Felt Makers - Upcycled, Zero Waste Felt Making and Design

Join visual artist, Xin Cheng, for a meditative workshop repurposing local organic material offcuts into versatile woollen felt. 

Felt from wool is the oldest known textile, originates in central Asia, and has many traditional practical uses such as shelter, clothing and footwear.
It is a wonderful, sustainable, soft-yet-sturdy material, and is often used for crafting artworks, toys, festive decorations and handmade gifts.

In this workshop you will:

1. Deconstruct organic woollen mattress scraps  (thanks INNATURE!)

2. Learn the felt-making process

4. Brainstorm ideas with Xin and other participants for your own felt creation. (You may get started on your FELTastic creation, then finish at home).

PLEASE BRING

• an unpicking tool
  
• plain soap
• a container for soapy water such as a lunchbox or large yogurt container
• a plastic vessel with lid such as a milk bottle or washing liquid bottle
• plastic bags and bubblewrap
• sponge or old handtowel
• a wooden dowel
  

For more advanced felting (eg slippers):

• bring a thick plastic or vinyl for resist, around A3 size
• a bamboo mat or washing board
  

NOTE 
Xin and Adam's upcoming Plastic Free July workshop on 29 July will feature an upcycled DIY Rodent-Resistant Wormfarm.
If you have a wormfarm or are keen to learn how to make one, consider crafting an inner wormery blanket from felt to keep your tiger worms cosy and protected. 

ABOUT

Xin Cheng (www.xin-cheng.info) is an artist and researcher and sometimes design teacher. She has been researching everyday resourcefulness around the earth since 2007 and has run hands on making workshops in Germany, Mexico, Taiwan and around Aotearoa.

Xin Cheng and Adam Ben-Dror are both keen gardeners, composters and worm farmers. In 2020 they made two films on inter-species kinship within Te Whanganui-a-tara (Wellington) and Te Awa Kairangi (Lower Hutt) looking at Common Unity Project Aotearoa and Manawa Karioi. They are passionate about resourceful making, joyful playing, inquisitive thinking and resourceful living in an interconnected world. Together they run Local Making (www.localmaking.org). A design studio, project space, online publishing platform and neighbourhood-scaled laboratory for living and making.