Shelley Steele - Felting Crazy

Hi, I am Shelley Steele of ‘FeltingCrazy’

I have been truly enthralled by the art and craft of felting for well over twenty-five years; and have had the good fortune to be able to run my own small business creating a range of felt items for sale, and teaching felt-making for over ten years. I am based in Ballymena, Co Antrim – as the crow flies, just a hop over the water.

I am fascinated by the versatility of wool, and I create a wide range of pieces using wet felting. These include hats, wraps, collars and other wearables; necklaces and earrings; decorative vessels; flowers; pictures; and some more ‘practical’ items such as tea and coffee pot cosies.

My favourite felting technique is Nuno-felting, incorporating fine silk fabric with wool to create colourful and unique pieces. I work primarily with merino wool, but I also often make use of wonderful long Wensleydale and Teeswater curls.

This year at the Wool Gathering, I am hoping to run a “Nuno-felted Cowl workshop” which will allow anyone interested in this technique to try it out – and hopefully to become captivated by its creativity.

The workshop will run for approximately 4 hours and will be suitable for beginners as well as more experienced felters. I will provide a mixture of hand-dyed and patterned silk fabric, fine merino wool, as well as all the equipment required. All you will need to bring are two small towels.

I had the pleasure of attending the first Eden Wool Gathering last year as a seller and tutor. It was a wonderful and joyful experience, celebrating and demonstrating the versatility and relevance of wool today. It showed why, as a material, wool deserves more respect and attention, and also why the community that produces and uses it requires and deserves more support. It was a thoroughly enjoyable festival, with activities mixing tradition with new ideas and experiences.