Felt
Wool is such an exciting material to work with and I find the possibilities are endless. It’s the versatility of felt that keeps me hooked. There’s endless scope for experimentation and so it really appeals to my adventurous side. I can sculpt with it, combine merino fibres with a vast selection of other fibres and create a whole new textile with its own particular qualities. I love that I can paint with wool and silks to create luxurious surface textures and create dramatic patterns into the textiles very make-up, but this is still to simplify my love of felt. Every aspect of this fibre fascinates me and I’m intrigued by the science of my craft. Felt is water resistant, stain resistant, insulating, and all without the use of nasty chemicals! It’s a completely organic material, and this is really important to me. easy.
My Design Process
I approach felting much as I would do with a painting. Once I have an idea in my head, I’ll lay out all my beautiful coloured wools and start to make decisions about colour combinations. I have a huge variety of dyed wool yarns, silks and various other fibres so the decision can be a hard one to make. The design process can take hours and include labour intensive needle felting in parts to ensure no shifting whilst I’m working. For my recent collection, I drew out the design using pencil roving as a starting point and then continued to build upon it using the wools to paint with. Once I’m happy with how it all looks the felting process begins.
 Colour Crazy |  Lascaux Wool Painting Process |  Lascaux Wool Painting Process |
|---|---|---|
 Chauvet Scarf in the Making |  Black Stag Scarf in the Making |  Inspiration from a Vase of Flowers |
 A Vase of Flowers in the Making |  Vase of Flowers |  Detail from A Vase of Flowers |
 Petals |  Needle Felting a Butterfly |  Wet Felting a Scarf |
 Needle Felting a Dinosaur |