NEW STEPS with Stitch & Thread...

During the summer shows I wanted to have some work in progress, something new that I could show visitors as well as my usual pile of samples. It's really difficult to felt in these situations as space is limited and you're constantly drying wet hands so I was looking for something else to have on the go...

Never being one to throw any piece of felt away however small, I have acquired plenty of colourful off-cuts over the years so I decided to experiment with some hand-stitching... 

Now this may sound like a confident casual remark, but my last attempts at running stitch take me back to Mrs Rigby's class when I was age seven! My stock of threads are a jumbled mess and I've never actually bought a sewing needle in my life...

BUT I just started to stitch into the felt regardless - a nice colourful off-cut about A4 size which I thought might make a book cover. The felted pattern vaguely suggested leaves, so I began by outlining shapes with running stitch. I worked out how to do a French knot, then some little stars... 

Now a convert to beading it became obvious to include some in with the 
stitching, plus some tiny buttons

I've been felting pebbles recently so the next step was to try and embroider on these 

I love the idea of working in the round, just trying out 
different stitch patterns… 

and these pebbles made perfect samplars.

This is such an exciting development and I can see endless possibilities of stitching and working into the felt that has been made so plain - up to now!!!

In the autumn programme of workshops at Oliven we have a new 'Stitch in Felt' workshop with expert embroiderer Su Douglas. This class is specifically aimed at felt makers like myself who have no real experience of hand-stitching and would like to learn some basic stitch patterns that can be used to embroider felt pictures and 3-D forms such as bags, bowls, pebbles and decorations for Christmas. All details about the new workshops dates can be found here.

Judging by the response from those who have seen these samples I think stitching into felt is a natural step forward for many. 

Now I'm looking around at some of my felt pieces wondering whether they could be embroidered and this little bowl just needed some decoration. I particularly like the way 'Feather stitch' has such an organic feel and suggests ferns, feathers and even seaweed...

So what's next? 

Embroidered slippers or maybe gloves...

SUMMER SHOWS...

After all the weeks and weeks of preparation the Open Studios weekend came and went so fast...

Shalfleet Village Hall is in a great location, tucked behind the old church, surrounded by meadow and graveyards. But it is rather remote and we weren't sure how many people would find us. We needn't have worried - lots of red bunting and banners attracted nearly 400 visitors during the three days - despite the heat! The tiny hall was buzzing...

As well as chatting to visitors we all tried to have some work in progress so we could demonstrate and explain techniques... 

Here's Wendy's delicate hand embroidery, Murray's landscapes and 

Pat's wonderful fantasy paintings, plus my felt display. 

It was extremely HOT and cold drinks under the gazebo were very popular!

Sarah managed to capture John relaxing in the shade - taking time out from his tea duties...

But it was far too HOT for some...

And then we had our exhibition at Quarr Abbey the following week. It was a great opportunity to show my new soft pots, bags and scarves at both venues, to catch up with old friends and meet lots of new people who are keen to learn all about felt making! I will be posting up the new workshop dates very soon - there will be the regular classes for beginners, plus some exciting new workshops for more experienced felt makers. 

I've been working on some ideas for combining felt & hand stitching and we're planning to develop these into workshops for the autumn, so watch this space!  

In the meantime we still have places on the August workshops at Oliven in Newport (for adults) and at West Wight Alpacas for adults & children, so check the links for more details.    

A very BIG thank you to everyone who came along to see the shows. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the summer and all this wonderful sunshine. 

Let's hope it lasts...