Author Archives: Teri

Concertina Hat Class

The concertina hat class drew to a close last Sunday after 4 weeks of fantastic hat making! We all had a fabulous time and everyone made stunning hats, which is all the more impressive when you consider that some of the students were relatively new to making felt over a resist. This post is a photo collage (in no particular order) from those who were happy for me to share their work publicly….

Meg was one of our most prolific milliners, producing 4 hats in just 4 weeks, the top one was inspired by Australian Banksia cones

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Phyllis was another very industrious felt-maker, all of her hats included lots of beautiful 3 dimensional texture and embellishments:

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This is Robin’s “Bill and Ben” hat, so named because she took it into work and her British colleagues started singing the theme tune to the well loved British children’s TV show 🙂robin-hat-3

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Tricia also managed to make 3 hats, I loved her single-sided snail fascinator, he reminds me of a colourful whelk 🙂

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This is Simon the snail, made by Jane:jane-1

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This was Lizette’s first hat and demonstrates beautifully how completely different styles of hat can be made from the same piece of felt – it all depends on how it is folded and shaped. I also like her style – felting with a glass of wine in hand, now that is classy! 🙂lizette-1

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Catherine only had time to make one hat but it was stunning:

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This was such a lovely class to teach, all the participants were so chatty,  friendly and supportive of each other it was wonderful to work with you all – thank you 🙂  We had some really good discussions and your questions made me stop and think about why I work in certain ways which is always a good thing!

Well done everyone, I am so very proud of you all! 🙂

Here are some of the comments from the students in case you are thinking of taking this class when it runs again later this year:

  • This has been such an enjoyable class! Thank you so much. I’ve never really taken any online classes, much less classes on fiber arts. Now I’ll probably sign up for more!
  • It’s been great fun, just wish it could last longer as I haven’t even started my last hat yet due to work being mad.
  • Hi Teri, thank you for a great class – I am sorry I have not had more time to play but will have lots of ideas and your good notes when the exhibition is over.
  • Once again Teri, many thanks for the workshop and to all of the other participants- thank you for all your input, creativity and inspiration.
  • It was a terrific experience and your input was very helpful. Thanks for a terrific course!

I will post the link to where you can sign up for the next class in a couple of weeks, but if you can’t wait and would like to register your interest, please use the contact box to get in touch.

Bridport Hat Festival

Saturday was spent in Bridport with the Region 2 IFA (International Feltmakers Association) ladies at the annual hat festival. We had a shared table in the town hall and had a lot of fun encouraging passers-by to model our hats. It was a long day and the weather wasn’t on our side, autumn arrived with gusto at lunchtime at the crowds rapidly thinned out but it was worth the trip just to see all the happy, laughing people trying on our hats. The snail hat definitely drew the most attention and giggles as people tried it on, however it was far too big for almost everyone, I really need to make some smaller versions of the snail! 🙂

This was our table – a very small space for 5 felt-makers to share but we made great use of every last inch!

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These two ladies were great sports, between them they must have tried on every hat on the table, and had a whale of a time doing so! 🙂

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A few of the team sporting our own creations, you can’t turn up to hat festival without a hat, that would be like walking down the high street naked!

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Clare, me and Liz

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Vivienne trying on the snail hat and Clare

Sunday was a felt-making day, and what else could I make after spending all day surrounded by so many gorgeous hats, but another hat! This one is a departure from my usual style and incorporates a wide brim. It is still damp, so the silk isn’t shiny yet but I really like the shape, somehow it makes me think of Guy Fawkes.

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