Introduction to Needle Felting with Pat Hopewell (3-week course)

Crafting offers a wealth of benefits - it’s therapeutic, relaxing, and delightfully challenging. Whether you're a complete beginner or someone with needle felting experience, this course is designed to expand your skills while fostering a collaborative and engaging learning environment.

The tutor, Pat Hopewell, is a weaver, woad dyer and felt maker artist and a Member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, will teach the basics of tis technique through creating a landscape in felt.

Throughout the course, Pat will guide you through the tools of the trade, the types of needles and their specific uses, and the wide array of natural wools available - all ethically sourced. Together, you’ll explore the artistry and skills needed to create landscapes in felt.

With step-by-step instructions and personalised guidance, you’ll embark on an engaging needle-felting experience. Each participant will receive a comprehensive kit containing all the tools and materials needed to create their own felted landscape.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Appreciate the rich history and traditions of felting and wool.
• Gain familiarity with a variety of needle felting tools and their functions.
• Experiment with different needles and understand their unique applications.
• Learn about natural wool varieties sourced from various sheep breeds.
• Master the process of fusing wool fibres to create a needle-felted landscape.
• Build layers to add detailed embellishments.
• Complete a beautifully crafted, technically sound project.
• Develop confidence and knowledge to continue your needle felting journey, creating your own designs.
• Be inspired to connect with the growing community of needle felting and craft enthusiasts.
• Understand the importance of embracing mistakes as a natural part of the creative process.

All of this will take place in a warm, welcoming atmosphere of Kensal Library, where you can share ideas and connect with like-minded individuals.

All who book on Eventbrite will receive the enrolment form from the tutor/organiser - YOU MUST RETURN THE FILLED ENROLMENT FORM TO CONFIRM YOUR PLACE (!)

Eligibility criteria are set by GLA, who provide the funding for student fees, which enables us to offer this course to you free of charge.

Eligibility criteria:

1. You must be 19+ (as of August 2025) and a resident of London;

2. You must be a British national or have settled status to qualify for funding (people on student, skilled worker or tourist visas are NOT eligible) ;

3. You must be able to attend all 3 sessions (as this is a short course, missing a session disqualifies us for funding for your place);

4. You MUST be willing and able to provide proof of your nationality, residency, benefits and employment, including your passport and NI number.

5. You can only claim one of these free GLA-funded courses per academic year.

Please consider the conditions outlined above and if you are not eligible or cannot commit to attending all the sessions, please do not book, so a place can be offered to someone else.

The course will be presented in three 3.5-hour sessions and will take place in Kensal Library. Priority will be given to RBKC residents.

Contact [email protected] if you have any queries about booking.

Session 1: Getting Stated

• Introduction to needle felting, its uses, decorative and practical

• Introduction to essential tools, needles, felting pads, wools etc.

• Overview of the needle felting process

• A brief demonstration on how to blend and layer colours

• Start the felting process by drawing a landscape and using blended colours to fill the shapes onto a practice piece

Session 2: Creating design and layering colours

• Using the image provided as a template, prepare the A5 felt base and starting with the sky, select coloured wools, working down to the horizon. Leave spaces for the land, constantly referring to instructions and the image provided. Continue onto the sea, blending colours to accent the waves, and the reflections on the water. Add beach, see how the sea and sand merge together. Consider the perspective when adding colours. Complete the land areas, shading for texture and shadows.

Session 3: Finishing and Detailing

• Add boat.

Create the foreground, highlighting tops of plants and foliage, include flowers, ferns according to design.

• Some features of the design could include some stitch, for instance to highlight the foreground flowers, and other areas.

Tips for future projects, including ideas for starting a small business or teaching needle felting online.

​ is an experienced weaver and woad dyer with extensive expertise in working with diverse textiles. A graduate of Chelsea College of Art, she has been creating fashion accessories, wall hangings, and art pieces ever since completing her studies. Her career spans roles in fashion and design both within the UK and internationally. Pat has a deep connection to Nepal, Bangladesh, and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and once trained young people in Bangladesh in fashion technology. A proud resident of North Kensington, Pat is also a vital member of the Grenfell Memorial Quilt Sewing Bee, founded by Tuesday Greenidge.​

Felt making is a tactile and satisfying craft; I like to use the varied and wonderful dyed colours of the soft merino wools available widely in the market place, I use these for my scarves and shawls, cushions and bags.But most of all I love to make felt using the natural colours and textures of the wool from ancient breeds of sheep (Gotland, Jacob, Soay etc). Influenced by the domestic pots from pre-dynastic times, some exhibited in the British Museum, I am slowly building a collection of felt vessels; a little Celtic pot just 5cms high, a chequered vase from a collection of Celtic pottery and a boat inspired by an image carved onto a Bronze Age razor held in the National Museum of Denmark.

-Pat Hopewell

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