This month, in Florianópolis Island, Brazil, I had the opportunity to participate in the incredible event “Autênticas” at the beautiful store “Almanata”, invited by the owner Laura Gransotto alongside wonderful women like the speakers Luciana Rosa and Cristina Rosa. As a representative of Brazil in the International Feltmakers Association, I was invited to discuss my history with the ancestral technique of felting and its authenticity in practice. I shared my inspirations from Brazilian nature, my family’s history, natural dyeing with South American wild plants, and the intuitive way in which ..read more

One of my last activities as international officer was to visit De Schaapskooi in Schijndel, https://www.schaapskooischijndel.nl/. The secretary of the Schaapskooi foundation was interested in the IFA activities and I decided to visit her. Naturally, with some Felt Matters magazines in my pocket. The Schaapskooi is a foundation run by volunteers. It is home to several Dutch sheep breeds and when I was there, 85 lambs had already been born. You can take a walk with the sheep herd and there are educational programmes for all ages, about the plants and animals that live in and around the Sheepfol ..read more

The name of Asan came about in the conversation with Kamala Abdykadyrova when we started to work on the list of workshops for Felt and Culture Retreat in Kyrgyzstan. Kamala shown me the work. I could not take my eyes from the stunning landscapes. Asan is a member of the Union of Artist of Kyrgyzstan, and an artist whose work was presented on many exhibitions, movie sets and private collections. When I asked him for an interview he said that he will be with his wife as they work together. Sonia is a fine artist with experiences in working on stage decorations and teaching art. It is still white ..read more

The Whisper Project begins with a group of photographs, one for each chain of five or six members. The first person in the chain creates felt inspired by the photo. They then photograph their piece and send it to the next in the chain. This image inspires the next felt art and so it goes through the chain. Nothing but the photograph is sent. No previous work or the original photo is shared until the end when PDF is revealed at the zoom party. All participants were surprised and delighted to see the results! This project could be launched with any regional group. It is virtual so it can easily ..read more

The Felt Matters Archives, curated by the International Felting Association, features a series of articles centered around the theme “How to Photograph Your Work.” This intriguing topic has inspired our latest blog post, particularly relevant for those looking to enhance the publish ability of their work when submitting photos for our upcoming Online Exhibition. Our inaugural post in this series delves into a photography article penned by our chair, Mandy Nash, originally published in FM149 in December 2022. EDITING YOUR IMAGES WE ALL THINK WE ARE PHOTOGRAPHERS NOW WE HAVE INSTANT ACCESS TO T ..read more

Curious about the results of the IFA 2023 felt swap? Good news, the video with over 100 photos of felt brooches is ready for viewing. If you are a member, log in and find the video in the members’ section under “Felt Swap”. Not an IFA member (yet) but interested? Then check it out on the Instagram account “Internationalfeltmakers”. Have fun watching! Henny Article by Henny van Tussenbroek International Officer The post Video of the IFA 2023 swap photos appeared first on International Feltmakers Association ..read more

Don’t you just love the warmth of yellow colour?! To me this is like the colour of sunshine, and I simply love it. Then again I have never met a bland colour in nature. They are full of different hues, which create the richness we love so much. Today I would like to talk about my approach to ‘mixology‘ and creation of intricate colours with depth and highlights. And to do this I will use one of my recent creations, the yellow jacket, as an example I wanted to create a jacket with a rather subtle decor. So playing with colours was the obvious choice for me. First I think of which wool to use. I ..read more

Felt connects, let’s swap again! The fourth IFA felt swap is organized for 2023. In all of the previous times more than 100 IFA members have participated, which is a great result. I hope for many participants this time as well. After all, swapping your felt work is a fun way to connect with another IFA member. Following Light, Weave and Structure, the theme of this year’s felt swap is BROOCH. When making a brooch, you can use many techniques. Wet felting, dry felting and all kinds of ways to make your felt exciting. The size of the brooch is up to you. Whether you are a beginner or more exper ..read more

While at a fiber fest recently I had someone stop by at my booth claiming she was allergic to wool. Although the belief that wool can cause allergic reactions has been proven not to be true, many people still hold on to the belief that can. She then suggested that it possibly she didn’t have an allergy but rather skin irritation whenever she wore wool. Skin irritation due to wool is a frequent occurrence when wearables are made from wool that is too coarse for wearables. You see, it is not the “scales” on wool that cause skin irritation but rather the girth of the fiber is to blame. I suggest ..read more

The article “Effects of pH on Felting of Superfine Merino Wool” written by Nancy Ballesteros from Australia has been used as part of a feature written for Felt Matters June 2023 issue. It is something which I believe will be of interest to many of our members…. We all know that felting requires agitation, lubrication (soap), water, and heat. The article focuses on the effect of lubricant on Superfine Merino felting. Soap allows water to penetrate wool, swelling cuticle scales and making fibers more elastic. A soap’s pH influences felting rate by changing elastic properties of ..read more