Cotswold workshop

This is my lastest  workshop, held at the Winds of Change Gallery in Winchcombe. The challenge was to make a sheep from British wool - as it was part of the wool festival celebrating our native sheep. I brought in a selection of dyed Blue-Faced Leicester and natural Welsh tops, and a lot of Cotswold Lion fleece. Far more than we needed in the end.

 I'd already made my own sheep from this, with much mild cursing as it is really too long and rough to make a satisfactory model. Some brave people used it, but the Blue Faced Leicester was by far the favourite, being softer and more manageable.

As well as a picnic lunch, there were scones, cream and jam halfway through the afternoon; note the plaster and first aid kit, for the unfortunates who stabbed themselves. It was all good fun though, and I think every one had a nice time.

My lovely workshop ladies, including a beaming Jane, the gallery owner and lovely Lady Ashcombe, of nearby Sudeley Castle, stood nearest to the door, who was kind enough to give up some of her time to judge the sheep contest. 

Yet again I felt so proud to see the variety and accomplishment of people who'd done little or no needle felting before this day. But, there was only one prize for one winner. I was having nothing to do with it, I hate picking winners! Or rather, I hate that there are losers, especially when everyone tried so hard.

 

 There was however, one obvious winner and Lady Ashcombe picked exactly the one that I would have. The prize was a family ticket for Adam Henson's Cotswold Farm Park, only a few miles away - a very generous donation from the farm, and one which deserves a little reward.

So I'm sending him the model for the workshop, now called 'Adam's Sheep' - after his slot on the BBC Countryfile programme, called 'Adam's Farm'. Adam rears many rare native breeds himself, including the 'Cotswold Lion', which my sheep is loosely based on and who's wool I used. 

After many dreadful weeks of not-knowing about things, we've finally had news that we can get going. So we are. I may not be around much as I have an awful lots of things to pack. We move at the end of the month - and we don't even know precisely where yet!

Wool in Winchcombe

Here is lovely Katie Morgan -  painter of gypsy wagons and fairground rides, restorer of antique clock faces and so many more things -  with her knitted hanging basket, which has been hanging joyously from the Winds of Change Gallery throughout the Winchcombe Wool Festival.

Everything in the gallery was wool oriented, one way or another, including painting and prints of British sheep by artist Alexandra Churchill - this one in the window is the local 'Cotswold Lion'. (And there's one of my books nearby).

The gallery was swarming with people all day - many local and all interesting. So interesting that I forgot to demonstrate and did a fair amount of chatting. This sheep hand puppet came visiting, if I remember rightly, he is a Sunday school prop and is still used now. His 'helping hand' is the wonderful artist  Belinda Durrant.

We exchanged cards - this is one of her exquisite artworks, 'Left Foot Trap' the shoe upper is a paper cut with the mouse drawn. And the trap inside - for feet or mice? Her work is breathtakingly delicate  with a delicious biting twist on the relationship between women and fashion. 

Another local artist I briefly met was Julie de Gruchy East - she was exhibiting wonderful textile portraits of Winchcombe butchers, 'drawn' on an old sewing machine onto vintage Witney blankets, a fine old Cotswold company still in business today. They are *only* thread, but blimey, they are masterful portraits. If I had the money to invest, I'd be commissioning her right now, while she's still affordable, because I  have a hunch she's going far with these. More photos of her work and the actual butchers can be found here on her blog.

Here's Jane, the gallery owner learning to finger knit, and more of Julie's work  (the cushions are hers too).

Katie's knitted daisy chain which later mysteriously appeared draped in Winchcombe in a 'yarn storming' event - as reported on her blog here. 

 Katie is one of the most interesting people I know; always working on something unusual,  recently making a reproduction of Katherine Parr's velvet toilet, for nearby Sudeley Castle. Katherine Parr being the surviving wife of Henry the Eighth and this being her Quincentenary (That's 500 years). Belinda Durrant has recently made some tiny, heart breaking baby garments, also on display at Sudely, for the little orphaned daughter (Lady Mary Seymour) of Katherine, who died in mysterious circumstances just before her second birthday. Belinda's response to this sad story of a royal child who seemed unloved by anyone, was to create a trio of clothes, but with her own particular angle. 'Where is Mary' can be seen and read about on this blog here, with Belinda's own words about why she felt so moved to make  them.

Cushions, ceramics, upholstery and artworks, all celebrating the stuff that the Cotswolds were built on.

My own little people don't strictly qualify, being made of Australian merino, but here they are anyway.

 

One of my doglet's dwarved by ceramics and giant felt shoes. I'm back at the gallery this Friday for a workshop. There's an outside view of the day at the gallery and the festival over on the Texture Knit blog (including rare footage of me working).

It's been a crammed month with various things going on 'behind the scenes'- this is when we hope to really get on track with our plans to move, job transfers and expanding my little business. It's all a bit nail biting.  I wish things were settled, I really do.

'We are Siamese'

One of this month's completed orders.

 

 Isobel and Phoebe  - best friends forever.

 

Pheebs and Izzy to their friends.

Bread and Linen

I daresay some people might find this scrap of card with it's dingy squares rather dull - even ugly. My late foster mother, never noted for her imagination, would have put it straight in the bin. But I love it and when I saw that Elizabeth Baer herself was offering it up on her gorgeous textiles blog, I put my hand up first and bagsied it. How old is it? Elizabeth, who is an expert in these things, describes it as a sample card of linen tapes, possibly from a drapery shop. I'd hazard a guess and say it is probably pre-second world war, if not pre-first world war.

To me it is beautiful, because despite it's humble appearance, it has survived. Keep your fancy toile de jouy - imagine if this card could talk. Elizabeth has an amazing stock of French linens, textiles and haberdashery - she also organises specialist textile fairs, which are by invitation only, so anyone interested should hop over to her website for contact details or subscribe to her blog, as I do - which is why I spotted the little card so quickly. Thank you very much to Elizabeth - it will be treasured and eventually passed on to other safe hands.

Sometimes I am so involved with my work that I am oblivious to anything, Even knocks on the door from kind people bringing round homemade bread and marmalade. Andy returned from work that evening and asked why we had a loaf of bread hanging from the door handle; I eventually found out who the generous person was, but felt terrible at having missed them. The spectacular hyacinths are down to Andy, who has discovered a previously unsuspected knack for garden pots and flowers. Which is good, as my time is becoming even more squeezed. Still manage to get out sometimes though - the Cotswolds in spring are not to be missed -

I had a wonderful demo day last Saturday at the Winds of Change gallery, with lots of people milling about and so many interesting people and artists that it needs a blogpost all of it's own. I think there is one space left for my Winchcombe wool workshop. We'll be making a sheep from proper Cotswold Lion fleece and one or two other British fleeces. I also have another workshop at the Fibreworks in Chipping Norton, on May 26th. One space is already taken and as usual, there are limited spaces because I can't give my full attention to too many lovely people. As we made little birds last time it will be something different, and I hope by then I will have some of my first needle felting kits for sale.

Mollie Makes & me!

Doglets ahoy! Issue 13 of Mollie Makes hits UK shop shelves today - I've had a fantastic response from subscribers so far (who got their copies last Saturday). I feel a bit greedy, as the lovely Mollie Makes team gave me a lot of pages - as soon as you open the cover the sweet story begins - and how beautifully they have presented my little dogs - I felt as if I was looking at someone else's work.

...and in the contents...

...and six sumptuous double page spreads after that, with my step-by-step guide to making your own doglet - people, I sweated over that pattern, so it had better work! And yes, those are my fair hands demonstrating the steps.

The basic doglet design is an old favourite - I made my first in the third week of my discovering needle felting, over four years ago. He was called 'Petite Jaune' and he went over to live in Europe.

Soon after, I tweaked the design and made 'Custard', who went to live with the lovely Donna Flower.

Three years ago, I did a limited edition of 'Buttercups' for my only stockists, Teddy Bears of Witney. Sat with his back to us with his friends.

Finally he appeared as Custard again, in 'Peggy's Lost Pennies'.

And now here are his baby cousins in my favourite magazine. I've loved Mollie Makes since issue one - I had an inkling it would be an instant hit (it sold out within a couple of weeks of launch). They have successfully created a gorgeous, approachable magazine which taps into the whole crafting/blogging/lifestyle world in a way that really works, and I admire them for that. Confession - from issue one, I had a burning desire to do an article for them, but I never imagined I'd be asked to do the cover.

I'm not only selfishly pleased for myself, but also that it helps bring needle felting into the mainstream; a few weeks ago I had a needle felt book proposal rejected from a large UK craft publisher on the grounds that needle felting was 'too niche'. I have only one word to say to that - WOOF!

So, here's what you need to know if you want a copy - it sells really quickly, so hurry! It's available in most WHSmiths, some Asdas, Sainsburys and many independent craft shops. The stockists page can be found here, also with international outlets listed. It's also available as a digital download here, if that's your preferred method of reading.

Mollie Makes have five copies of 'Peggy's Lost Pennies' (in which dear old Custard appears) to give away, and you can enter the contest here.

Oh yes, nearly forgot - I'm at the Winds of Change Gallery in Wincombe tomorrow, Saturday April 14th, 11am till 4.30, demonstrating needle felting, if you're in or around the Cheltenham area. My Puddletown toys will be on display, so come and say hello!

Fibreworks workshop

Last Saturday saw me at the Fibreworks in Chipping Norton - not too far from where we live and one of the best things to happen to 'Chippy' in a long time. Claire, one half of the shop, dosed me with coffee and I popped out a few bits and pieces for a display, including a couple of sketchbooks and some of the 'Puddletown Tales' toys, very excited at being out of their storage bags.

I had seven lovely people attending, including Emma - an old work colleague from Waterstones bookshop whom I hadn't seen for nearly ten years, and two travellers from the other side of the country, who came over specially. Which is the hugest compliment. Frances of 'Felting Needle' and Jenny of 'Renragged', both of whom I know through blogs/Twitter/Facebook. After a brief intro from me, everyone began making birds and soon a familiar peace reigned as everyone became absorbed with their work.

It was only a short workshop, about four hours long, but I was very pleased with the results. Jenny had made her own version of one of my birds, finishing it beautifully -

'Tasha made a lovely nautical bird and then designed her own sweet sloth -

A hare was begun -

After making a delightful little 'posty' bird, Emma went on to make her own heart brooch

Someone made an amazing peacock -

- which she finished off at home. I give you - 'Gorgeous George'!

At the beginning, some of the class were a little unsure, having never needle felted before. After an hour or so, they were off and flying on their own, and I could rejoice in passing on the very benign bug of needle felting. Because they did not even stop when biscuits were produced, preferring to carry on working.

Afterwards, Jenny and Frances bought me a pint at the nearby pub and we talked shop for an hour - not only was Frances invaluable during the workshop for wool-facts (she is an expert) but she brought me some Devon Longwool from a sheep called Dilys, which she had dyed herself. My photo does not do it justice, but it is a scrummy pale lime and will be used for something special.

As I write, there are just two spaces left on my Winchcombe workshop. I've sourced some Cotswold Lion fleece for making sheep with; now I just have to design a sheep. I'll also be demonstrating this Saturday the 14th of April at the Winds of Change Gallery in Winchcombe, from 11-4.30, so pop in if you're in the Gloucester/Cheltenham area and say hello.

One of the blogging toymaking greats, who I've admired for many years, is Abby Glassenburg. Her blog 'While She Naps' has been going for even longer than mine - and I'm really proud that she has featured my work in her 'Softies for Sale' series, so if you want to know a bit more about the nuts and bolts of how I work, her post is here.