TOOLS - Old & New...

This week found me at Ventnor Botanic Gardens in the Echium Room taking part in the Island Feltmakers exhibition. Part of my display was this wonderful old hat form, recently given to me by a lady whose father owned a tailors shop in London in the 1930s, where this hat form was used to steam and stretch felt hats into shape. I understand it's made from tulip wood, a dense hard water-resistant wood traditionally used in the millinery trade for this very purpose….

It had been left forgotten in her garage for years and was in desperate need of some restoration. KC completely stripped it apart to rub down and clean all the parts. He managed to get the mechanism working again and treated the wood with lemon oil to bring out the grain, restoring it to this magnificent state.

There's even a size gauge on the base which has been almost worn away with use, but you can just make out the first 7¼ hat size. I'm sure 1,000s of hats have been stretched on this and hopefully more to come as I intend to use it in the hats workshops.

I've been using 'tools' of various shapes & sizes to work my felt for years and more recently in the workshops. These have been anything curved - from golf balls and plastic shapes to rolling pins ends - using the curve to help create a shape. But working with a local wood turner we've developed some hand tools that are a real pleasure to hold and work with…

Made from seasoned oak and sealed to protect the wood from the warm soap and abrasiveness of the fibres these particular designs are beautiful to look at, lovely to hold (not too heavy) and easy to grip with wet soapy hands, making them extremely practical.  When making a 3-D form like a bowl or bag, once the resist has been removed the tools can be used to rub against to produce an even curve around the sides. They've been tried & tested in the workshops and most felters find them very useful. They're now available to order so let me know if you'd like more details...

Finally, pictures of the magnificent echiums on the Terrace at Ventnor, with the enormous flowers just about to bloom...

This one had taken a bashing from the wind, but I was able to get a good 
close-up.   It was full of bees!

The weather wasn't brilliant all week but it didn't deter the visitors!

As always it's wonderful to catch up with all feltmakers, to share the enthusiasm 
that so many of us feel about this fantastic process and to be able to 
introduce it to so many who hadn't seen any felt before ...


Thank you all for coming along! 

Summer EVENTS...

It's the beginning of June and the Bank Holiday weekend. Of course, the weather forecast is terrible... Summer has arrived! We've been really busy making stock for the summer events and local galleries. In particular lots of nuno scarves, using some wonderful hand-dyed silk, layered and felted between hand-dyed merino/silk blends. 

The results are always surprising...

I used one of the scarves for the poster design for the first exhibition I'm involved with this summer. "ISLAND FELTMAKERS" is a unique celebration of textiles, felt art and design by a number of the Island's feltmakers who are exhibiting together for the first time...

It's a great opportunity for anyone interested in felt textiles to come along, meet the feltmakers and see a wide range of styles and work on display in the wonderful Echium Room at Ventnor Botanic Gardens. The exhibition runs from Monday 18th to Friday 22nd June. I hope you can make it, I shall be there each day from 10am - 4pm so it will be good to catch up.

Latest news from West Wight Alpacas... They are having their official OPEN WEEKEND celebrations on Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th July from 10 - 4pm. Michelle & Neil are inviting everyone to come and look around the farm and see the alpacas, including the new arrivals. The shop will be open and stocked with an amazing range of hand-made alpaca products. Refreshments will be available and throughout the weekend there will be demonstrations of felt making & knitting using the alpaca fibre. You will also have the chance to walk with the alpacas around the paddock, with donations going to Freshwater Lifeboats. West Wight Alpacas is at Main Road Wellow PO41 0SZ and there's more information here.

We've also got more dates arranged for felt making workshops taking place at the farm during July & August, click here for dates and details.

One of the high-lights of the summer is the Isle of Wight OPEN STUDIOS, taking place in West Wight on the 13th - 16th July. I shall be at Freshwater Parish Hall with a group of six artists exhibiting paintings, photography, ceramics, fused glass plus my felt designs, and you'll find lots more information about Open Studios here. It coincides with the Olympic Torch passing through West Wight on the Saturday, so you could combine both momentous events! We will be producing a map showing the studios of all the artists taking part, plus the torch route and I shall post details nearer the time.

I'm also taking part in an exhibition at QUARR ABBEY from the 25th - 31st July, but again more details will follow.

It's going to be a busy summer...!