Felting for Families in Conway

Free felting workshops for families in Conway this weekend. (Photo credit: Sue McFarland)

If your family missed the felting workshops which happened this past weekend at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair, there will be another opportunity to try out this 2,000 year old craft this coming weekend and next. The Conway Cultural Council is sponsoring free felting workshops at the Field Memorial Library (16 Elm Street) in Conway, MA!  Local fiber artisan Susan McFarland will lead the workshops, sharing her knowledge and skills with the community.

The art of felting dates back to over 2,000 years ago and relies on the tangling and shrinking qualities of sheep’s wool.  Felt is created by strategically layering and shrinking (using warm water) unspun sheep’s wool, and can be used to create countless crafts, from baskets to stuffed animals, slippers to headbands. The skills of felting can be learned at any age, and provide a unique creative outlet that can easily be tied to local farms and resources!

There will be two different free workshops, with sessions for fiber artists (or fiber-artists-to-be!) of all ages.  Two sessions of Beginning to Felt will take place on Saturday, June 2nd – participants in this workshop will learn the basics of felting, like beads and ropes.  The first workshop, from 10:30am-12noon, is for adults and teens (14+), and the second, designed for kids under 14 and their adults, will take place from 12:30-2pm.

A second workshop on making felted journal covers, designed for adults, will take place from 10:30am-12:30pm on Saturday, June 9th.  For more information on the workshops or to register, call 413-369-4631 mcfarlandshandwork@comcast.net.