
I did a felted collar workshop with Karen Lane last week with ladies from Region 8 of the Felt Association.
I have plenty of fleece in lots of different colours, but all merino, and we needed super-fine merino tops for the best result.
Lamorna very kindly gave me some super-fine merino tops in my favourite green, some cream, and some silk / viscose for decoration.
It was an early start and a long drive.
After some initital instruction from Karen, we were all keen to get started.
The fleece was laid out after drawing a pattern on the bubble wrap. As usual when felting, I become so engrossed in what I’m doing that I forget to take photos. It’s ready to start adding water and soap here.

Starting off slowly and gently, the felting process begins.

This is the wrong / inside of the collar at the pre-felt stage.

We had further instructions from Karen for the felting (fulling) and shaping.
And after much rolling and pulling, this is the finished collar at the end of the day, when it is still damp.

Karen showed us a variety of brooch techniques for us to choose from, before we all started one to fasten our collars. Mine isn’t quite finished, I’m going to add some beads and stitching.

It sits well at the back too. The silk shows up better now it’s dry. I’m really pleased with the colours and the lovely soft texture. I’ve already worn it a couple of times this week and, as it is very light weight, it will be a while before the weather is too warm to wear it. Thank you, Karen, Lamorna (and Graham for driving) and Region 8 ladies. The results were well worth the early start and the long day.
