Beginners' Courses - dates to be arranged: Working with fresh, dried & artificial flowers; 'Painting' with Threads
OUR NEXT COURSES:
Wednesday 19th - Tuesday 25th September, 2018 Fully-booked
Wednesday 10th - Tuesday 16th October, 2018 Only 4 places remaining!
Wednesday 10th - Tuesday 16th April, 2019
FELTING
Create your own Felt Picture to take home!
Olwen Thomas
Felting Course Tutor
Welcome to my felting course!
'Painting' with Wool
I would love to share my enthusiasm for creating 'Felt and Stitch' pictures with you. I can help you find a subject that inspires you, be it landscape, buildings or flowers, then share the process of turning fleece into felt, followed by embellishment using needle felting technique and hand embroidery.
The class size will be small, guaranteeing individual attention. The aim of the course is to encourage you to experiment and have fun, working at a speed that suits you and having the satisfaction of achieving a picture at the end of it to take home as a reminder of a very relaxed and happy holiday in rural France.
Stage 1. We will take you on a tour of our beautiful countryside to absorb the ambience of Old Gascony, visiting sites of lavoirs (wash houses), pigeonieres (pigeon houses) and passing through ancient villages. This will hopefully inspire your choice of subject for your picture. You can bring a camera and a sketch book if you wish, but photographs pre-taken by us will be available back in the Studio for reference.
Stage 2. We now start the fun part! I will demonstrate the Carding and Laying the Wool Fibres onto a bamboo mat to form the background of the picture. You can all make your own, but if the process is difficult for you I will help you, or you can choose a background I will have made previously. (The wool has to be massaged quite vigorously with hot soapy water),
Stage 3. Rinse and dry the felted background
Stage 4. Needle Felting with special needles, using additional wool to define shapes and add detail
Stage 5. Iron on 'Vilene' backing. This strengthens the picture and enables you to stitch through it
Stage 6. Embellish with embroidery threads to add finer detail
Stage 7. Mount your picture onto backing canvas ready to take home
A selection of the wools and threads you will be using
Carding the wool
Work in progress: examples of backgrounds ready for needle felting
Three felt pictures created by me depicting scenes from 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas
Note: These are more advanced than the work you will be doing on the Course
Winter: A Shepherd in the Pyrenees
This picture displays detailed embroidery
The 'Transhumance'
Every year the sheep follow the shepherds up the mountains to their summer pastures
The 'Atelier' (studio/workroom) where you will be working
Pricing:
Cost per person, single occupancy of room £1,475.00
Cost per person, two people sharing room £1,275.00
Non-participating partner £875.00
Non-resident £795.00
What's included:
We will collect you from Toulouse (Blagnac) Airport and transport you to the Course venue. We will return you to Toulouse Blagnac Airport at the end of the Course . (Participants arriving at any other airport/train station must make their own arrangements at their own cost for travel to and from the course venue).
Course fee and all course materials
Outings for non-participating partners
Linen, towels, basic toiletries
Continental breakfast - Morning coffee - Lunch - Afternoon tea - Dinner
Wine & Aperitifs
Self-service coffee/tea, soft drinks and snacks available 24hrs
Visits to local places of interest
Lunch at a local restaurant on one occasion
Interesting short talks in the evenings, wine tasting, BBQ's, etc.
Use of magnificent heated outdoor swimming pool (weather permitting)
What's not included:
Travel from your home to Toulouse, Blagnac Airport; return to your home from Toulouse, Blagnac Airport
Cost and provision of Passports & Visas (visas are not required for EU citizens) and any other travel documents
Personal insurance - see
Terms & Conditions