Keeping it local: Felt Amazing

Photo: Nudge Community Builders

Down on Union Street you can find the quirkiest community market space in Plymouth full of traders, food and of course, Mary. You can usually find Mary in her shed being sheepish with customers whilst she pulls the wool in front of your eyes

*Pardon the pun*

In 1995 whilst studying textiles, history of art and drawing skills at Goldsmith's college the course took an unexpected change as a one off workshop in felting took Mary's heart and her passion for felting began.

Felting is a very technical and skilled trade and pieces can take hours, days or even weeks to produce starting from the preparation on the fibres (mainly wool but also silk, bamboo and soya) cleaning & brushing then moving on to the 'felting' which is a process of making the fibre dense (effectively similar to producing a dread lock of hair) by rubbing in different directions.

Felting fibres can come in all different vibrant colours and one of Mary's favourite pieces completed in the past was a series of prayer mats for the Dartmoor prison chapel, where Mary choose a spiritual spiral to to represent all of the religon.

Mary's talents don't just stop at felting down at her stall in The Plot, you can also find some amazing figurines made from recycled materials such as milk bottles and paper. Her most recent is the COVID related series of bottle buddies.

Mary also offers workshops on felting, private commissions, if interested you can either pop down to The Plot 80-84 Union Street, PL13EZ on Tuesday to Saturday 11am until 5pm.

or email maryfeltamazing@yahoo.co.uk