MakeFest

[MTRuth]

No worries about the length Josie! I did a maker's festival and what we did was make a small flower. The mixed 56's wool was laid out in radiating circles small enough to fit in a gallon zip lock bag. Then the wool was popped into the bag, a little water sprinkled in and flattened out to wet it down. Once wet down, we added a bit of soap and had the people rub the bag full of wool from the outside. Then once they had the felt holding together we had them take it out of the bag, dunk in a tub of warmer water and then had a "fulling" station. Here they could rub over a corrugated surface to finish and shape the flower.

With kids, I had them choose at most three colors to start, then they laid out their flower (didn't make these very many layers) and then moved on to wetting, rubbing, felting and fulling.

We really didn't use that much water but there was a place where we could replenish the water and get hotter water again. I found that you need quite a lot of space for this to get many people through the line at a time. You start at one end of the table and move them down as they progress through the stages. I would suggest 3-4 tables if you have that much space. We only had two and it was kind of a zoo.

[josiebrat]

Thanks Ruth for the info. When you say mixed 56's, did you have colors mixed before hand to make it easier? I like the idea of doing a project small enough to put in a bag as it contains the project better. I will have to see how many tables I can get for the project as I like the idea of staging it to help move along faster. thanks again,
Josie

[MTRuth]

I used mixed 56's wool (RH Lindsay). I did have a selection of a variety of colors but allowed people to choose 3 colors at most to make their flower.

[jwugg]

I haven't done anything on this scale but have made flowers with a group of absolute beginners of mixed ages. Some of them were terrible, but they each thought theirs' was lovely! The important thing is to keep the water away from your fibre stash, so Ruth's idea of moving them along sounds great. I don't use bags, just a piece of plastic & a towel (they are asked to bring). I agree the 3 colours max is a good idea as then they don't spend too long choosing & the kids don't use a bit of everything & end up with a muddy mess! They can take them home to rinse, shape & dry. I suggested they scrunch the flower from the centre & sit it in an egg-cup or similar to dry. You can give ideas for adding a brooch back, sewing onto a hair bobble etc.

[josiebrat]

Thanks Jill. Another good idea for working with kids. I have made flowers with kids in my after school class and they love it. Also like the brooch or hair pin idea.