FeltWEST at the Perth Royal Show – inviting all members

 

Following our successful stall at the WA Craft Show, FeltWEST will have a large stand at the Perth ROYAL SHOW. We will be showcasing AND selling hand-felted items made by our members. There will also be daily felting demonstrations, and of course it is a great opportunity to promote our group.  

The dates for the Perth Royal Show are September 22-29

ALL members of FeltWEST are invited to participate – and we hope you will! Come volunteer a few hours of your time or have your work included the FeltWEST display and Pop-Up Shop. Any type of felted artworks are welcome: think wearables, fashion accessories, 2D and 3D items of any scale. From floor rugs to jewellery, footwear, hats, lampshades, scarves and wraps, bags…and much more. The works can be functional, decorative, sculptural – anything goes! The only requirement is that works must be predominantly hand-felted (wet felting, needle felting or machine felting), and be fully finished ready for display. Here is your chance to get out all your handmade felted products that you have been hoarding and sell them before Xmas. We would like as many members as possible to share in this one off opportunity.

The fine print?  It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 (and 4)

1.There is NO limit to the number of items that can be submitted per person – the more the merrier! (ie. it is  the perfect time to clear your cupboards of finished works, and make some sales in time for Christmas…)

2. Entry fee is $25 per person – this low, flat fee covers all overheads incurred by FeltWEST in advertising, setting up and running the stand for 8 days. It also includes special sales tags, and wrapping materials for sales (bags, tissue paper), all displaying the FeltWEST logo

3. All works entered must be for sale and a 15% commission applies (This is paid by Feltwest to the Royal Agricultural Society WA)

4. All we ask in return is that you volunteer for two 6-hour shifts on the FeltWEST stand during the 8 days of the Show. Entry tickets to the Show (value $25 each) will be made available free of charge to all volunteers – and you are VERY welcome to volunteer even if you decided to not enter your work. It takes a lot of people to look after a large stand at a busy event, BUT…it will be a lot of fun! Come JOIN US.                                                                                                                                                                      

Download your Royal Show Entry Form for the FeltWEST display. The form also contains our contact information in case you have any questions. 

Regular updates will be provided at the August and September meetings and via E-newsletters. The main date for your diary is Saturday September 15 (meeting day) when all works are due (or September 18 at the very latest if you are not able to attend the meeting).

Happy Felting and Creating!

The Perth Royal Show ‘working party’ (Kerry Bertucci, Sue Eslick, Lenore Fairfield, Marion Finneran, Peta Korb, Jean McKenzie, Sara Quail, Martien van Zuilen, and Clare Wohlnick).

 

FeltWEST May 2018 Meeting

 Saturday Felting 19 May, 2018.

Mini Workshop by Dale Rollerson – silk strippings and silk rods.

Dale Rollerson of The Thread Studio ran a mini-workshop/demo of silk strippings and silk rods.

They are both waste product in the process of spinning silk.

Silk strippings –  is cocoon waste that cannot be spun. It still contains the ceracin which acts as glue when liquid and heat are applied. It can be used to make silk paper and embellished with fibres, threads, guilding flakes, colour spray and even images from sheer paper serviettes. Dale demonstrated and showed various samples of her explorations with strippings including moulding, stenciling and embossing .

 

Silk rods – the waste that is cut from the spinning rods . These can be ironed open and separated and used to created or incorporate into more complex “paper” creations .

 

 

 

Dale inspired us to experiment having shown us endless possibilities and samples.

 

There was also a sales table of some of the product that she used and is available from The Thread Studio.

 

 

 

 

Meeting

Sue Eslick chaired the meeting as Karen Wood is away.

She welcomed the new members and confirmed the forthcoming workshops for July, August and September details of which are on the Feltwest website.

Martien van Zuilen’s July 6th + 7th  workshop will be about vessels, holding form and surface design. She showed some examples of her work .

 

Martien will also be running  the Mini-workshop on 16th June titled: Tunnels and Frameworks. She showed us a few samples , being a sneek peek of this exciting technique.

 

 

 

Unfortunately the Retreat has been cancelled and all members who enrolled will be re-imbursed in full.

We are going to the Royal Show – please join us.

We have been most fortunate to have been offered a sales stand ( at no charge) at the Agricultural Show in Claremont in September 22 – 29th.  All details re planning , volunteering etc to be finalised and confirmed. A sub committee has been formed.  Please start felting as we will be able to sell felted wear, check the rule with our committee, more to come.

A number of members will be participating in the Toodyay Fibre Festival on 3 June 2018, every one is welcome to come.

Mandurah is the place to be for art and creativity. Head down there at the end of the month – mid June to the Arts and  Culture Precinct where it is all happening.

 

Toss n Tell


Liz – enjoyed the challenge of bead making at Nancy’s workshop and showed her  lovely creations,

 

 

 

Peta‘s – beautiful blues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sara – showed some of the bags and scarves that she has been tirelessly working on for her stall at the upcoming Toodyay Fibre Fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerry – showed us her sample “Spikes” for the next extension workshop on Tuesday 3 July. (sorry no picture will post on website soon)

Martien – showed her work called “Standing Tall” which consists of 5 blue felted vessels that will be on display at the exhibition – Beyond the Seam” on at a gallery in Mandurah (no pictures til  officially unveiled). Thank you Martien.

 

Pat – showed her beautifully styled turquoise machine knitted jacket.

Sue Eslick – made a cheeky blue beret. A most interesting shape.

 

 

 

 

Marie is experimenting with clay to make a washboards for the palm, which will be highly glazed to be like glass.Watch this space.

 

 

 

 

Marion show us her result from Katia’s Online workshop, her view is some part require Katia in person, but great result anyway Marion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peta’s Korb’s – needle felt Bilby’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Marion and Sara for report & photo’s.

catch you next month.

Liz

FeltWEST April 2018 Meeting

 Saturday Felting 21 April, 2018.

Mini Workshop by Nancy Ballesteros – 9 different ways to layout felt.

Nancy provided a number of charts as a visual example of the layouts, to show direction of laying.

The dots and an arrows to show the direction of laying. The denser end of the wool will be at the dot, and it will be thinning in the direction of the arrow. The next thick end will be laid approximately halfway along where the previous piece is starting to thin. This process will even it out.

 

 

 

Nancy used a paper chart with directional arrows while laying out the felt so that onlookers could see more clearly what she was doing. Obviously when doing this for a method using more than one layer, this will become obscured, so you could use a ruler as your direction guide.

Nancy used 10 grams of wool & produced a sample 40cm x 40 cm for each layout method to provide a clear comparison.

Changing your usual method of laying out can be quite challenging, as it is easy to get into a pattern of doing the same thing.

 

 

Nancy suggests splitting the wool into 8 lines length ways where it naturally divides, pulling from the middle of the length, not the end. Lay it out thinly, so that you can see through it to the bubble wrap underneath. (Australia has a reasonably mild climate, we don’t need to lay out thickly as in Canada or Russia!)

 

 

Why would we use different methods?

Different methods produce different qualities in the felt. The layout you choose will depend on what you are hoping to achieve, which is governed by what you are going to make with the felt. Does it need to drape to fit the body for example? Diagonal layouts can be really useful for draping in clothing or sculptural pieces. Methods covered were:

Horizontal:   Turn over and rotate 90 degrees between layers.

Diagonal:   If you want a really sharp edge with this method, try laying a continuous strip along the edge.

Cobweb:   Don’t pull fibres apart, keep in one piece.  Not very strong for a garment, but suitable for a scarf.

Spiral:   Good for coasters.

Radial:   Good for flowers, may not sit flat. Don’t allow the middle to get too thick.

Herringbone Chart 3:   Provides beautiful elasticity & drape

Basketweave Chart 4:   Provides beautiful stretch & drape with more stability than herringbone, with less apparent rows.

 

Running Bond Chart 6:   This avoids the “row” effect that happens with layout No 1. It will shrink more in 1 direction than the other.

Random, Chaotic :   Makes a really stable fabric, good for 3D forms. Aim for uniformity of thickness to maintain even shrinkage.

Regardless of the layout method used, Nancy suggests : If using a dryer to assist with the felting process, use it on the cold setting, wrap the felt piece in a towel, tied up, and sealed in plastic. The dryer is for friction, not heat. In order to achieve a very strong felt (in spite of fineness), allowing the wool to dry and re-wetting it and fulling it again, sometimes 2 or 3 times can be useful.

Toss N Tell

 

 

Peta showed her completed satchel from the leather workshop, and her work from Lieko’s workshop the Shell and the Cucumber layouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sue also bought along her satchel completed at the leather workshop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stacy has been doing an online workshop and has produced a number of beautiful pieces of clothing.

MINI WORKSHOP TOSS ‘N TELL, 21 ARPIL 2018

NINE WAYS TO LAY-OUT WOOL

MINI WORKSHOP/DEMO by Nancy Ballesteros

FeltWest Toss ‘n Tell day,  21 April, 10:00 -11:30 (and stay after lunch to continue felting)

Come along to FeltWest. for a mini workshop/demo by Nancy Ballesteros.  She will show you the hows and whys for nine different wool lay-outs. Bring along your felting equipment and enough wool to have a go at whatever sampling you are up for. Different lay-outs are used in felting to create various effects, learn more about these techniques to be a better and more creative felter

Mini Workshop Toss ‘n Tell 21 April 2018

NINE WAYS TO LAY-OUT WOOL

MINI WORKSHOP/DEMO by Nancy Ballesteros

FeltWest Toss ‘n Tell day,  21 April, 10:00 -11:30 (and stay after lunch to continue felting)

Come along to FeltWest. for a mini workshop/demo by Nancy Ballesteros.  She will show you the hows and whys for nine different wool lay-outs. Bring along your felting equipment and enough wool to have a go at whatever sampling you are up for. Different lay-outs are used in felting to create various effects, learn more about these techniques to be a better and more creative felter

 

Feltwest February 2018 meeting

Meeting –

Saturday the 18th of February saw the first FeltWest meeting of 2018.  Attendance was higher than expected with about 40 people pouring in to catch the first day not only of the meeting, but of the new and (hopefully improved) format.  At ten thirty the group gathered for Sue Eslick’s excellent demonstration with it’s easy to follow instructions for the making of felted sushi rolls.  The end of the demo set the hall alive with activity.  Tables were shared which created a lively social atmosphere.  Lots of persuasion was needed to drag participants from the work for the lunch break with meeting notices and T and T.

 

The news items from the meeting will be posted on the website, but special mention must be made of the opening of bookings for the Retreat at Muresk in early June.  We do need expressions of interest as soon as possible so the appropriate bookings can be made.  It’s a fairly complicated procedure; the booking that is, not the fabulous weekend, so do seriously consider coming along for a few days of unrestricted felting and a lot of fun.

Toss and Tell began with Sara Quail reporting on her dyeing workshop which was held in early February.

Fibre reactive dyeing cotton and silk with Sara Quail

The enthusiasm of the attendees was attested by the colourful results – a myriad of beautiful colour combinations on lengths of silk and cotton, using fibre reactive dyes.  Congratulations must go to Peta whose many test pieces showed a great dedication to the process.  Her gorgeous samples a credit to herself and to her demonstrator.  Peta was obviously truly inspired.

 

Martien brought along superb examples of her boots and slippers along with an intriguing nuno scarf, quite long but made from just 90 cms of fabric.  Thanks to Martien also for bringing along her wares.  We are aware that it’s lots of work, but great to have supplies available, especially when there are new members.

Marie showed some delightful and well- made sample pieces as well as a swathe of bay tree branches which she explained keep kitchen moths out of her pantry!  Lots of recipients of the branches will be trialling this way of keeping out the pesky insects at bay over the coming month.  Feedback please!

 

Jan Manning showed her very thoughtful and colourful renditions of Picasso and Magritte paintings in felt.  Hopefully we’ll see more of these in future.

 

 

 

 

 

Jill Jodrell’s menagerie of hand puppets were a delight – from her realistic kangaroo to colourful wacky creations.

There’s a future workshop there!

Marion Finneran also created a  large ‘critter’ which purposefully incorporated a multitude of techniques she acquired in an online workshop.

Sue Eslick modelled her intriguing beret as well as the messenger bag that will be made in the felt and leather workshop in April.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon was spent completing Sue’s sushi rolls with much whacking and beating (most enthusiastically by Liz Owens} as Sue explained that once a certain point is reached in the process maltreatment is necessary.

The new format was greeted with enthusiasm by all.  It seemed to give the group both inspiration and impetus.  No adverse comments were received but there were lots of suggestions for further improvement and that is great for any organisation.

Kerry Bertucci and Marion Finneran took in items for showing at the Wagin Woolorama with their usual efficiency.  We wish Kerry and Sue Eslick along with Chris and Nancy all the best for the event which we will hope to hear all about at the March meeting.

Alison Gomes manfully conducted an afternoon beginners workshop under somewhat difficult circumstances since the studio was in use by another group.  Thanks to her for quietly making it work for the seven participants who seemed well pleased with the results.

All in all, a good day.  Many thanks to those who came along and participated and especially to Sue E.   I for one am looking forward greatly to future meetings.

 

 

Feltwest October Toss N Tell – Surface Design

Sara Quail surface design felt

October 2017 Toss ‘n’ Tell

Demonstration – Surface Textures by Sara Quail 21 October 2017

Sara presented a fantastic and comprehensive demonstration, encompassing a huge variety of ideas & techniques that she has been experimenting with. I can hardly begin to represent it here…The accompanying pictures will help to tell the story.

Looking beyond conventional nuno felting with silk fabrics, Sara showed how other types of fabrics and fibres could be used to achieve surface texture. She had samples with beaded chiffon, sequinned, printed and embroidered synthetic organza, metallic mesh, hessian and recycled knitwear. As long as there are spaces through which the wool fibres can migrate, a range of synthetic yarns and even rug wool, can also be successfully felted. Wool yarns are more easily incorporated, while wool nepps don’t adhere well unless carded with a very small amount of wool fibre.

Because of their ‘holey’ structure, she has felted pieces of Cricula cocoon, skeleton leaves, crocheted items and nylon lace. Lace pieces can be laid out in lines, curves, grids or layered to create frills. Free machine embroidery worked on felt friendly fabric scraps, between 2 layers of water soluble fabric, creates another unusual effect with the stitching remaining on the surface. Generally, these items were laid out on dry wool fibre using gentle felting techniques until items are well attached.

Raising the surface a little more, she demonstrated how medium sized beads and buttons with shanks can be in incorporated without stitching. A suitable needle is threaded with a thin piece of roving and passed through the hole. With about an inch of wool either side, this is then fluffed out and felted in with the wool base.

 

 

To create thin raised lines, nylon strings with their ends protruding can be placed between 2 wool layers, and removed once the piece is very well fulled and completely dry. Inclusions of found items like string, cords and polystyrene beads between wool layers create curvy lines and little lumps under the surface. She showed us how bigger items like shisha mirrors, glass beads, buttons and small objects can also be felted between layers of wool. Near the end of felting, the top layer can be cut to reveal about 2/3 of the encapsulated object.

Sara then showed us how to create a crisp pleated effect by using thin plastic or tin foil on damp silk gauze or paj. Once the folds are created, wool fibre is placed on the fabric side and then carefully felted. The same method was used to produce a sample with multiple felted flaps. Instead of fabric, a prefelt was laid out on thin plastic, pleated, fibre placed on top and then felted. Many of her samples involve a lot more massaging at the beginning of the felting process because rolling too early is inclined to make things shift.

Using resists of narrow plastic strips or polyester ribbons, Sara revealed how a chenille effect could be achieved. The resist material is laid on the wool fibre and then covered with a lightweight fabric (silk gauze, paj or chiffon) and then felted.  The fabric channels created are cut through to produce a chenille look. Varying widths of channels, type of fabric(s) and the amount of wool used will produce different results.

Expanding on the ‘cracked earth’ technique where resist strips are laid between equal layers of wool and then cut, she showed how this principle can be used in other ways. Simple organic designs can be dramatic if contrasting colours are used and the cut edges are manipulated upwards. With additional cutting and manipulation near the end of the felting process, ‘doughnut’ shaped resists can become creative circular designs.

 

 

And lastly, Sara covered 3 distinctly different Shibori style techniques. This involves enclosing objects in a firm prefelt with either stitch or binding. Using very strong thread, more precise results can be achieved with stitching methods but are also more time consuming.

Toss ‘n’ Tell 21 October 2017

 

Sara Quail -asymmetric cape. Sara dyed this wrap a deep vibrant blue in both fibre active dye & acid dye in 2 stages, as it is made of wool, soy and cotton fibres, which respond to different types of dye. It was her first experiment with ‘deconstructed nuno’.

 

Jean McKenzie– made a beautiful white pine needle felted scarf/wrap at Leiko’s workshop. Also 2 felted seahorses as baby toys.

 

 

 

Mother and daughter felt team – A stunning needle felted picture of Tranby House in Maylands. Also displayed a blue, green, yellow pine needle felted scarf made at Leiko’s workshop and the needle felted cat “The Box Kitty”.

 

Stacey – a pine needle felted scarf produced at Leiko’s workshop. She also showed us a Felted Collar made via an online workshop with Fiona Duthie “Felting over the Edge”. (photo not shown).

     Pat – Nuno scarf in pink tones, very flattering.

Judith – a shoulder bag with a face that she made many years ago. It provides her (and others) with a good source of amusement.

 

Toss ‘n’ Tell News 21 October 2017

Chair: Marion Finneron.

Craft House, Menora.

Reminders :

  • The planning meeting is set for 28th October, which is to plan for 2018. The committee will look at suggestions noted in the suggestions book from members, among other things.
  • Saturday 18 November will be the last meeting for the year, and will be our 21st Anniversary party. There will be a celebration lunch at Craft House with members & past members. Members were asked to contact any past members if they are able, many are not on email. Members were asked to bring a plate of food to share at the lunch party. Members were invited to bring a handmade wrapped gift for the ‘Kris Kringle’ if they wish to participate. There will also be the raffle draw from the $2 tickets that members pay each meeting. In order to win the prize, the winner must be present at the party on the day. The prize is a hamper of ‘felting goodies’.
  • Craft House is open for felting in the morning from 9.30, as usual. Lunch will be at 12.00. There will be an informal Toss’n’Tell at lunchtime.
  • Members were asked to return all outstanding library books by November 18. New books have been purchased for the library. Martien has donated a copy of the ‘Felt’ magazine that she edits to the library.
  •  She advised the members that we have a committee of 7 persons, where previously there had been 10. She called for members to approach the committee if they felt able to help with tasks. There is the possibility of forming subcommittees to help with projects etc.
  • The meeting was advised that there are still places available at Martien’s upcoming ‘Jigsaw felt’ workshop.
  • Marion introduced the committee to the members:
    • Karen Wood has taken on the President’s role of Feltwest.
    • Treasurer: Christiane Gray;
    • Secretary: Marion Finneron;
    • Workshop Co-ordinator: Sue Eslick;
    • Online management: Liz Owens;
    • Committee: Sara Quail;
    • Committee: Alison Higgins

Questions raised:

Q: (Christiane) How do non-internet members find out about workshops etc?

A: A letter was mailed out earlier this year with part of the workshop program. It isn’t possible to do this for the whole year, as the workshop program is an evolving thing.

Q: Is it possible to mail hard copy of e-news out to non emailing members?

A: Suggestion from a member that each non-email member could be ‘adopted’ by an emailing member, who would undertake to send information on.

Q: (Jill Jodrell) Could we advertise the 1st Tuesday felting meetings in correspondence also? Perhaps as a separate reminder.

Correspondence:

Advertisement: Member Liz Arnold is holding an exhibition “Reef- A Fine Line” at the Basement Gallery in Subiaco. All members & others are invited to attend.

Reports:

Martien reported that she hosted Leiko’s “Pine needle felting” workshop.                                           for details see workshop on website

Suggestion:

  • Martien advertised the Fibres West calendar for sale.
  • Martien encouraged the group to make more use of the Facebook page to promote Feltwest members work.

 

Feltwest 2017 September Toss ‘n’ Tell

September 2017 Toss ‘n’ Tell

Demonstration – Silk Paper -Nancy Ballesteros

Please see full instructions on Nancy’s website here: http://treetopscolours.com.au/more/make/silk-paper/

Materials & utensils:

Bombyx or tussah silk tops, baking paper, iron, ironing board, starch (either spray or powder & water mixed in spray bottle), water, net, textile medium or acrylic gloss medium/varnish, anti-static spray (if required).

Bombyx silk tops are made from silkworms fed exclusively on mulberry leaves. It contains no tannin and has a higher lustre.  You may need to ‘snap’ your bombyx fibre to unstiffen it. It stiffens in response to being wet in the dyeing process.

Tussah silk tops are made from ‘wild’ silkworms, that are not cultivated and eat a variety of foods. It contains tannin as a result. Either type of silk tops can be used to make silk paper, depending on the effect you require. You could also try throwsters waste or flax fibres.

Different bonding materials have different pluses and minuses. They are available as stores such as Jacksons Drawing Supplies, Oxlades etc. Various media can be watered down to as little as 10% concentration. Some give a cloudier result than others. Atelier brand gave a nice finish without ruining the lustre of the silk. Some brands available are Atelier & Jo Sonja.

  • Textile medium should not be watered down, and needs to be heat set. It gives a nicely flexible result.
  • Ceracin (obtained from silk, the natural bonding agent used by silkworms) is not viable as a bonding agent due to its enormous cost – $1000 per ml!!! (It is in high demand by the cosmetics industry.)
  • PVA works as a bonding agent, but does not cope with humidity as it is a water based product.
  • Starch is available as a pre-mixed spray (eg Fabulon) or the old-fashioned powder type that you mix with water & put into a spray bottle for ease of use. This is still available at IGA. Nancy believes that powder starch rinses out better than pre-mixed spray starch, and has a less offensive smell.

Instructions:

Pull and lay silk out as you would with laying out wool fibre for felting. Some people have problems with static at this stage. If so, you may purchase anti-static spray from the supermarket in the laundry section. Fibres must be laid in at least 2 or 3 directions to provide sufficient strength in the paper.

If using acrylic gloss medium, the silk needs to be wet down with soapy water before applying the medium, otherwise the medium will not penetrate the fibres. It is advisable to lay the fibres down on net to prevent bonding at this stage. Media that don’t need to be heat set can be dried on something like a fly screen, so that it doesn’t bond to the fabric net. Media that need to be heat set can be ironed between 2 sheets of baking paper. Don’t use steam, as you are aiming to dry it out. If the silk paper doesn’t peel easily off the baking paper, you need to iron it more to remove the moisture.

If the layers are not bonding apply more starch and continue ironing. Alternatively, you could try starching between the layers as you lay the fibres down. Re-do if necessary.

If you choose you could lay the fibres down in a random rather than directional pattern for a different effect.

Once you have made silk paper you can cut a very precise shape from it and apply it to your felt. Silk paper for felting needs to be semi see-through, so that it can be grabbed by the wool. If it is too thick the wool fibres won’t grab it. If it is too fine, it will be swallowed up by the wool and disappear into the felt rather than sitting on top. Silk paper can be quilted or embroidered on the surface.

Nancy gave an interesting demonstration that engaged the audience, and prompted many questions. She did stress that there is quite an element of trial and error involved in this process, depending on your purpose and what kind of result you wish to achieve.  Keep experimenting!

 

 Toss ‘n’ Tell

We had a few showings of pieces worked at the recent Leather Workshop run by Bec Fogarty of Hammered Leatherwork. All participates made credit card holder to learn how to use the tools.

 

 

Marion Finneron – Marion has made a felt bag with a magnetic catch, leather strap & base, and a leather pocket on the back.

Christiane Gray – felt and leather bag in red and green tones.  Christine stitched her bag by hand.

 

 

 

 

Alison Gomes – Felt and leather crossbody bag.

Jill Jodrell – produced a number of small items at the Leather Workshop: a card holder, sunglasses case and a belt pocket.

 

Christine also made a felt necklace as thank you gift  for the upcoming workshop.

 

Nancy’s nuno felted shawl “Wandering in Purnululu” felted onto both silk mesh and tissue silk in beautiful ‘outback’ colours. Fibonacci stripes were used in the design of the garment, and some stitching was done post felting for embellishment. The shawl was made for an exhibition called “Dare to Wear” which was stages in Williams and various other towns in Western Australia.

 

 

Teresa Rocchi – produced a piece of felted fabric at Sue Swain’s workshop. Teresa has a dressmaking background, and intends to use the fabric to make a skirt.

 

 

 

 

Katrina Virgona – produced an IPad pouch and a small purse of leather and felt made from a fulled jumper (sorry no picture).  Katrina showed a few pieces from a recent exhibition at Mundaring Arts Centre “The Habits of Horses”. This consisted of a neckpiece and other small pieces using felt and horsehair.

 

Sue Swain’s 3 gorgoeus garments.

Wearable felt wrap made for a friend. (Picture not shown) It consisted of two oval layers that overlap.

A wrap that was too long for requirements. Sue cut some fabric off the length, and used this to make a collar that lies over the top of the garment.

A long cream wrap with arm holes. The garment is in one piece, the top edge flips over to form a collar. Sue found that the upstanding seams were too heavy, so trimmed them off.

 

Jacquie- a returning past member introduced herself to the group.

 

 

Judith Shaw – showed a number of pieces that she produced after drum carding the wool. Leftover scraps of wool in different colours were mixed in an unplanned way. She also added pieces of white flax which combined beautifully with the wool for an interesting effect. One of the items made was a pencil case.

 

 

Our young 11 year old showed a beautifully detailed small needle felted owl & a felted pouch style bag. The pouch was embellished with beading and machine stitching. Well done!

 

Liz Owens’  felted hat with little spring sticking out the top. The hat was tall to start with, but folded down almost like a pleated effect, to become something like the shape of a fez.

Toss ‘n’ Tell News

Chair: Karen Woods.

Craft House, Menora.

Reminders :

  • Leiko Uchiyama’s artist talk coming up on Friday 6 October 2017, 7pm to 8.30pm. Craft House Main Hall.  Light refreshment available.  Those who can please bring a plate.
  • Bookings are now open for Martien van Zuilen’s ‘Jigsaw Weave and Felt’ workshop to be held on November 4-5.

Questions raised:

  • To the membership regarding the membership contact list. Do members wish to have it available electronically or in hard copy?  Members present decided that names and emails were sufficient. It was agreed by the membership that a member may have their details suppressed if they wish it. Some members were happy with an electronic document, others wished to be provided with a hard copy.
  • Feltwest Facebook page and website: Are members happy to have photographs of work displayed on the Facebook page? Are they happy to have names with the work or not? Are they happy to have members photographed ad displayed with their work?Nancy Ballesteros stated that currently the website is used to provide information to members regarding other activities and organisations that our members may be interested in. Concerns were raised regarding privacy, and the possibility of the public copying members ideas/work. It was decided at the meeting to leave it as it is currently.
  • If members wish to have items posted on the Facebook page they can send it to one of the Facebook administrators via a message on “Contact us”. Current administrators are Soosie, Nancy & Sue Eslick.
  • The Christmas Party will be held in November. As it is our 21st birthday year, Sue Eslick had the idea of inviting past members to this special event. Membership endorsed this suggestion. Karen has a list of past members, which would enable this to happen.

Correspondence:

  • Forest Heritage in Dwellingup, enquiring whether Feltwest wishes to make use of their facilities in future. The question was put to the members.   An investigation is required as to what facilities they have.

Suggestion:

  • Publishing a calendar for 2019.

An option of forming a sub-committee to work on this project next year was suggested. In the meantime, a suggestion was put forward to produce a small magnetised fridge calendar for 2018, highlighting dates for Feltwest events. This could be produced for about a $1 each if using a set format. Suggested size to fit a DL envelope, therefore postage cost would be limited to $1 each. Customising is more expensive. A member suggested that it might be worth investigating Vistaprint for this.  Liz Owens to investigate.

  • Requested for a group project for 2018.

Christine mentioned that a group event for 2018.   She has a contact at Wagin Woolarama. It features a fashion parade, and has the possibility to sell members work.  Member feedback was requested about this idea.

  • Be involved in next years Royal Show.

One of our members Teresa is involved with the Royal Show, and would we like to participate next year. This event also involves a fashion parade.

 

Notes by Alison Higgins, photo’s by Liz Owens.

 

 

Feltwest 2017 AGM and August Toss and Tell

The Feltwest Annual General Meeting started by welcoming representatives from the Funds for Freedom Project for the presentation of   a cheque for $2,000 – the proceeds from our 50:50 scarf project.  These funds will be used to support women and children escaping domestic violence.

The retiring Committee members were thanked for their huge contributions over the years.  These include Virginia Campbell, Soosie Jobson, Nancy Ballesteros, Sue Harrington, Sue Espie and Christine Wheeler

The following people were elected as the new Committee:

Marion Finneran      Secretary

Chris Gray                 Treasurer

Committee members – Sue Eslick, Sara Quail, Liz Owens, Alison Higgins, Karen Wood.

Liz Odd was awarded a certificate of Life Membership in recognition of her contribution over many years.

The new Rules of Association were endorsed.

Sue Eslick reported feedback from a group meeting to assess a new format to Toss + Tell. –  it is suggested that we expand the monthly demo, into a mini hands-on workshop from 10am to 11.30, this would be followed by a short meeting, then we could have the whole afternoon, from 12.30-4.40 for uninterrupted felting. Proposals also include a new name for Toss+ Tell, a variety of demos or guest speakers,  sellers to be invited by the committee to each monthly meeting on a roster basis – approx. 2 at each meeting. General consensus supported the suggestions presented. The proposed format will be referred to the new Committee for decision and action.

Martien van Zuilen showed the FibresWest Calendar 2018 which had been presented to each participant at the FibresWest Forum. The excess were being sold at $15 each being a charity fundraiser. Martien also donated to our library a copy of a newly published book on needle-felting that she had reviewed in the recent edition of the Felt Magazine.

          

Toss+ Tell Report

 Pat has knitted a fine white shawl onto which she felted beautiful wild flowers – a botanical delight !

 

Liz Odd has made 27 scarves  that she will be taking as gifts on her forthcoming visit to Canadian family. She showed us how she used the same design of silk fabric and produced  very different scarves by nuno felting them with different colour wool.

Marion made a muslin jacket in Jan Manning’s workshop and discussed the various things that she had learned in the process regarding shrinkage, preparation of the prefelt and fit of the garment. The jacket was in an abstract pattern of shades of green and peach/orange on the cream muslin.

 

Judith Walsh   made a muslin jacket in Jan Manning’s workshop and discussed her difficulties with applying prefelts to the muslin fabric. Her jacket design was in broken stripes in shades of blues and purple on the cream muslin, worn here by Jill.

Fern  made a muslin jacket in Jan Manning’s workshop and discussed her sizing ie that when it was properly fulled it was too small. Her jacket, modelled here by Alison,  was in shades of brown and cream.

 

Ann Bonnie made various jackets but used her own fabric patterns. One was felted on muslin with a matching scarf. The others were nuno felted on silk. They all were most attractive and fitted extremely well.

 

Vera showed us her bag that she was wearing. She had converted it from another project that had not been successful.

 

Alison Gomes displayed her latest wall hanging  – a beautiful , balanced mix of geometric colours reminiscent of floor tiles.

We ended the day with a delicious chocolate cake presented to Lyn Lukich on the occasion of her 85th birthday

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