It took a glassworker’s eye to see the possibilities in wool. Wendy Sellers had spent years shaping glass when a felt artist moved into a studio nearby, and one workshop was all it took. “That was it,” she says, “I had the bug.” What began with a single afternoon of needle felting and wet felting soon became a fascination with felt making itself: its endless possibilities, the way it can be layered with other materials, built into three dimensional forms, or dyed into any hue imaginable.
Wendy wanted more than technique. She wanted to understand why certain fibres behaved as they did, where they came from, and whether felt could be woven into her existing glasswork practice. That search for structure and depth led her to SST, and to the accredited Felt Skill Stage 2 course that would reshape her creative direction, and now sees her put forward by her tutor for SST’s Student Excellence Awards Exhibition, in recognition of her hard work and creative progression.
Inspired by Wendy’s journey? The City & Guilds accredited Felt Skill Stage 2 course at SST is designed for makers who want to move beyond the workshop and build real depth in their felt making practice. Whether you’re new to wet felting and needle felting or looking to formalise skills you already love, Skill Stage 2 offers structured, expert led online learning that leaves plenty of room for your own creative voice. Find out more and enrol via our Enrolment Portal.
“The course has been a brilliant, I have learned so much, it has encouraged me to research and develop my thoughts and ideas and to question myself when looking for design inspiration… Embrace the learning, step out of your comfort zone, experiment and try things you wouldn’t usually..enjoy every moment of your course.”
The Neighbour Who Changed Everything
Having worked with glass for many years, I hadn’t considered trying my hand at another medium until a felt artist moved into a studio nearby. I love colour and texture, so I was immediately drawn to it and signed up for a workshop, and that was it, I had the bug! I attended a few more workshops and tried my hand at both needle felting and wet felting. For me it was the endless possibilities: the fact that felt can be entwined with other materials, is strong enough to become three dimensional, and comes in every hue you could ever imagine.
I loved the making in the workshops I attended, but I really wanted to learn more: why we used certain fibres, where they came from, why some things worked and others didn’t, and more importantly, whether I could use it with my glasswork and incorporate the two together. I decided the best way forward would be a course, so I could learn the basics of felt, and sewing too, something I hadn’t done since school many, many years ago.
I started looking for a course that offered online learning. I wanted something that had all the basics of felting and provided guidance, but allowed for individuality and creativity. SST had all of that, and being accredited meant I would have to focus to achieve my goal.
Rediscovering the Basics: From Colour Wheels to Digital Design
The modules led me through to an accumulation of all my learning, building towards a final piece of my choosing. I made a cobweb felted scarf using design work from an earlier module. I had chosen an unusual subject for inspiration, rubble walls, but wanted to really challenge myself, and this was actively encouraged by my tutor. The certificate at the end was the icing on the cake, and certainly something that will be useful in the future.
Having worked in my own creative business for many years, I found the course liberating, because it took me right back to the basics of things that had become automatic over a long time. I found great delight in making a colour wheel, researching artists, and looking at rubble walls in a whole new light. Designing digitally was something I’d never done, and I found it particularly difficult, but with perseverance I was delighted with the result, and with the way designs can be manipulated without the need for reams of tracing paper! It’s something I will definitely take forward. The guidance and feedback from my tutor, who encouraged me to continue with my own thoughts and ideas, gave me continual inspiration.
I’ve learnt the very basics of felt, culminating in a bag that I would actually use, and building all the way up to my final piece, a cobweb felted scarf.
From Devon Landscapes to a Future Teaching Felt
I loved Felt Skill Stage 2, it gave me a sound base to move my plans forward, so I have just enrolled on Felt Skill Stage 3. I especially want to explore three dimensional needle felting, and the possibility of combining glass and felt together. I already have ideas for projects.
As we now live in Devon, I’ve been so inspired that I’ve started making needle felted landscapes, which I’m now selling at the local craft fayre I attend. Ultimately I want to run felt workshops, to share what a fabulous medium felt is, and that we can all be creative with the right materials and a bit of guidance.
The course has been brilliant. I have learned so much, and it has encouraged me to research and develop my thoughts and ideas, and to question myself when looking for design inspiration, and what fibres to use and why. Whatever course you study at SST, the work is always completely different, and we all come out with our own individual style. I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking to study textiles of any sort, especially felt!
Get Creative
Wendy’s story is a reminder that a creative life rarely moves in a straight line. A career in glass, a chance encounter with a neighbouring studio, and a decision to learn properly rather than just make, have led her somewhere she couldn’t have predicted: teaching herself the fundamentals all over again, and finding a whole new voice in wool and fibre. It is exactly the kind of progression SST loves to see, and exactly why Wendy’s tutor put her forward for the Student Excellence Awards Exhibition.
