I have always enjoyed being creative.
Knitting, crochet, and knit to wet felt bags were all fun ways to use wool but then I discovered needle felting!
The idea of making wool sculptures fascinated me. I wanted to try various methods, I researched and found myself experimenting and adding my own techniques and ideas, this is how I found that needle felting is so forgiving most disasters could be salvaged!
Designing and making my own creations is very satisfying. The first being the Herdwick doorstop, this has become my most popular creation so far. The hobby eventually grew into what is now a small business, selling felted sculptures, doorstops and needle felted cushions in some wonderful galleries in the lake District , and running workshops at venues in Cumbria and North Yorkshire. Our work has also gone overseas , which is also something very exciting . There's a map below showing some of the locations , if you click the push pins there's a photo of the items people have purchased .
More recently the business has become more of a family business. My mother is pretty handy on the sewing machine, whipping up the cushion covers and such, also her background in accounts makes her the book keeper too. My husband, Richard, after being made redundant from his Printing job of 35 years, means he has had more time to help in the business, he quickly learned how to operate the drum carder and prepared the herdwick wool batting, more and more work came his way and eventually as I became so busy making the sculptures, Richard helped by felting the backgrounds on the cushions, I noticed what an excellent job he made of them, when he attempted to needle felt the whole cushion the results were amazing! Richard is now making all the cushions himself and is adding his own new designs to the collection.
We use a variety of wool, carded wool batting is ideal for 3D felting as it felts quickly, Jacob, Shetland and Herdwick , which is a breed native to our Cumbrian fells are our preferred wools.
Please have a look at the slide shows on the photo gallery page and see some of the items which can be created by felting. If you are new to felting I hope it inspires you to have a go yourself.
