky felt folk picture would be a great addition to a nursery.

Hope you like this snoozy little character.

Stitching nearly finished.

Sleeping fox close-up.

New Phase Looming

I have wanted to get back to weaving for many years and finally the opportunity has come my way.  A spinning and natural-dyeing friend has kindly given me a loom.  It's a four shaft table loom, large enough to make substantial pieces of cloth or rugs.  Although I originally learnt to weave in a conventional way with additional over sewing, I am now keen to take it in a different direction to complement my felt-making and looking forward to experimenting with rovings and perhaps some recycled fabrics.

Fox Brooch Pins

Here are my new felt fox brooches.  I finally finished them yesterday, whilst on duty at New Mills Original.  Found some time in between flurries of Derbyshire Open Arts visitors.  The felt was made from madder dyed, rare breed fleece.  This dye was traditionally used to dye huntsmen's jackets.  The beauty of using handmade felt over commercial varieties is that subtle changes in shade can be achieved over the surface.

New felt fox picture coming soon to complete the series.