Preston Embroidery and Textile Group
  • Who we are
  • Notices
  • Blog
  • Forthcoming Events
  • Gallery
  • Other News
  • Links
  • Location
  • Contact Us
  • Join Us

September 2018-–Workshop- Needle Felted Birds with Irene Pugmire

15/9/2018

0 Comments

 
After the summer break it was so good to meet up with friends and fellow stitchers once again and hear each other’s news. The committee thought that as it was our first month back after the summer it would be nice for everyone to work in the same room and Irene, our workshop tutor, agreed to this.
Picture
After the notices it was time for one of our own members, Irene, to be introduced to us by Sandie.
​Irene explained she had had great fun making needle felted teddy bears and had developed her techniques over time to include animals before moving on to birds. She showed us several of her examples and carefully explained the tools and techniques we were going to use, with an emphasis on health and safety issues. Felting needles have barbed points which obviously aid the felting but can hurt if stabbed into the fingers. The packs that Irene had prepared included finger stalls which could be worn to protect your fingers. We also had a piece of foam material to stab into.

We began the morning working on a robin. Irene showed us how to make the body of the robin using the white merino wool tops, starting by pulling the wool apart, not cutting it, and then gently turning the wool, tucking in the ends and preparing a shape the same size as shown on her well-produced instructions.
From then on she added red wool for the breast and brown for the back and bottom.
As we all moved onto our own robin, Irene moved around the class and encouraged us as the robins began to take shape. A sharp ouch! And Irene was there with her safety kit of plasters!​
Once the body had been completed Irene demonstrated how to make the wings, the tail and the beak attaching them to the body by felting them into place using the felting needle.
Then we moved onto the legs, which Irene had pre-formed for us out of wire and we had to wrap brown thread around them and attach them to the body with white wool, felting them in place as before. Small black beads were stitched in place for eyes.
The robins were taking shape before our eyes; a differing degree of shapes and sizes but they definitely looked like robins.​
At lunchtime members could admire the bunting project pieces which will be stitched together and finished for the AGM next month. Look out for the details and pictures in our ‘Other News ‘tab in the next few weeks.
​
In the afternoon session we began making a blue tit. Irene explained that a blue tit was quite a soft looking bird, so be careful not to over work the wool, it had to look fluffy. The body was made with yellow wool and white, blue and black was slowly added to give the blue tit its facial features. Again comprehensive notes helped us with this.
​
There was great laughter during the session enjoyed by everyone who took part. Irene showed great skill helping whoever was struggling with the basics (I certainly was one of them). At the end, the finished display showed how much had been achieved in the workshop.
​Thanks to Irene for a fun and creative workshop.
​A.R.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Posts prior to Feb 2013

    For posts prior to February 2013 please click here.

    Categories

    All
    Local News
    Workshops

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.