Deborah Allen - feltmaker

I want to introduce you to Deborah Allen, a very talented felt maker.

I met Deborah via the internet when she joined the Weavers-Spinners-UK group on Yahoo and last year she popped into the Pure Tinctoria stand at Wonderwool Wales to say hello.  She purchased the last of a lovely wool boucle yarn I was selling off because I couldn't get anymore.  At the time Deborah was going to crochet a jacket with this naturally dyed chunky wool yarn.

Deborah ended up unpicking the jacket, but has used it to great effect in some lovely Hundertwasser inspired wet felted bags that she's been developing. They are so beautiful, I couldn't resist showing them to you.

Her blog is full of wonderful felt inspiration and you can find her work for sale on Etsy.  If I had more time, I'd be back felting again!

Tip of the Month - April

 When I'm teaching new weaver to warp their looms, whether multi-shaft or rigid heddle, I often find that they shred their warps when threading the heddles.  The reason it happens is that the warp is held taught behind the heddle/slot/hole, allowing the threading hook to run down warp, catching in the ply.   This month I'll show you how to stop this happening.

The images are showing me warping my latest project on an 8 harness mechanical dobby, but the principles apply to any loom.

Grasp your warp yarn about 6" or 15cm in front of the heddle/slot/hole you're going to thread.

 Insert your threading hook in the heddle/slot/hole and move the hand holding the warp to the back of the heddle without moving your hand up the yarn.

You will now have a loop of yarn behind your heddle which can be placed over the threading hook.

Pull the loop through the heddle/slot/hole, letting go of the warp with the other hand.


I hope you all find this tip useful.  Please let me know if you have any other problems that need solving.  If I can help, I'll post them here!

Best wishes and happy weaving, spinning and dyeing.