Feltmakers of Western Australia

Volume 2 2008 Feltmakers of Western Australia www.feltwest.org.au

FeltWEST content editor regulars A very short editorial this (very full) issue! We’ve had all wrapped up 2 a busy couple of months at FeltWest and I know inform 3 many of us are looking forward to unwinding and cre- toss n tell 4 ating marvelous felt at the Retreat at the end of this workshops 10 month. I do hope to see lots of you there. billboard 18 contact details 20 Please take a moment to read the information on the calendar 20 page opposite and please note the AGM Agenda and related documents inserted in this newsletter. As always, we have Registration forms for some fabulous forthcoming workshops also enclosed. reviews Annie Rawle 12 I would like to thank all those who have very gen- Fabric + felt = Nuno 13 erously contributed to this newsletter – Jo Saunt, Judit Pocs 14 Heather Davis, Chris French, Tanya Peters, Karen Wood, Val Hornibrook, Susan Swain, LeeAnne Davis, articles Helen O’Neill, Betsy Bush, and of course, Soosie Jobson. congratulations 17 Virginia Campbell

new members FeltWEST inc Atkins, Christine Greenwood 6024 newsletter Boyd, Antoinette Palmyra 6157 Carbone, Gail Hamerley 6022 ISSN 1834-9994 Davidson, Trish Floreat 6014 This newsletter is published quarterly. Dead- line dates for material to be submitted are as Jayamahe, Monica Maylands 6051 follows: Kerry, Katherine Bassendean 6054 Lewis, Irene Lathlan 6100 Volume 1 15th February Volume 2 15th May O’Donnell, Jane Bayswater 6053 Volume 3 15th August Rooke, Fay Katanning 6317 Volume 4 15th November White, Sue Nollamura 6061 We will endeavour to have it distributed by all wrapped up all wrapped the first week of the following month. Cor- respondence should be sent to the editor, Virginia Campbell, 62 Goldsmith Rd, Dalkieth WA 6009 [email protected]

FeltWEST ABN 20395651770

Notice of exhibitions by members that involve felt will be advertised free of charge (subject to availability of space). Advertising inquiries are welcome, contact editor for details.

FeltWEST Inc reserves the rights to accept, alter, reserve for later use or decline any advertisement or article. Above: Tanya Peter’s Sea Urchins The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of individual contributors and are not necessarily those of FeltWEST Inc. Content of this newsletter may not be repro- cover photo - duced with out permission. www.feltwest.org.au Nancy Ballesteros models her beautiful Judit Pocs inspired hat 2 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 AGM 2008 AGM 16 August 2008 – Trash n Treasure – Toss n Tell Soosie Jobson to speak on topic of Safe Felting – please see the attached documents for detailed information and mark this date in your diary.

A Renewal of Membership Form is also enclosed with this Newsletter. Please do not forget to complete and post to our Treasurer with your subscription fee. Remember, you cannot vote at the AGM if you are not financial.

Use of Sanders & Tumble Dryers At the last AGM on 4 August 2007 there was discussion of our insurance policy and the possible implications of members’ use of sanders to felt at our retreats, workshops and meetings. It was decided that there would be no use of sanders by members at FeltWest functions or meetings but that the Committee would obtain legal advice before the next AGM and before

Inform the 2008 Retreat.

The Committee has now sought and obtained legal advice as to the scope of our insurance policy, the likelihood of FeltWest and its members being covered by that policy if a personal injury or property damage occurs as a result of the use of a sander or clothes dryer for felting and whether that situation could be resolved if members were to sign a waiver indemnifying Feltwest from liability. As a result of the legal advice, the Committee unanimously resolved that there would be no use of sanders or dryers at any FeltWest functions or meetings.

We are very sorry if this outcome disappoints some of our members and it is certainly not a decision which was taken lightly, but only after a detailed examination of the risks involved to FeltWest and the unlikelihood of being able to satisfactorily reduce those risks. Workshop Refunds This is just a reminder to all members that if you unexpectedly discover you are unable to attend a FeltWest Workshop after you have registered to attend and paid your Workshop fee, please let us know immediately so that we can try to fill your place with another interested member. Obviously finding a replacement person will be increasingly difficult and unlikely, the closer the workshop date is to the date you notify FeltWest. Our policy is that a full refund cannot be given by FeltWest unless notification is given in writing to the Secretary, Lindy Frayne, at least seven full days before the date of the first day of the workshop.

We hope you will understand that Feltwest incurs costs and obligations when it organizes workshops and these must be paid and met, irrespective of whether a registered participant actually attends or not. If you are unable to give 7 full day’s notice to Lindy, it may still be possible for you to recoup the fee you have paid. Often more members wish to attend a workshop than there are available places at the workshop. If you contact Lindy before the workshop she may be able to put you in touch with a member on a “waiting list” for that workshop and you may be able to personally negotiate with that member so that she attends in your place and pays you the workshop fee you have paid to FeltWest. Obviously, FeltWest cannot be responsible for these negotiations and their outcome. Survey Is there something you would like to see Feltwest doing? Is there something you would like improved? Things you would like to see more or less of? Tells us your opinions and suggestions via our online Survey. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete with questions divided in sections, Workshops & Talks, Newsletter, Exhibitions, Scholarships, Resources, Money Tree, Toss n Tell and General comments. The link to the survey will be emailed to our members shortly, please take the time to complete the survey and we will publish the results on our web site. FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 3 members activity Thirty two members attended our meeting on the 15th March and there was much to see and talk about. Linda Riccio showed us her attractive pink shawl imaginatively incorporating items she had earlier received at the FeltWest Christmas Party gift exchange – see if you rec- ognize any pieces!

Judy Hebiton displayed her arresting wall hanging . Sally Moldrich had made a very styl- ish and beautifully finished bag and wrap while Ann Taylor modeled her lovely nuno felted spangled wrap . Judy Calderwood’s wool and silk felted and machine stitched purple and red shawls were admired ) as were her fabulous Angora goat shawl modeled by Karen Wood) and black alpaca collar.

We thought Vicki Herne’s needle felted dolls were very charming, and Jennifer Blair’s 2 glamorous nuno felted scarves and 2 beautifully fitted nuno felted vests, one using Indian sari toss n tell toss silk, were also much admired. Lindy Frayne modeled her very inspiring nuno felted halter neck dress with matching wrap which she had entered into the Wagin Wool- arama competition.

Right Above: Linda Riccio’s pink shawl Centre: Judy Hebiton’s wall hanging Below: Sally Moldrich’s cute bag Below: Left: Sally models her wrap Centre: Ann Taylor wears her wrap Right: Judy Calderwood models her wrap

4 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 toss n tell continued

Karen Wood brought along her cushion featuring bush dyed silk and woolen cloth which she had made at a residential course with textile artist and tutor Glenys Mann and which had been part of a wonderful recent exhibition, “The Power of Stitch”, at the Mandurah Art Gallery. Other FeltWest members who also exhibited at the Mandurah Gallery pieces they had made at Glenys Mann’s workshops included Liz Odd, Jan Stroud, Helen O’Neill, Linda Riccio, Marian Magee, Pamela Booth and Gail Putz.

Above: Left: Karen Wood wears Judy Calderwood’s wrap Centre: Vicki Hearn’s dolls Right: Karen Wood’s cushion Below Left: Vicki Hearn wears Jennfier Blair’s vest Centre: Jennfier Blair with her scarf Right: Lindy Frayne models one of Jennifer Blair’s vests

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 5 toss n tell continued

Above Left & Centre: Lindy Frayne models her Wagin outfit Right: Helen O’Neill’s Mandurah Exhibition pieces

Several members also brought along recently published books of interest: Felted Friends by Sue Pearl, Search Press, 2007 Plush You by Kristen Rask, North Light Books, Ohio, 2008 Felt Designs by India Flint and Toyoko Sugiwaka, Murdoch Books Fleece Dog by Sinco, Mitchell Beasley Books (available Oxford St Books) Knitted Flowers by Nicky Epstein, Sixth and Spring Books, China, 2006 Natural Dyes by Linda Rudkin, A&C Black Publishers, London, 2007

Regular attendee at Toss n Tell Meetings, Shirley Maher, reminded us all of her correct surname. Unfortunately there was an error in our last newsletter issue and her gorgeous felted dolls pictured on page 7 of that issue were wrongly attributed to member Shirley Harding. Apologies to both Shirleys – occasionally there are gremlins in the computer!

We were also at this meeting delighted to watch a hand needle felt demonstration by Judy Cal- derwood. who kindly brought along many photos and examples of her diverse work using this method of felting to further illustrate and aid her instruction. Above: Shirley Maher 6 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 toss n tell continued

At our April Toss n Tell meeting 27 members attended. Nancy Ballesteros, recently returned from Fibres Ballarat and the April Forum in Orange, spoke in glowing terms of her experiences at both venues and in particular of the opportunities she had enjoyed in attending workshops conducted by Judit Pocs of Hungary, soon to be visiting Perth. She described Judit as “so technically advanced in the construction of 3 dimensional structures” and then produced 3 hats which she had made at Judit’s hat making workshops – a croquet hat, a hat with an appendage and a fabulous sculptural hat which she said took her 2 ½ days to make, was made flat (with a resist which she cut out from Styrofoam type underlay used under hardwood floors) and then onto which she added many layer attachments. As she concluded when she modeled the sculptural hat to the delight of the meeting, “I’m so ready for the Melbourne Cup!”

Karen Wood had recently returned to Perth also. She had been to Vietnam and showed us some great textile purchases she had made whilst there: a bag with traditional embroidery, indigo dyed, and 2 silk jackets with beautiful embroidery pur- chased in the markets for only $10 each Presi- dent Heather Davis passed around for our delighted inspection her collection to date of charming animal brooches on which she was still working.

Marie Marshall showed us a beautiful large nuno felted silk wrap she had recently made and Lindy Frayne produced a delicate white wrap comprising 50% wool 50% silk fibre laid on silk. Lindy’s daughter, Jayah, displayed a cute felted elephant she had made and which included designing the pattern herself. Gabrielle Carati said a recent magazine article about felting in New Zealand had featured a special appliance for felting similar to a wooden apparatus she’d bought years ago for an unrelated purpose but which she brought to show us, thinking other members may have something similar in their attics. She said she found it useful when making nuno felt and slippers

Chris Harnby brought along her 3 lovely nuno felted wraps with detailed surface decoration, including entrapped buttons. Tanya Peters showed us some prototype toys she had been experiment- ing with using machine embroidery and three de- Top: Judy Calderwood demonstrates hand lightful sea urchins she had made using a needle needle feltiing felting machine, which she will be demonstrating at Centre: One of Judy Caldserwood’s creations the forthcoming Retreat. Above: Nancy Ballesteros models one of her hats.

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 7 toss n tell continued

Above Below Left: Animal brooches by Heather Davis Left: Chris Harnby’s creations Centre: Karen Wood & Sue Swain model Karen’s Centre: Tanya Peter’s toys bargains Right: Judith Shaw demonstrates Right: Marie Marshall and her wrap

After lunch Judith Shaw gave us a very interesting illustrated talk on “Moulding Felt”. She covered a table with everyday examples of what can be used as a mould to make a practical or fun felted item. She sug- gested starting with small projects, using moulds as basic as a used plastic container or even a wine cask. The mould is covered with wool and any decorative yarn/threads desired and felted directly onto the container – bearing in mind it will never fully felt until the mould is removed. For some shapes it may be necessary to wrap wool around a container, put it in a plastic bag, pour in some soapy water and rub the wool through the plastic bag. Judith showed us a neat zippered felt traveling bag which she had made by felting around a wine cask, then removing the cardboard by cutting below the top, blowing up the used wine blad- Left: Gabrielle Carati’s felting tool Right: Judith Shaw’s travel bag

8 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 toss n tell continued

der to the shape required, inserting it into the opening of the semi felted piece, felting the wool more, sewing the zip in by hand, and completing the felting.

Other ideas include felting a brick to make an attractive door stop which can be used safely on polished floors without scratching – just make the wool on the base a bit thicker than the other sides- or using a plastic 3 litre juice bottle as a mould for the body of a felt man hiding 3 toilet rolls. A plastic 1 litre milk bottle or plastic hair shampoo bottle is a good shape to use for the body of a felt doll, plastic lids and rings on plastic bottles can be useful moulds for faces and brooches, a rock when felted makes a good paper weight. If you felt a bar of soap and attach a felt cord it is handy to leave hanging on a garden tap for washing your hands outside. Moreover, no one absentmindedly puts into their pocket and takes off with ballpoint pens which have been felted with long tails attached (nor are they difficult to find lying about the house either)! An attractive felt mask can be made by felting over a plastic or ceramic mask. It can decorate a bag or if you want to turn this felted mask into a wall decoration, stiffen it using a mix of PVC glue and water applied with a small paint brush.

Judith’s final words of advice to us were not to set too many goals or expectations but to free yourself up to play, look at lots of different everyday objects with fresh eyes and novel ideas of what can be used to mould felt will come flooding in!

Top: One of Judith’s free creations Above left: Judith Shaw models her mask bag Above right: More of Judith’s creations

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 9 Techniques Taught by Judit Pocs 5 July 2008 with Heather Davis

Feltwest recently had the pleasure of a visit by Hungarian feltmaker, Judit Pocs. Judit ran two classes, both working with 3d form in miniature, which were absolutely fantastic. If you came to see her DVD screening or saw some of the results at May toss n tell then you would need no convincing that what Judit creates and teaches is exceptional. I will try my best to pass on some of these techniques taught at both workshops to the unlucky people who missed out on her workshops. These techniques suit experienced felters with a knowledge of resist and some level of patience, as it is all hand worked. We can work metallic fabrics, glass drops, beads, shells and other small treasures into the felt, as well as shaping and adding ex- tra dimensions to our object. The DVD will also be available for viewing during the class.

Making a Wearable Art Wrap/Shawl 2 August 2008 workshops with Susan Swain I’ll bring several examples of shawls to show you on the day, and you can decide which one to make, or how to modify what you want to make, based on the materials you bring with you. I’m happy to talk to anyone who wants more advice on what to buy, if they want to give me a ring before the workshop. My mobile is: 0439 641 227, and if you leave a message, I can ring you back outside of working hours. In order to make a wearable wrap, you need to decide what type of wrap you’d like. There are several options that we can look at during the workshop, including:

1. A shawl using a sarong as a base (about 1.5m X 1.2m – can be longer) 2. A shawl using a silk lap as a base (one that can be stretched and stretched) 3. A shawl using an open-weave fabric as a base (about 2m X 1.5m or 1.5m X 1.2m knitted fabric) 4. A shrug-type shawl, using only wool, but it will be thick and stiff-ish

The two reasons that I suggest a fabric as a base, is:

One: because the garment is worn a lot, and has to have an inherent strength as it wraps around your body, is partly sat upon, or is tugged through your constant movement in wear- ing the garment, and Two: the felt needs to be fairly loosely felted in some instanc- es, so that it “drapes” and is not stiff, and the inner fabric allows a less-felted garment to hold together.

A list of materials needed for the workshop will be forwarded to each participant upon registration. 10 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 Integrated Fibres 6 September 2008 with LeeAnne Davis

Google these two words and you are looking at an array of words like rein- forced, emerging, fabrication, insertion, etc and no, they weren’t referring to textiles, but I am. I had the pleasure of spending a week at the Orange Textile Fibre Forum this year, a week with an embellisher and an amazing tutor – wow, the things we did!

In this workshop we will look at some fabulous techniques like creating dimensional surfaces, distressed surfaces, multi-layering and my personal favourite, ‘no you can’t do that on an embellisher’. Yes, we will be using felt and an assortment of fabrics, yarns and threads. And we will be using an embellisher, so if you have one or could borrow one, that would be great. No experience necessary. If you have further questions you can email [email protected].

Expressions of Interest – Proposed Alexander Pilin’s workshop in September 2008 Alexander Pilin came to Perth a few years ago, and some lucky members experienced this amazing Rus- sian felt scientist. So meticulous in his process, Pilin had sampled every possible combination of wool, prefelt and felt possible, with exceptional and inspiring results. This is what he calls the felt matrix. I still have not managed to try all the combinations but am inspired and reminded of his ideas constantly. Pilin was so full of character and knowledge, anyone would find it hard to not be captivated by his passion for felt and inclusion of leather. The typical coarse Russian wool he uses is alien to us but all the techniques are adaptable to our fine merino. Feltwest has the opportunity to welcome back Pilin in September, and we would like to find out how much interest there would be in attending this great feltmaking class. A basic knowledge of feltmaking and experience would be required. Possible classes could be felt and leather shoe making or felt and leather bag or accessories, but all classes include exploring the felt matrix. Please rush your expressions of interest to Lindy Frayne, 16 Long Street, Beaconsfield 6162 or email [email protected] You may also like to look at Alexander’s website...www.geocities.com/apilin/

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 11 annie rawle by Tanya Peters

Well known textile artist Annie Rawle, graced us not only with her presence, but her extensive skills and talent. Annie is half of the team of Catalyst, teaching varied textile art techniques, and FeltWest invited Annie to teach a special workshop on Machine Embroidery for FeltWest members at Craft House on March 1st 2008. The workshop booked out and those people lucky to attend learnt a myriad of new techniques to enhance their felt.

Having sewn for many years and been a free motion stitcher, I was uncertain as to whether I would learn anything new. The samples Annie brought along put my mind to rest. Yes, I would be learning a lot. Annie also made her first ever piece of felt for this workshop, so a big congratulations to her. We also learnt that her sister in London is Secretary of the International Felters, and she also sent along a few pieces she had made especially for our workshop.

Anyone can machine embroider……as long as you have a sewing machine. Two important things you must have are either a darning foot, sometimes better known as a stippling foot, and the ability to drop the feed dogs of your machine. Annie talked us through tension of the reviews machine. In particular, when using zig zag stitch, ease off the tension. You can use the tension on your machine to your advantage. Sometimes too tight or not tight enough makes a super effect, it is all learnt through play.

The two main stitches we used were straight and zig zag. I had never free motioned in zig zag before, but I sure do now. You get an amazing jagged effect that you can adjust, this time by lengthening or shortening the stitch width. You need to check that the foot you are using can take the width of the stitch before you start sewing. Before starting any free motion stitching, make sure that your stitch length is set to zero, your feed dogs are dropped and you have an appropriate foot on. If you have an old needle in your machine and you are unsure as to its sharpness, change it out, as a sharp needle will move through your felt better.

Some people like to work in a hoop, while others see no need to. It is all up to you, just remember that if you are working in a hoop, ensure your felt is tight in the hoop. A small hint is to wrap the base of your hoop in fabric, as this will help it grip better. The way you move your hands with your fabric, will determine the stitches you produce. Try to be loose and relax. Start off sewing in circles, around and around, get a rhythm and just doodle with circles. Don’t make the mistake of sewing slowly. The slower you go, the more frustrated you may get. Going faster may scare you a little at first, but it truly is much easier. Don’t be afraid of going over the same lines, or of not being able to go over the same lines. Practice is the only thing which makes a good stitcher.

Doodling is therapeutic and the best practice I know. Not being a confident drawer, I cheat and draw onto Solvy and then stitch that onto my fabric. This way I have an outline to follow, which sometimes makes it easier to practice with. The beauty about incorporating stitching into felt, is the pattern, texture and colour you can achieve no other way. With the amazing array of threads available today, you will be amazed at what you can do.

At the Retreat, I will be doing a demo on machine embroidery, so if your interest has been sparked, come along and see for yourself how easy it can be. Remember, let your felt be your canvas!

Editor’s Note: FeltWest will be asking Annie to teach another Machine Embroidery class for FeltWest members early next year. We’ll let you know the date in plenty of time.

12 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 fabric + felt = nuno By Virginia Campbell

“Nuno” is Japanese for fabric or cloth so it was entirely appropriate that a table laden with a fabulous array of glorious fabrics greeted us when we arrived for Lindy’s nuno workshop. It was a welcome sight as we unloaded and struggled into Craft House with all our wool, felting equipment and other bits and bobs we thought we “just might need”, in the midst of the heaviest rainfall for the year to date! As we sloshed in, Lindy’s wonderful collection of inspiring fabrics, gleaned with her discerning eye from various op shops and other opportunities, gladdened our felters’ hearts. We quickly forgot our wet feet and were ready to plunge into the excitement and occasional, but always fascinating, unpredictability of nuno felting.

We commenced with some instruction and background information, and an examination of numerous samples Lindy had brought along, which illustrated some of the diverse and unusual effects one can achieve in nuno felting.

Nuno felting involves felting wool to fabric. The wool fibres travel through the weave of the cloth and en- tangle on the reverse side of the fabric. As the wool fibres shrink, a strongly textured felt is created and the fabric is pulled up by the wool fibres, creating a runched, textured effect in the fabric. The result will depend on the amount of wool used, how it is laid, and on the fabric(s) used (heavier fabrics create a more obvious texture than lighter fabrics, natural fabrics create more texture and tend to be more predictable than syn- thetics etc.) Fabrics which are lightweight, have a fairly open weave you can blow through, and a matt surface (like silk chiffon, gauze, silk georgette, cotton muslin, cotton scrim) are ideal for nuno felting. However, even fabrics which don’t “felt well” can be used in nuno felting with great effect – eg. pieces of such fabrics can be entrapped by wool strips between fine layers of silk. Sometimes the felting process can be assisted by laying a fine layer of wool over the top of a fabric (as in the case of velvet). Much depends on the fabric you choose and the effect you want. Two layers of very fine, different coloured tissue silk can be laminated together with wool fibres laid underneath the two layers or between the two layers. Or one can lay down some wool fibre on top of two layers of fine silk then more pieces of the silk which has been laid on the bottom layer can be laid on top of the wool fibre. A mosaic of different pieces of fabric can be created by inserting thin layers of wool fibre between and over overlapping fabric edges and felting, or by basting the fabrics together first and then laying thin wool strips over the basting. The basting can be easily removed after felting. Another method is to lightly sew the pieces of fabric together with fine wool yarn, place on prefelt or needle felted wool then felt it together. Needle felted wool is also useful to easily and effectively create reverse inlay effect – eg. cut out shapes in the needle felted wool, the voids which have been left by removing those shapes are then filled with different coloured wool or with fabric, and then felt the entire piece.

Unfortunately, this fun and creative workshop day came too quickly to an end. Most participants worked on more than one piece and tried to take away different samples to complete later and to use as reference pieces and springboards for further experimentation in the future.

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 13 artists talk - Judit Pocs by Virginia Campbell

This evening introduced a considerable number of members and friends to the diversity, extraordinary im- aginativeness, large quantity and beautiful quality of visiting Hungarian felt artist, Judit Pocs’ work in felt.

We marveled at images of her jewellery and sculptural hats with embedded jewels, pearls, silver and gold thread, decorative metal and shell pieces. We were amazed at the hats she designed for members of an Hungarian orchestra, each hat clearly and wittily reflecting the instrument its member plays.There were also images of her fabulous bags – a few hand stitched in leather with decorative felt inserts, but mostly beautifully shaped, stylishly designed bags in felt or nuno felt. We also saw hats which were designed so that they could double as bags and vice versa, handwarmers, wonderful reptiles of all sizes, fish and horses on little wheels. She spoke of her background and some of her work designing puppets and costumes for the Puppet Theatre in Kecskemet, and creating sculptural hats for the Pest Hungarian Theatre produc- tion of Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor”. All her work appeared exquisitely shaped and beautifully finished with enviable attention to detail.

We were also delighted to watch the English language version of the documentary film she made about felting, “On Gentle Threads”, which recently won the award for best educational film at the Hungarian Film Festival. The film was informative, briefly showing different types of sheep in Hungary and various types of wool available, shearing, carding and dyeing methods. Most interesting, however, for many, were the segments showing Judit at work – making bags, fabulous hats, an enormous pictorial rug, large and small sculptures and beautiful nuno felting- interspersed with lovely moments of levity. The colours used in her work in the film are glorious, the designs inspiring and also interesting it is to see the felting techniques she uses – plenty of very hot water and soap, massaging, rolling and nothing mechanical.

A number of people in the Monday evening audience lined up to buy a copy of her DVD afterwards so if you missed the opportunity to attend Judit’s presentation and film you may still be able to watch the DVD at the coming Retreat – highly recommended! hands on... and on... and on By Karen Wood Judit Pocs Three Day Workshop. Miniature Sculpture April/May 2008 Of all the wonderful visiting tutors Feltwest has had over the last few years, surely the most delightful must be our most recent, Judit Pocs from Hungary. With her warm smile and ever ready sense of humour, Judit managed to charm us into dispensing with all our labour saving devices – no sanders, dryers or micro- waves here, thanks very much – not even a needle unless you could be really sneaky - and get stuck into making thick, thick, luscious felt with only a bit of bubble wrap, lots of wool and our own two hands. Mind you, there was some consternation early on when Judit announced that she would like us to work in teams. Sharp intakes of breath. Beth’s face went white at the thought. Thankfully someone a bit brighter than most realised that the word intended was “theme”. Only a slight hiccup, and one that didn’t occur often since Judit’s English was excellent. The theme chosen by the group was seed pods – very appropriate in WA as we have such a plethora of fascinating specimens. This subject also allowed for a free play of imagination and great practice for some of Judit’s methods of making, which varied, sometimes slightly, sometimes greatly, from our own. Mind you, not everyone wanted to make a seed pod. I had already planned and drawn a sea-horse (well, the theme could have been sea creatures!). Alison very quietly just got on with a colourful gecko and Beth announced that she was making a face (which turned into the head of a crazed celebrity with an overload of Botox). And it didn’t matter. Judit still smiled. And anyway, some who started with seed pods ended up with something else entirely. One of Soosie’s, for example, morphed into a sputnik! There were, however, some very beautiful sculptural pieces made. Sangit made a pea pod complete with fat green peas. Leanne’s Herbaceous Carnivore was gorgeous, and Heather’s Bad Banksia Man naughty in rich orange. Tanya’s Koru seed pot required lots of finger power and tenacity on account of its complicated additions, but ended up an impressive example of what can be done using Judit’s well-calculated methods. Louise

14 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 complained about having aching fingers at the close of play on the last day, but that’s hardly surprising since, in addition to a beautiful seed pod thingy, she completed several other pieces including three or more rings, most tricky of all, I thought, after five abortive tries to get one started. The results of this Judit Pocs workshop will hopefully be seen all together at a Toss and Tell sometime soon, but the lessons learnt by the class will be shown, I am sure, in the future felting practice of all of the participants. POCS-TIPS 1. Roll ropes on bubble wrap using water only. This will prevent slipping and so make the process much quicker. Soap (never, never washing up liquid) can be added once felting has begun. 2. Curved additions to the main body of the work should be made in a straight line, then curved onto the body. Judit has a plastic resist strategically placed so the base of the addition can be split, spread and then rubbed onto the sculpture using only one further layer of wool. 3. Additions – tails, frills, beads etc are added after the initial wetting down of four layers of wool. It was this wetting down before decorating or working on any additions that I found a very useful Pocs-Tip, as I hadn’t ever worked quite that way before, though others probably have. It certainly makes sense when making thick felt. I’ve often had to wet down a huge cloudy pile, a bit like felting a sheep pre-shearing, and then had problems making sure silk, or even pre-felt decorations, stayed in the correct place. 4. Beads or buttons can be threaded onto wool yarn or wisps of fibre and incorporated into the piece after the first layers have been wetted. For applying a large bead, use a wet piece of prefelt for the attach- ment. Completely cover the bead, then snip with sharp scissors once a strong bond has been made. 5. Judit rolls felt quite late – once everything is well attached, so probably beyond prefelt. Only an old cotton sheet is used and the bundle is rolled on a sheet of bubble wrap. This has a great advantage in that it gets rid of all excess water. Also the sheeting attaches to itself, so no tying up is needed. And it doesn’t slip on the bubble wrap. 6. Water is tepid, just, for the initial wetting, then becomes warmer and warmer until, for the final rolls, boiling water is poured on straight from the kettle. 7. Work is organised in such a way that, with the exception of very large rugs, Judit can always sit down to make felt. This is important if we need to work for long hours and wish to avoid back and shoulder problems. 8. Judit always has a dry towel handy as much of her decoration requires dry fingers for its application. And frequently used, small, sharp scissors live in her apron pocket . The only sign of Tutor distress I saw all workshop was when they couldn’t be found!

Above left: Karen Wood’s super seahorse Above centre: Alison Gnome’s gorgeous Gecko Above right: Heather Davis’: Big Bad Banksia Man FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 15 Judit Pocs - Jewellery by Virgina Campbell

What a lovely 2 days of learning and felting! Judit was a great teacher – calm, encouraging, diplomatic, clear in her directions and happy to repeat those directions numerous times! Unfortunately, when she initially demonstrated how to shape and felt a brooch she made it all look so effortless, that it was a shock to some of us to find shaping a charming small brooch in soapy wet wool was no easy matter. Further, we found we didn’t all possess “Teflon fingers”, like she apparently did, which kept the wet wool obediently in place and not sticking elsewhere. For some of us our finished brooches more closely resembled bowls and rather strange alien creatures than something you might voluntarily pin on your clothing for ornamentation!

However, regardless of how our first piece turned out, for most of us making a brooch involved learning a number of new skills as well as being a lot of fun. One of these new skills was learning how to embed buttons, stones, shells and metal objects in felt, without having to resort to sewing them in later, or entrapping these objects by nuno felting. I also found it interesting to use an old cotton sheet, as Judit recommended, (instead of a wooden blind or plastic bubble wrap) in the rolling process, after first massaging the piece with wet soapy fingers by pressing it down and rubbing it on a bubble wrap base for a considerable time.The shrinkage when the piece was rolled in the cotton sheet (on bubble wrap base) for a relatively short time was quite dramatic.(Water used at that stage was hot too).

Our second project was to make a ring and many of those made were decorated with the large glass stones Judit provided or with buttons or metal pieces. Again, shaping a very small object like a ring was a challenge, as was the need to create a strong, correctly sized band.

The second day of the workshop we made a decorative necklace. Many of us, with Judit’s encouragement, made a necklace comprising 3 separate pieces – the necklace cord, a middle element linking the cord with a larger bottom element, and the bottom element which incorporated a tiny pocket. This entailed making a resist (many of us used foam underlay commonly used in the laying of wooden floors) as well as designing separate shapes for the 2 elements of the necklace. Judit taught us to roll a necklace cord measuring 90 cm when first rolled and wet (excluding 2 short dry ends) so that the necklace would hang at an appropriate height and could easily slip over the head when completed. Once the cord, first and second elements were joined together, we were advised to roll the pieces separately as well as together, paying special ongoing attention to maintaining the individual shapes of the cord, the middle element and the bottom element of the necklace.

I think we came away from the 2 day workshop more proficient in shaping and moulding wet wool and more aware of the need for detailed planning before commencing a piece and for precision in the felting process when making felt jewellery. Of course, we all enjoyed the leaning process, as the photo below shows. Above: Fish pendant by Chris French

Above left: Very happy workshop group Above right: Examples of work produced in the workshop 16 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 Wagin Woolorama

Congratulations to FeltWest Member, Val Hornibrook, who recently won the Woolorama Wool Agency Designer of the Year Award 2008, and $1,000 prize at the Wagin Woolorama for her beautiful piece (photographed and appearing on the front cover of FeltWest Newslet- ter Volume 4, 2007).

FeltWest Secretary, Lindy Frayne, was also represented at Wagin with her beautiful outfit pictured on page 6 of this issue of the newsletter.

The Australian Wool Fashion Awards Our members are certainly gaining a name for themselves! Soosie Jobson placed Second in Wearable Art at TAWFA. There are only four garments per category selected for the cat- walk from 100s each year. Soosie descibes the garment below.

Poirtuny Foray A recent visit to the Victo- ria and Albert Museum’s fashion collection inspired a renewed interest in Art Nou- veau and Art Deco fashion, Poiret and Fortuny in particular. As a felt maker the challenge was how to create such a dress with a fabric that has no grain, warp or weft to utilise when engineering the structure. How to make it glamorous and seductive using felt, which is most often linked with winter woollies. Would Marchesa Casati, who was dressed by both Poiret and congratulations Fortuny, wear it?

Garment Construction The garment is hand made nuno felt using 17 micron fine Merino wool and silk tissue chiffon. The skirt of the dress had been made in one piece with the flounces added before the fulling process. The top half constructed from another piece of nuno felt, pleated then tailored straight onto the dummy. Finished with simple feature stitching using strong architectural lines.

Flapper style felt string of pearls & head- piece, pendant, earrings and bracelet are embroidered felt and wool fibres.

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 17 bition of contemporary quilts held at Mundar- Exhibitions & Festivals ing Arts Centre. www.waquilters.org.au 4 May -25 May 2008, “The Third House – an exhibition of works from Stitch n Bitch”, The 4 July – 3 August 2008, Feltwest members Gallery at Ellenbrook House, 34 Main Street, Heather Davis, Lindy Frayne, Liz Odd and Ellenbrook. Gallery Hours: Wed – Fri 10am- Leanne Davis will be part of a Fungi dyed 2pm, Sat – Sun 1pm-5pm. Participating Art- textile exhibition at Mundaring Arts Centre ists include FeltWest member Shirley Maher) this winter. A Dying Art will be exhibiting at the same time as Stitched and Bound (above). 29 May – 1 June 2008, Rapt in Felt – CRF The display of textiles will incorporate natural Annual Exhibition, Fashion Parade and Ba- fungi dyes and be presented in conjunction zaar, CSIRO Discovery Centre, Black Moun- with workshops and artists’ talks for the Mun- tain, Canberra daring Shire’s Truffle Festival.

27-30 June 2008 Alice Springs Beanie Fes- 18-20 July 2008 The Australian Sheep and tival – See www.beaniefest.org or contact Jo Wool Show, Bendigo, Vic. Secretary ASBA, 0408 436 928 PO Box 219 Bendigo, Vic 3552. Phone 03 5439 5094 or email [email protected]. 4 July – 3 August 2008 Stitched and Bound au 2008. WA Quilters Association Biennial exhi- billboard 14 -26 August 2008, “Out of the Helen O’Neill has just advised 24HR Art – The Northern Terri- Blue” – an exhibition by members that her new website is up and tory Centre for Contemporary Art of the Australian Textile Arts and running : www.salswoolden.com invites independent artist to sub- Surface Design Association, Palm mit proposals for new residency House Gallery, Royal Botanic Opportunities program which is open to Austral- Gardens, Sydney. For details of To apply for an Anne and Gordon ian and international artists for this and numerous workshops Samstag International Visual Arts periods of up to 6 weeks. Free run throughout the year at Ep- Scholarship (tuition, travel and accommodation and studio space ping (Sydney) see www.atasda. $US 30,000 stipend for students of 50m2 at Wood St Gallery, Dar- org.au or contact Kirry Toose at and recent graduates) contact the win City. Contact Steve@24hrart. [email protected]. Samstag Program, SA School of org.au www.24hrart.org.au au Art, university of South Australia, GPO Box 2471 Adelaide, SA 31 May 9am – 2pm Martien’s Websites 5001 Website www.inisa.edu.au/ Garage Sale with a Twist. 129 Member Betsy Bush kindly samstag Entries close June each Alma Road, North Perth – a one wrote congratulating FeltWest year for the following year off Textile Studio Sale. For further on its stall at the Fremantle Arts info phone Martien on 92270609 Centre’s Christmas Bazaar, 13 September 2008-1st Febru- describing it as” by far the most ary 2009 Expressions 2008: interesting and definitely the best The Wool Quilt Prize, held at the Conferences & stall there”. She also said that National Wool Museum, Geelong, when she had done a FeltWest Entries due by 4 July 2008.Selec- Workshops workshop “one of the tutors was tion is juried, based on slides or 16th, 17th & 18th July 2008, mentioning that people were electronic images provided with 9.30-3.00pm, Embroiderers Guild having difficulty finding a new entry form. Entry forms from of WA is holding a Fancy Feet supplier for the bed raisers that www.num.vic.gov.au or contact Retreat at Guild House, Alfred many members were using”( to Lynette Christie 03 52270864 Cove. Opportunity to make zany elevate their tables). “One of my and creative designer footwear friends recently found a supplier 15 Nov 2008-11 Jan 2009 18th with assistance. Basic layout in Midland. Here’s a link to their Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial pattern for fabric and patterns website in case you want to let (artists invited to contact Curator for knitting/crocheting supplied. people know: www.sunmedical. Valerie Kirk, gallery@tamworth. Hand or machine embellishments com.au “ nsw.gov.au) including beads, cords, felting,

18 FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 stumpwork, tassels etc. Cost $65 and historical ruins. Cost approx of Stock and Kitchener Roads, Guild members, $130 non mem- $7000 includes airfare, airport Melville, phone Annie Rawle bers transfers, entry fees, archeologi- 94333418, 040414372794 or see Contact the Workshop Regisrar, cal dig, accommodation, some www.catalystworkshops.blogspot. Embroiderers Guild of WA Inc PO meals and workshop fees. For com Box 85 Applecross WA 6953 or more details contact Pat Jones, see www.embroiderersguildwa. Programme Coordinator RMIT 17 -22 Jan 2009 International org.au for details University, School of Fashion and Millinery Forum, includes hands- Textiles, [email protected] or on workshops, seminars, demos, 26 &27 July 2008, “Stitch and phone 03 99259159 trade expo, hat parades, gala Structure” Workshop, Embroider- dinner etc. www.internationalmil- ers Guild of WA Inc, Tutor: Jean 5 -11 October 2008, Fibres West, lineryforum.blgspot.com or phone Draper. Fabric, thread and a vari- Bunbury, under the auspices of Linda Tillman 04 3992193 or con- ety of other materials will be used The Australian Forum for Textile tact [email protected] to create exciting, contemporary Arts -5 day residential programme stitched 3 dimensional structures. includes workshops and lectures BEAD OBSESSION! $140 Guild members, $205 non from outstanding international and Only 6 places left for this work- members. (See above for contact Australian tutors in a variety of shop at the Geelong Forum 21st details). textile/fibre disciplines. For bro- -27th September. chures see www.fibreswest.com. Two world renowned artists work- September 2008 – 3 weeks au or contact forum@fibreswest. ing with beads, Rebecca Brown- Textile Study Tour of Turkey com.au or send a stamped ad- Thompson (www.rbrown.co.nz) – visit the Grand Bazaar of Istan- dressed envelope to Fibres West and Katya Gunn (www.lucellan. bul, take part in a felt workshop 2008, PO box 648, North Perth com) will lead an inspiring adven- with Master Feltmaker, Mehmet WA 6906 ture in beadmaking on fabric. Girgic, visit ancient archeological Phone +61.(0)7.3300.6491 sites, weaving and craft villages, Catalyst workshops are offered [email protected] textile mills, carpet cooperative, at the Melville Guides Hall corner www.ggcreations.com.au/tafta/

Judit Pocs Workshop in Bunbury

At the Bunbury Felters’ Group request, FeltWest asked Judit Pocs to teach a workshop in Bunbury during her visit to WA. FeltWest Member and Bunbury Felters’ Group Leader, Val Hornibrook, wrote the following Review:

Workshop was 2 days, showing us Miniature Sculpture and Jewellery. Judit’s work is amazing. She showed us how to use the method of 5 layers, one complete and one overlapping, leaving the last layer to decorate. This method showed us how not to have the bulk edges which we sometimes have when working with 3D pieces. She also taught us to slow down in our work by rubbing and rolling, and handling our pieces, and to take time in layering our work. Most of our group made a 3D item for “The Waterways”, which is the theme for the end of year exhibition at the Stirling Arts Centre. On Sat- urday evening we had a show of her CD at one of our member’s homes followed by a beautiful meal, thank you, Kerry.

FeltWEST 2008 Volume 2 19 for fulldetailsseethisnewsletterorwww.feltwest.org.au ph: 94741741email:[email protected] 193 LabouchereRoad,Como 6152 Jennifer Blair, Committee ph: 0433621154 email:[email protected] 2 FisherStreet,WhiteGumValley 6162 Soosie Jobson,Publisher ph: 62 GoldsmithRoad,Dalkieth6009 Virginia Campbell,Editor ph: 93365676email: 19 LuciusStreet,HamiltonHillWA 6163 Sangit Tafelmaier, Treasurer ph: 93374069email:[email protected] 16 LongStreet,Beaconsfield6162 Lindy Frayne,Secretary Ph: 92937015email: PICKERING BROOKWA 6076 265 PickeringBrookRd, Heather Davis,President Sat 19th Sat 5 July Sat 21st Sat 7th June contacts Sat 20th calendarSat 6th September Sat 16th Sat 2nd August 0416264175 email: [email protected] [email protected] Tossn Tell Workshop AGM & Toss n Tell Workshop Tossn Tell Workshop Tossn Tell Workshop

[email protected] Felt Jewellery Integrated FibreswithLee Anne Davis See insertinthisissue Wearable Art Wraps withSueSwain Silk paperwithNancyBallesteros Judit Pocs Techniques withHeatherDavis Retreat Discussion Beginners withSoosieJobson ph: 92711235email:[email protected] 32 MelroseCrescent,Menora WA 6050 Louise Nidorf,Committee ph: 93711562 190B SalisburyStreet,BedfordWA 6052 Lyn Lukic,Committee ph: 94475659email:[email protected] 30 PascoeStreet,Karrinyup6018 Judith Shaw, Committee ph: 94474833email:[email protected] 3 Tecoma Street,Duncraig 6023 Jan Stroud,Committee ph: 93818174email:[email protected] 3 Tipperary Mews,Subiaco6008 Jo-Anne Saunt,MinutesSecretary email: [email protected] ph: 93873007fax:1747 6 BenweeRoad,Floreat6014 Nancy Ballesteros,Vice President