Felt Jewellery

Just for fun and because I had seen the tutors’ work at Art in Action I went along to the City Lit in London for a one day introduction to felt jewellery. It was enjoyable but I was slightly disappointed as we were told there was not long enough to learn how to string beads which I had thought was on the course details. The tutor was Heather Belcher and she is very keen on carding wool prior to use. She showed an examples of two pieces of felt one carded and one not; certainly the carded one had much more visual texture. I think I got the hang of it better than previously and it seemed much less arduous. There is plenty of information about how to string beads on line- even videos.

We made felt tubes and felt balls and use elastic thread to make them into bracelets.

Here is a link to the work of Angela O'Kelly who makes some interesting pieces. One of my favourites jewellery artists is here, I particularly like her brooches.

Everyone seems to have different ways of making their felt. The tutor used a piece of calico to rub the wool inside rather than net, which is probably better as it doesn't get so stuck in the material.