Fay Hodson - Mandrake Workshop

This workshop is only open to felt :: feutre canada members. It provides a repertoire of relevant techniques whether you are a needle felter or wet felter.

Fay has a 2 minute introductory video here

In this workshop, we will build solid wool sculptures around armatures. We’ll use a combination of needle felt and wet felt techniques to achieve a result that can’t be achieved by either technique on its own. You’ll learn how to:

create wire armatures for small to medium sculptures
build a firm wool core around an armature
create interesting attachments
bring it all together into a finished felted sculpture

Fay has been wet and needle-felting for 20 years and teaches felting at several locations. She has had her work in a variety of shows and sales. She is a member of felt :: feutre canada, Sheep Creek Weavers Fibre Arts Guild and the Bragg Creek Artisans. She recently completed the BFA program at the Alberta University of the Arts, majoring in Fibre Arts. To see some of her felt pieces, check out her website

We will start with making a Mandrake which is the major part of the workshop. Mandrakes are roots of plants that look humanoid. Mandrakes have a long, bizarre history in folklore, religion, and more recently in Harry Potter. Lots of scope for making a quirky little felt creature!

In the second part, you can get creative and design you own creature - additional information will be provided about creating different armatures, attachments and embellishments.

The workshop will consist of:

Access to a Google Classroom beginning Wednesday, October 19, 2022 with approximately 3 hours of video instruction, pdfs etc. This application works with most email addresses, but you may have to open a free gmail account if yours is one that doesn’t. Note: it may take up to 24 hours for access to be approved.
An introductory Zoom meeting Sunday, October 23, 2022 (Zooms will be recorded if you are unable to attend)
Additional information to get creative with a second creature released on November 1, 2022
Second Zoom meeting Saturday, November 12, 2022 for show and tell and questions
Ongoing Classroom stream for questions and show and tell: October 23 to December 18.

The Google Classroom content will remain open until Jan 17, 2023.

A complete list of tools and materials is available here.

For individuals who feel it will be challenging for them to source the materials, there is a limited time offer to purchase a kit (delivery to Canadian addresses only). Purchases must be made before September 23, 2022. Kits will include the wool, fibre, yarn, wire, and needle felt needles that you will need to complete at least two creatures. After you register for this workshop, you will receive instructions by email for ordering the kit. It will be shipped early in October so you have it before October 23.

Skill level:

Some needle felt experience is helpful, but an instructional document will be provided for beginners.
A basic level of experience with wet felting techniques is necessary so you can understand and feel what is happening in the project. If you are new to wet felting there are several tutorials on-line that will give you the basics (e.g. Fiona Duthie's introduction to wet felting.). Please experiment before starting the workshop.