Textiles East

This weekend, we had a small exhibition space at the Textiles East Show in Newmarket. It was wonderful to see some of the work from our classes up on display and we had really great feedback. 

Stitched map of Mull by Diana

Bridgit’s indigo dyes 

Lesley’s botanic gardens inspired curtain.      Screen print.  With Jean’s screen prints in the background 

Liz-hand felted with botanical print and stitch

Scrolls - Liz, Sharon, Anne, Jean

Anne - printed, felt, stitch and model

                                    Jill- sampler book

 

 

All work above done by students from Prickwillow ArtSpace and Rampton Colour and Cloth. 

Screen Print and Nuno Felting Classes

Updated list of workshops from September to December 2021

If you'd like more information on any of the workshops, or perhaps you can't read the small print in my spreadsheet, there are links at the very bottom of this post.  

It's after a long, blank gap - I have no idea why that's happened. There seems to be some wierd formatting glitch in my program.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For further info on each workshops see

Contemporary Textiles, personal and poetic    

 

Textile Screenprinting - Cottenham

 

Textile Screenprinting on Fabric- Cambridge Botanic Gardens

 

Screenprinting a tote bag - Knitting and Stitching Show 

 

Nuno Felting a Scarf - Cottenham

 

Screen Printing for Christmas - Cottenham

 

Screen Printing and Felting Classes- Adut Learning

It's that time of year again ....planning for some great textile classes next term.  Here's list of upcoming adult classes and workshops:

Feltmaking: Fabulous Felting for Stitch
Cottenham Village College
Start date: 19 September 2018
Wednesday 10.00 - 13.00. Runs for 5 weeks
Fees
£82 (concession £62) plus materials
Contact details
community@cvcweb.net
Tel 01954 288751
Brief description:
Emphasis is on the experimental with this course, which concentrates on the principles of wet felting for textile artists and creative stitchers. Newcomers as well as the more experienced are welcome. Materials extra.
 

And I am finally teaching an evening class for textile printing:
  
Small Scale Screen Printing on Textiles
Witchford Village College
Starting Wednesday 3 October for 8 weeks
7.00pm – 9.00pm
£80 / £64 concession
Contact: 
adultlearning@living.tmet.org.uk 
Tel
01223 200411 (Monday – Friday, 9.00am to 2.30pm)

Brief Description:
Using tiny screens (up to A5 print size), we will explore a huge range of printing techniques.  Working small can free you up to be very experimental and enables you to try out lots of new ideas quickly.
This is a good course for any beginner who would like to print their own unique textiles, whether it is for clothing, bags, home furnishings, creative embroidery or textile art.
Screen printing is fast, colourful and exciting – so come along with a pile of plain fabrics and create a great stack of printed fabrics by the end of the course.
 


And while we're on the subject of evening classes -here's some info about long running class that Cary teaches at Ely college:

Life Drawing
Tutor:  Cary Outis
Saturday 17 November
10.00am – 4.00pm
£50 / £43 concession
Contact:  community@elycollege.co.uk
Tel:
(01353) 664853

Brief Description:
During this workshop, you will explore the techniques and possibilities of drawing or painting from life.  Whether you’re a newcomer or well versed, there’ll be something for you.  Life drawing is one of the richest seams in all Art.
The tutor will cover whatever technical questions you may have, while not losing sight of the creative.  By the end of the day, you should feel a little more sure of the underlying structure of a person and the reasons behind all those artists’ clichés.  The longer poses of a full day will enable you to explore the process more deeply.


Saturday Day Schools
 
Felt a Beret
Saturday 17 November 2018
Witchford Village College 
For more info click: Witchford Sat Workshops

Nuno Felted Scarf
Saturday 24 November 2018
Impington Village College
Impington Saturday Workshops



Screen Printing on Textiles
Saturday 16 March 2019
Witchford Village College
Save the date - booking not open yet

Screen Printing on Textiles  
Saturday 23 March 2019
Cottenham Village College
Save the date - booking not open yet

 

Mad Hatters - part 2

A quick post to show some of the gorgeous hats made by students on Saturday.....

 

A couple of them need a little pleating and shaping to finish them off, but I think you'll agree that they are fabulous!

Mad Hats - Wet Felting Workshop

New year.... well almost the end of January and we have a 'Mad Hats' felting workshop on Saturday. 

I always think of felting as being creativity combined with excercise  - my two most favourite things (after chocolate).  That makes felting an ideal New Year's 'resolutiony' kind of a thing to do.

The 'Mad Hatter'  - In the old days when felt hats were made from rabbit fur, mercury was used in the felting process. And over time, many Hatters did indeed develop a neurological condition from exposure to these mercury fumes. According to Wikipedia  "It is commonly characterized through behavioral changes such as irritability, low self-confidence, depression, apathy, shyness and timidity, and in some extreme cases with prolonged exposure to mercury vapors, delirium, personality changes and memory loss occur as a result"  Hmmmmm - I don't need the mercury , I already have most of these.

Well, I am pleased to say that we no longer use rabbit fur and we no longer use mercury.  In fact, I think that making felt is a highly therapeutic activity. All that soap, warm water, rubbing and rolling- it's all very sensory.

And hats are fun!  Hats can be silly, they can be elegant, they can be a statement of your individuality, they can be cute, or they can be a cosy head warmer for walking the dog.   And on the subject of cosy, if your hat is too mad to wear, just pop it on the teapot.

Thanks to Kate for being a very beautiful teapot!

Anyway,  Saturday 27 Jan at Cottenham Village College - here's the link:    Saturday Schools 
If you scroll down to 'Mad Hatters'  and click on the right hand box it will take you to a pdf with more details.

Or go directly to contact to book a place.

Nuno Felted Scarf - 1 Day Workshop

There are still places left on this workshop- and here's the formal intro:

Nuno Felt Scarf

'A fun day doing wet felting to create a special scarf. Combining fibre and fabrics to create a light and elegant nuno scarf with a beautiful drape. We'll be piecing together different fabrics and using the fibres to hold the whole together. This workshop is a good challenge for beginners and for those with some felting experience.'

Saturday 15th October
10.00am - 4.00pm


As always, I think workshop prices at Cottenham are very reasonable compared with ...well, almost everywhere.  But the main reason to come is for the sheer joy of making something nice with a group of enthusiastic, like minded people!

£35 (£26 Concessions)  + whatever material you use. 


Go to  Cottenham V.C. Adult Learning for more details.

Felt - Catherine O Leary Workshop

It seems like I'm always teaching - and I really do love teaching, so that's good. I think that teaching art and textiles is all about facilitating people's own creativity and I love the excitement and enjoyment that people have when they make something new.

Every once in a while I like to be a student myself and have my own creativity facilitated! And so this summer, I had big treat:  I went to the Atelier Fibre Fusing in the Netherlands to do a 3 day workshop with the wonderful Catherine O Leary.   This class was all about surface design using nuno prefelts and the finished product was a body wrap using these techniques.  

So, first of all a word about Atelier Fibre Fusing 
It's a good studio space - well equipped, full of light, big tables, spacious, in a village on the Amstel, just south of Amsterdam.   We were greeted by the very hospitable Dorie on the first day with coffee and home made apple pie and the food just got better and better as the weekend went on. 
 
What made this workshop so good is that after her introductory talk, Catherine constantly moved around the room giving each person one to one tuition and encouraged us to develop our own designs. So we all made very different things.  You see that here- Workshop photos

I deliberately took colours that I don't usually work with and somehow my piece turned out as something that probably wouldn't look amiss in the Lion King! Definitely looking for someone tall and flamboyant to wear this one and those of you who know me, know that neither of those qualities pertain to me. But I LOVED the process of making it.  The surface design aspect is exactly what I enjoy most about making textiles and I'd forgotten how very nice it is to be completely absorbed by intuitive working.

And of course one of the best part of going on a workshop is meeting a fabulous bunch of new people who are equally obsessed with felt and fibre!

This is my wrap, made from 2 pieces which can be worn in different ways

I screen printed some fabrics before went to Holland to use as part of the Nuno

So as you can see - I loved this workshop and if you ever get the opportunity to do a class with Catherine o Leary, grab the chance! I can't recommend her highly enough.

Felted Liquorice Allsorts

I recently rediscovered liquorice allsorts while I was doing a reminiscence project and was choosing some nostalgic sweets from those wonderful jars in an old fashioned sweet shop.  My grandmother always had a bowl of them and they bring back very happy memories for me.  

So when Lorna contacted me to do a short workshop at Textiles in Focus
I thought I'd do some felted sweets. And I've been making liquorice allsorts ever since.  Of course, I had to eat quite a few in the interests of research........

No, you can't eat these!

A liquorice hair clip

And an Allsorts necklace.

.

Felt Bag Workshop

Hi All,  

this Saturday, (30 January 2016), I am teaching a wet felting workshop at Cottenham Village College.  It's all about making a bag so I thought I'd show a few of my bags here on the blog so you can see some of the options.

'The Egg'

'The Piano'

and 'Fluffylocks'

As always, my workshops are not prescriptive -I'll take you step by step through the process, but you'll develop your own designs as you go along.  

I always think Cottenham is really good value for money.   The class fees are very reasonably priced when compared with so many other classes nowadays. Yes, you do have to pay extra for materials and/or bring your own, but I think that gives you the freedom to realise your own ideas rather than being restricted by what the tutor has suppplied.

So, anyway after that bit of blatant, but heartfelt promotion, if you are interested and would like more details have a look at this link:    Felting a bag
 

2 items of news from Cottenham Village College:

Firstly the Summer School brochure is out!  That's something to look forward to on a wintery day. 
Here's the link:   Summer School

and to see you through to the Spring, a new Wednesday morning class starting after half term:

Felting Studio
5 fabulous felting mornings at Cottenham Village College.

This 5 week guided study to wet felting will be great for beginners but also an opportunity for those with more experience to try out some new ideas and be inspired.

 We will revisit the basics - richly textured panels, nuno felt,
lattices,scarves and ruffles. More experienced learners will be shown ways to develop more complex surfaces and forms.

Fee £75 (£56 concessions)
for 5 weeks

If anyone is interested, you need to book soon because next week is half term and the college staff will be away, so:

For more course details, contact: Cottenham Village College

and for booking form http://community.cvcweb.net

Felt a Beret Workshop

Berets,,,,,,,yes!  

The thing about berets is that you can make so many different things from one humble process.

Of course you can make a discreet and elegant beret, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's warm, it's wearable and it's easy to make, especially if you are a first time felter. So much nicer, in fact if you make it yourself with subtle shades of wool and beautiful surface decorations.  

Or you can stretch yourself and make a veritable artist's beret extraordinaire- grand and sumptuous.  You can wear this one out to a gala, or just keep yourself warm in your artist's garret through the winter. 

Making berets is fun!  The pattern is so simple, you can really play with the shape and take it in unexpected directions.  A good workshop for beginners and for intermediate felters.  

Contact Cottenham Adult Learning  if you'd like to come along.  This is  a day school on Sat 24 January from 10.00am - 4.00pm.  It's only £30/£23 plus any materials you use.

And I can't think of a nicer way to spend a Saturday in January than being up to my elbows in suds, talking textiles with other like minded people!

2015 Adult Classes Ricki Outis

A new year, with lots of creative promise!

I thought I'd list any open adult classes that have been confirmed and dates so you can book ahead if you are interested:


Scrap and Chat
admin@care-network.org.uk 
Walnut Tree Cafe, Rectors Hall, Colne Road, Earith.

For over 55's who live in or near Earith, Bluntisham or Colne,  come and join our friendly group on a Tuesday morning for a free scrap booking and reminiscence session. We alternate working on a group project with working on your own personal scrap book. This is a very welcoming, fun and creative class. No previous artistic experience required!

Classes have started but we are always happy for new people to join. We will be running until 10 Feb 15.   There will be no class on the 27 Jan 15. 


Felt a Beret
Felt Beret info
Cottenham Village College
24 Jan 15  Saturday Day School   10am - 4pm

A fun day doing wet felting to create a unique beret. This handmade take on an old classic means that you can personalise both the shape and the surface design to make something elegant and stylish or crazy and eccentric (or a bit of both!). It’s a good workshop for both beginners and for those with some felting experience in felting to learn the basics of wet felting and the use of resist shapes.


Felting Studio
Felting Studio info 
 Cottenham Village College
25 Feb 15  Wednesdays for 5 weeks.   9.30am - 12.30pm    - mixed ability class.

This 5 week guided study to wet felting will be great for newcomers but also an opportunity for those with more experience to try out some new ideas and be inspired .

We will be revisiting the basics - richly textured panels, nuno felt, lattices, and scarves. More experienced learners will be shown ways to develop more complex surfaces and forms.



Screen Printing on Fabric
Cott V. C. 
Cottenham Village College
16 May 2015  Saturday day School    10am - 4pm

 Bring along your fabrics and leave with  great pile of unique printed cloth with your own designs. A screen and inks will be provided for the day. This is a good opportunity for textile artists to come along and create their own fabrics for stitch or display.
A studio session for all abilities.


Thermofax Printing - 
Design and Print your own Label.
Textiles in Focus workshops

Textiles in Focus, Cottenham village College
 Friday 20 Feb 2015 from 2.00 - 4.00pm  or Sunday 22 Feb 2015 from 2.00 - 4.00pm

Design and make an easy to print label for your textile work by making a miniature thermofax with your own personal signature. Develop some interesting backgrounds and by the end of the session you will have a batch of gorgeous labels you can sew into your next creation.


Screen Print Textiles Studio 
White House Arts info 
 White House Arts
20th and 21st June 10.00am-4.00pm  

A whole weekend of screen printing is really wonderful.  You can really develop your designs and build up layers of print.  It is a great opportunity to work in a studio atmosphere with individual support from the tutor. The emphasis as always is on the experimental and developing your own design style, using screen fillers, vylene and paper stencils with the silk screen to create patterned and painterly effects on fabric.


Sensational Screen Printing 
Summer School 

Cottenham Summer School 2015

27 July - 31 July 2015 
I can only give you the dates for this one as the brochure is not out yet.  Just to say that a weekend of screen printing is good, but  a whole week is even better.  Suffice to say that students always say they wish they had a second week as we get to the end of the first one. The brochure usually comes out at the end of February and I advise you to book early - this course fills up very quickly. Send your name and adress to the college so that they mail you a copy as soon as it comes out.


And there you have it - a whole blog post with no pictures!!!
I'll have to do something about that......

New Felt Class for Beginners, Ely

Wishing you all a very happy and creative New Year!

And just a quick note about a new felt making  class for beginners that starts at Ely College on the 13th Jan 2015.  For more details see Ely College  

There will be a free taster session on the 6 Jan 15 at 7.00pm for an hour, so if you want to try it out and find out a bit more about the class, come along then.  No need to book, just turn up about 10 minutes before and go to the reception which is in the new building at the college.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Fun with Felt: Hats

Felt is fun!- what more can I say?  Winter is coming and I've been making hats.  

Thanks to Kate for being a very loyal and beautiful model and for never complaining about all the ridiculous things I asked her to model over the years!

I'll be running a 5 week course in felting  at Cottenham Village College.  If you are interested click on  Felting - the next step.  It is aimed at those who have done some beginner felting before and who want to try some new things but it is open to absolute beginners as well. It will be on Wednesday mornings from 6 Nov 2013.

Felt like felt

There's something about felt being called 'felt' - the whole process is just so.......... feltual.   I think I like it so much because it's an antidote to the crisp graphic edges of screen printing.  This is a quick little design that I've been thinking of screen printing - but it just seemed so much easier to do it in felt.

That's the sketch

And the nasturtiums are still blooming in my garden despite the grey weather!

New felting class starting Cottenham Village College starting in November CVC Felt class

Felt for Beginners Class

On the subject of scarves and winter,  I am also teaching a beginners felting course at Cottenham Village College. It starts in November after half term and runs for 4 weeks, then it continues for another 4 weeks in January. This is a daytime class on Wed mornings.  For more details see the college's site:  CVC felting

Here are some of the things that you can expect to learn about:

Beads and baubles

Necklace

Sumptuous surfaces

Nuno Scarves

and bags