Welcome to The Illawarra Feltmakers. We meet on the first Saturday of the month at North Kiama Neighbourhood Centre from 10 till 3, March to November. If you want details please email-theillawarrafeltmakers@gmail.com

Monday 12 November 2012

Wearable Art & Viva la Gong


Greetings to All,

The Illawarra Feltmakers Inc have won the Red Point Wearable Art Award for 2012 with an entry titled Gallygaskin - all felted of course!
The Wearable Art Showcase took place last Friday evening and was part of the Viva la Gong celebrations. 
Gallygaskin was a creation inspired by the pantaloons worn by gentlemen in centuries past.
Andria was our very accommodating model.

Two members, who only joined the group this year, also had entries in the Accessory Showcase section. Our "Robyns" are great examples of what imagination, a little bit of experience and some daring can achieve. Have a look at the photos to see "Gallygaskin",  Robyn H "A Bird in the Hand" and Robyn M "Meeting on the Lily Pad hat".
Congratulations and a big thank you to all involved in Wearable Art Awards.

While "Gallygaskin" did us proud, .
The Red Point Art deserves an award too for such a wonderful evening of fun and great entertainment. It was an inspiring program with something for everyone.We wish to say thank you for making it possible, for giving the people of the Illawarra a creative focus and for that all important ingredient  - plain good fun. 
We appreciate all that has obviously gone into arranging such a show.





Viva la Gong
Thank you must also go to those who rallied on Saturday to be at McCabe Park for the Viva la Gong festivities. We had our tent and the new banner in the Creative Hub right next to the Wishing Tree. We couldn't have wished for better, as it brought the children to our ball making table in droves. Ball making work was made easy with so many helpers coming along. So thank you to Diana, Marianne, June, Simone, Robyn H ,Rachel, Anita and Barbara for your assistance we really appreciated everyone’s effort.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

International Felt Day

The Illawarra Feltmakers celebrated international felt day with a group project in the theme of Fire.





Monday 23 July 2012

Exhibition & Workshop

A big thank you to everyone who made our exhibition possible & attended.









In conjunction with the exhibition we ran a vest workshop with Phyllis Hoffman all attendees completed a beautiful vest





Tuesday 26 June 2012

The Illawarra Feltmakers Exhibition

The Illawarra Feltmakers would like to invite you to our exhibition.
We will have a special guest to officially open the exhibition at 6.00pm on the 13th July.
Hope to see you

Monday 28 May 2012

Workshop with Marjolein Dallinga

Form in felt/ Felt in form Workshop with
Marjolein Dallinga
On 24 & 25th April, ten of our members gathered at the Werri Beach Progress Hall to be inspired by Marjolein’s approach to using coloured wool and textiles, loose fibres and threads in the felted form.
We were assured that there was no compulsion to produce an object by workshop’s end. Rather we were on a journey, a process of experimentation and discovery. Marjolein encouraged us to use our emotions and memories as the basis for colour choices in our first project. So we laid out many layers of different coloured wool fibre interlaced with pieces of fabric, fibre and threads. At times this was a challenge for those who felt a need to know where this was heading. For others it was a chance to throw off the shackles and just go wild with colour and texture.
When all this was complete, the mystery deepened as we were instructed to gather sections, knot them securely and wait for it to dry. Then two hours or so of cutting will reveal all, reassured Marjolein. That we had to do at home as time was running out.
Our second project was to create a small 3D object based on a design of our own choosing. Here Marjolein demonstrated the benefits of very fine layers using variegated colours. By day’s end we all had something to show for our efforts.
It was a great chance to learn new techniques and Marjolein was most generous in sharing her knowledge and experience.
Below is a photo of the group hard at work, some of our finished creations and our President, Anita with Marjolein.



















Tuesday 22 May 2012

Wool Day Canberra

We had a fun day at the Bus Depot Markets Wool day.
Meet lovely people & picked up some  wooly felting supplies.
Our feltmakers stall- heaps of hats

Saturday 7 April 2012

Royal Easter Show 2012


The Sydney Easter Show Arts and Craft show has the “Fabulous Fibres” display.
Fabulous Fibres is coordinated as a joint effort of the Royal Agricultural Society and the following groups Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild of NSW, Knitters Guild NSW & NSW Machine Knitters Assoc. The Illawarra Feltmakers contributed items to the display.
                 



Melinda & Eleanor do felt demos at the Easter Show



Some of our members had exhibits at the easter show.
The results for the 2012 Royal Easter Show has great excitement for two of our members. Melinda Binkins has received six awards for her felted entries - three 1st prizes, two second prizes and Winner of Best Exhibition - Felting Classes. 





Also Barbara Wyles has received recognition for her knitting and spinning by being awarded two 1st prizes, a third and two Highly Commendeds. 




Great news and so well deserved. 

Saturday 10 March 2012




Phyllis Hoffman Felted Vest Workshop 14 / 15 / 16 July 2012

Shellharbour Village Exhibition Space (SVES)

Wentworth Street, Shellharbour Village – only 30 minutes south of Wollongong

Hosted by The Illawarra Feltmakers Inc

Make your own, custom fitted felt vest with Phyllis Hoffman of Melbourne. Phyllis will guide you through the designing and making of a felt vest that is both functional and stylish. She will be teaching basic pattern making and sewing construction, as well as felting in the making of your own unique vest.

To read about Phyllis and her wonderful vests, check out her website at www.phylstudio.com and her new book Felted Vests.

In conjunction with this workshop The Illawarra Feltmakers are holding their first gallery exhibition at SVES from 10th to 13th and 17th to 22nd July 2012. It is being curated by Anita Larkin.

The cost of the workshop is $270.00 for members and $320.00 for non-members.  A deposit of $50.00 is required on application with the balance due no later than 31 May 2012.

For further details refer to our last newsletter or contact us via e-mail at theillawarrafeltmaker@westnet.com.au

Thursday 8 March 2012

Wrap Vest Workshop

Last Saturday we had a wrap vest workshop. Everyone enjoyed creating a wearable garment.
Here we are with our wet garments on display.


Monday 20 February 2012

Welcome to The Illawarra Feltmakers Inc

The Illawarra feltmakers welcome you to our blog.
We will share info & events.

Pics of our tent roof project that we have worked on for the past 3 International Felt Days.