Welcome Maybrook Designs to the Traders Hall

Maybrook Designs is Convergence Convener Val Hornibrook's business producing 100% Merino black wool rovings.

Let's meet the staff -

Yes, as you can see Val grows her own wool supplies which probably explains why she is such a prolific felter and frequently includes black in her designs!

If you would like some of the Val magic in your felt work then visit Maybrook Designs in our Traders Hall next week.

In the meantime if you would like to see some of Val's felting click here.

Silksational

A big thank you to Sylvia Riley of Silksational for sending us a 3 metre prefelt in a natural colour for us to use in one of the fabulous prize draws we have arranged for Convergence participants next week.

Sylvia told us that she had only recently found out about the Felt Convergence and would have liked to be a trader if there had been a bit more time to get organised.   However as she really wanted to be part of things she was going to send us the prefelt and some flyers on Silksational.

Do have a look at the information on them.  Silksational are a wholly owned Australian company based in Sydney. Their aim is to make textile art affordable and within easy reach of everybody. They supply mostly by mail order a wide range of items for the textile artist including silk painting supplies such as silk and dyes; dyeing supplies such as powdered dye, chemicals, beakers, pots; silk clothing blanks, silk scarves and sarongs, silk cushion covers and of course silk, wool, cotton, silk-bamboo and linen by the metre. A new addition to their range are fibres and woollen prefelts.

Pop over to their website by clicking here.  You will be amazed at the range just a click away.  Gosh we do love Internet shopping.

Thanks Silksational.

Traders Hall Update - New Trader - Rock View Alpacas

Things are getting busy in the Traders Hall and we are very pleased to welcome Rock View Alpacas to provide you with all the lovely soft alpaca that you need to create the softest warmest lightest garment ever.

Keen felter Maureen Foss runs Rock View and  has been building up their herd for several years now.

Photo Shane Foss

The softest, whitest fibres come from the baby alpaca, and they are cute too.

Photo Shane Foss

Maureen's alpacas have won prizes in shows Australia wide as has her alpaca felting.

Alpaca requires a slightly different felting technique so Maureen will be on hand to demonstrate techniques and give some tips and she'll have plenty of lovely alpaca for sale including batts.

Photo Shane Foss

We'll see you there.

Traders Hall Update - Nannas Notions

Another new Trader attending the Convergence on Wednesday 5th October including the Bazaar Night is Lyn Bolton who runs Nannas Notions down in Bridgetown WA. 

Nannas Notions provides vintage sewing and knitting notions as well as turned wooden notions.   Exactly the sort of things we felters need to finish off our hand made garments  as so often modern commercial products really don't work for us do they?

We are really looking forward to seeing Lyn and her old sewing notions at the Convergence. 

The Wednesday of Bazaar Night looks as if it is going to be a great opportunity to stock up on all sorts of goodies so remember to bring your cash!

Traders Hall Update - Sheryl Chant

Things are getting busy in our Traders Hall and we are pleased to announce that Sheryl Chant has contacted us and is going to be joining us on Wednesday 5th October which is our  Bazaar Night.

Sheryl is a highly qualified artist and has exhibited throughout Australia for many years.  She specialises in primitive firing  saying

"I employ a variety of firing techniques, from oxides on green ware to Raku to pit and saggar and smoke firing. The thrill of the unpredictable, the excitement of heat and flame, each firing is an experiment, an adventure for me".  

See the clayfeet website - http://www.clayfeet.com.au/sheryl_profile.htm for more information.

To the Convergence Sheryl is bringing her unique hand made primitive and raku fired ceramic buttons.   We all know how hard it is to find buttons that compliment our felt garments  so be quick to visit her as we will certainly be hot footing it to her stand to buy them.

Thanks for joining us Sheryl.

Traders Hall Update - New Trader - Country Cottage Wool Wear

We are very pleased to tell you about a new trader  - Country Cottage Wool Wear who is joining us in our Traders Hall.

Country Cottage Wool Wear specialise in silks.  We all know how important that fibre is and how it melds beautifully with wool fibres to lift our felt by imparting luminous shine and colour.

Country Cottage Wool Wear will be bringing a range of silks for us to enjoy at the Convergence.  They have about 30 colours of each silk so you are bound to find the one that's right for you.

They don't have a website but if you are in the Perth area you can find them at 6 Boundary Road, St James, WA 6102.  And of course, in October you can find them at the Convergence Traders Hall. 

Fabulous Felt Magazine

Regular readers know that we love this publication and the latest issue  contains great projects, information and pictures of wonderful felt.

If you can't get a copy locally we have a few extra issues for sale. Just email us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and we'll send you details of how to pay.

Yes, we will post anywhere in the world so let us know where you live and we'll confirm the postage costs.

Welcoming Bilby Yarns to our Traders Hall

We are very pleased to welcome West Australian business Bilby Yarns to our Traders Hall. 

Bilby Yarns is an interesting business and if you visit their website by clicking on the link in our Traders Hall area of the right hand side bar, you will see that they take wool very seriously indeed. 

They  specialise in naturally coloured West Australian wool fleece, tops and yarns.  They like undyed chemical free products that are eco friendly.  

If you want colour, then they have a natural dye range produced from Western Australian plants, so if you want to do some organic dying without getting your legs all scratched then this is the place to visit.   (We really love the emphasis on the West Australian product).

They also sell supplies for spinning, weaving, knitting and felt making including both new and secondhand equipment, and stock other fibres, dyes, kits, magazines, cottons and tapestry yarns. 

If you are in the Perth area you can visit  their showroom at the corner of Harrison Street and Hillary Street, Willagee, Western Australia.  Their opening hours are between 11:00am – 4:30pm Tuesday to Friday and appointments can be made for visits out of these hours and Saturday.

And remember, when you are busy packing for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence in October and your bags are straining at the seams, Bilby Yarns will be here. Our Traders Hall will be open every day for all those felting and textile goodies that you need to enjoy an exciting felting experience.

See the Snowy Creek Felting Machine in the Traders Hall

Our 11th December 2010 post was all about the Roller Felting Machine developed by Paul and Christine Harrison.  They started their business - Snowy Creek Engineering about 15 years ago when they escaped from city life in Melbourne and started breeding alpacas in country Victoria.  From there came an interest in felting and Paul put his engineering background to good use and developed a felting machine.

When we wrote the post about them in December they were not sure whether they could join us at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence (it is quite a big piece of machinery to get all away across the country) but they really wanted to get here as they have been to other convergences and are big supporters of the bi-annual event.

We are now very pleased to tell you that Paul and Christine are going to be here in October and are transporting one of their Roller Felting Machines over for all of us to see.  We are very excited about this because Paul and Christine are going to be running demonstrations throughout each day and want you to participate by bringing something to felt on the machine.

So bring some fabric and wool and make a scarf.  Your piece should be no bigger than 125 centimetres by 35 centimetres.  You will need to  book a time with Paul and Christine to take it over to the Snowy Creek Roller Felting Machine and watch the rolling done for you!

Thank you guys, this is going to be a great opportunity for us to see the Roller Felting Machine in action.

In the meantime Snowy Creek Engineering also create and sell needle felting equipment (they are very kindly donating a needle felting kit as a door prize at the Convergence) so pop over to Traders Hall now by clicking on their name in our right hand sidebar and have a look at what they do.

The Snowy Creek Roller Felting Machine

Traders Hall Update - The Snowy Creek Roller Felting Machine

For those of you who read our last post and don't have access to a horse or an AFL football team to help with your rolling you will be relieved to read that Paul and Christine Harrison developed their Roller Felting Machine especially for us felters.

The Harrison's started their company Snowy Creek Engineering about 15 years ago when they escaped from Melbourne city life and bought acreage in country Victoria at Snowy Creek.  They started breeding Alpacas and got interested in felting.  Paul, with his engineering background, looked at ways of mechanising the felting process and after consulting with other felters he created his prototype felting machine.

From there the Snowy Creek Roller Felting Machine was developed, a wonderful piece of equipment that will tackle both small and large felting projects without the tiring work of hand rolling but with the same beautiful results that are achieved by experienced felters.

It sounds just what we need so click here to read all about it.   

Snowy Creek Engineering also create and sell needle felting equipment and are very kindly donating a needle felting kit as a door prize at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury 2011.

We hope they will be able to make it over here in October 2011 and join us in our Traders Hall.

Oooooh - Felt Magazine Is Out

Regular readers know that we love this publication and Issue 4 is about to hit the newsagents full of projects, information and pictures of wonderful felt.

If you can't get it locally we have a few extra issues for sale.  Just email us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and we'll send you details of how to pay.

Traders Hall Update - New Trader - Auzzie Kid Mohair

We think it is really important to get distinctive textures in our felting by experimenting with lots of different fibres so we are really excited to welcome Auzzie Kid Mohair to our Traders Hall.

Auzzie Kid Mohair began at Llewta Mohair Farm back in 1988 in gorgeous Gidgegannup, just 50 kilometres east of Perth. It's run by husband and wife team Margaret and Garry Atwell who have been breeding Angora goats for many years and want to share their experience with the outstanding qualities of the natural fibre.


Mohair’s unique fibre offers tremendous lustre and glamour in colour. Its luxurious silky texture gives resilience and is very warm without being heavy. 

Pop over to their website by clicking here to see their range which includes yarns and garments including coats, capes, tops along with a range of hand knitted hats, scarves and mohair for doll making. They also sell some rather beautiful shawl pins which will really add a finishing touch to our creations.


We are looking forward to visiting her stall in the Traders Hall at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury October 2011. In the meantime, we have added them to our Traders Hall section on the right hand side of this blog so you can visit them on line any time you like. And of course if you are in the area you can visit them in person and see all those angoras that Gary and Margaret breed.
 

Welcoming Treetops Colour Harmonies to the Traders Hall

As you know from the pictures on this blog we love colour, so we are particularly pleased to welcome Treetops Colour Harmonies to the Traders Hall at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence.

The above really says it all, but for those of you who like to know the detail  Treetops Colour Harmonies supply hand dyed superfine merino tops in colour harmonies and co-ordinating solid colours as well as machine crafted superfine merino Nuance wool.  

They also specialise in silks and supply hand dyed tussah silk tops, bombay silk tops, silk textured waste, hand dyed tissue silk fabric and paj silk fabric.  Sounds like everything a felter needs.

There's lots more good stuff including books (we have just ordered Judith Pocs book - "Gentle Threads") , sample packs for those of us who can never make up our minds, plus useful information.  The "Fibre Facts" section includes instructions on how to make silk paper  so bookmark their website now as a useful resource.  

We love businesses that are run by people who are passionate about their products and Treetops Colour Harmonies is run by the talented Nancy Ballesteros - a very experienced felter.  We are looking forward to visiting her stall in the Traders Hall at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury October 2011.  In the meantime, you can do  a little Internet shopping by clicking on the link in our Traders Hall section on the right hand side of this blog.

Welcoming ArtWear Publications to the Traders Hall

We are very pleased to welcome the busy ladies from ArtWear Publications to the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Traders Hall.  Traders Hall will be open daily during the Convergence and will showcase all things felt and  textile.

ArtWear Publications are the publishers of the wonderful Felt Magazine and if you haven't bought one before then rush to your nearest newsagent to get the latest issue - pictured above. It sells out quickly but digital back issues are available from ArtWear Publications. We literally devour our copy from cover to cover folding down corners of the pages of projects that we are going to do.

Just to keep themselves busy they also publish the Embellish and Yarn Magazines and we have been told they are planning a new book. They also sell silk scarves just waiting for you to felt and dye.

We are looking forward to visiting their stall in the Traders Hall at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence in Bunbury 2nd - 7th October 2011.  In the meantime, just click on the link in our Traders Hall section on the right hand side-bar of this blog to visit them now.

If your local newsagent doesn't stock Felt Magazine we have a few copies of the latest issue available for sale - price $9.95 plus postage.  Email us at feltconvergence@gmail.com if you would like one (remember to let us know your location so that we can confirm postage costs) and we will let you have details of how to pay.