Louise Worthington - April 2018's Featured Artist

Louise Worthington discovered needle felt three years ago, and has been in love with it ever since. ‘Wulydermy’, which is Louise’s website dedicated to ‘The Art of Sculptural Needle Felt’, has turned her hobby into a life-changing experience.

Needle felt, and the launch of ‘Wulydermy’ has allowed Louise to combine her passion for British countryside and wildlife, into a full time job. Collaborating with the team at Tatton Park Farm (in Cheshire), Louise runs workshops that have stemmed from her knowledge of creating original needle-felted animals, which are transformed into kits that inspire others to felt.

In fact, Louise’s workshops at Tatton Park Farm have an extra reason to inspire. Dubbed ‘From Farm To Felt’, participants on the course will be using Tatton’s own rare breed White-faced Woodland sheep wool, which has been processed by Halifax Spinning Mill. Plus, each workshop supports Tatton Park Farm’s rare breed conservation programme. Great work!

Before we hand over to Louise, we wanted to mention that ‘Wulydermy’ has been accredited by the The Rare Breeds Survival Trust, who support the future of rare and native breeds.

Congratulations on your incredible work Louise, and we look forward to seeing more from you and Wuly Squirrel!

Q&A

What do you enjoy most about your craft?:

Needle felt is like alchemy, no-one believes you can turn wool into animals.

 

What do you like most about the company?:

I’ve been a WoW customer for over two years, and love the selection of British and British Rare breed wools (plus it helps that they’re supplied at trade prices!)

 

What is your favourite fibre?:

Manx Loaghtan - it’s so versatile and makes a great core wool as it felts down quickly. It is cost effective and also a great wool for finishing felts, especially birds and mice, and Manx Loaghtan sheep of course! It’s the perfect colour.

 

What is your favourite breed of sheep?:

Herdwick because they have such character with their white faces and shaggy fleeces everyone recognises the Herdwick.  

 

Is there anything you would like to see on the WOW website?:

I’d love to see a special rare breed section, so that we can increase awareness and support more of our rare & native breeds!

 

Do you have a top tip for your fellow crafters?:

Make what interests you. By doing that, you’ll make it fun and stick at it!