Play Explore Learn

I recently had a wardrobe clean out. Not one of those gentle wafts through the hangers where two, maybe three items are released from their bonds. No, I mean a full dismantling of apparatus followed by ruthless culling. What I discovered is that I had 33 – yes 33 – pieces of wearable felt. Many I had completely forgotten about. A quandary ensued. We invest so much time and energy into making felt that it is very hard to part with it – even if you haven’t worn it for years.

What to do? I always think about recycle, redesign, reuse, reshape, or repair but I needed some design inspiration. Whenever I need design inspiration I usually turn to Japanese culture for advice. And, as usual it didn’t fail me.

Japanese culture as a very long history of recycling; ideas like Kintsugi and Boro. Kintsugi is the art of highlighting repairs of porcelain and china with bold gold, and similarly Boro is the continual patching and re-patching clothing but not hiding it, rather, embracing it. The repaired clothing was often over stitched for strength with beautiful patterns of running stitch – collectively called Sashiko. The idea was born – I am going to redesign my felt.

I then realised I had more than wearables to recycle – I had a stack of samples from workshops , UFOs from good intentions and disasters to learn from.  All waiting to be reborn.  Don’t have a stash of ready made felt?  Not a problem.  Make sample sizes and try out the plethora of felting techniques we know – maybe we’ll invent some new ones!

Throughout 2025 we will do just that: recycle, redesign, reuse, reshape, reinvent, or repair any felt we have in our stashes, along with our growing sample stash.  With some simply hand stitching we will construct a new wearable in the size of your choosing – from a scarf to a jacket you chose.