Emma Jackson (Silversoles - Felted Textiles) reviews

8 Aug 17'

Sandy Bridge reviewed: Tailored Workshop: Felted Lampshades & Nuno Ripple Scarves

"Came away with a beautiful lampshade and learnt the skills needed to make another successfully! I learnt more about shibori techniques, but was rather disappointed with my scarf - totally my fault with the colours I chose! I will certainly do another! The day was well organised, notes were self explanatory and it was a lovely, relaxed atmosphere. An excellent day - thank you Emma."

14 Jul 17'

Julie Whitehorn reviewed: Textured Felt: Cushion Panel, Clutch Bag or Book Jacket

"Having attended a previous course with Emma I was eager to return for more, it's a really enjoyable experience in a lovely peaceful garden studio. The felt book jacket was a great project to design, make and complete (!) within the 1/2 day workshop. Arriving without an idea of what would be involved, with discussion we were straight into planning and choosing different fibres from a wonderful array to create our own unique cover, all under excellent guidance and fuelled with coffee and cookies. Then on to dyeing the pieces after deciding on colours and like alchemy our beautiful creations emerged. There was even time to add stitch and create a lovely co-ordinated book cover tie. I can't wait for the next day!"

13 Jun 17'

Julie Whitehorn reviewed: Landscapes in Wool - Painting with Fibres

"A wonderful and inspiring day's workshop. Emma gently took us through the design process in a clear and informative, easily accessible way. The small group was perfect and each one of us had brought a different type of image to create a wool 'painting', which enabled us to discuss and understand different possibilities to achieve pictures. Blocking, laying and blending the wool really 'felt' like painting! There is a wonderful, extensive array of colours and types of wool rovings and all manner of fibres to choose from, allowing endless possibilities. Emma is clearly a very experienced, generous tutor and brings her expertise as a designer and felt maker to her teaching. There was a good balance of support and instruction, with space for our own creativity. The studio is well equipped and an ideal place for this activity. It's set in a charming garden where we had lunch under the tree with the chickens clucking. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable day and we thrilled with our results. Thank you Emma!"

11 May 17'

Grace Gourevitch reviewed: Felt Flowers

"Thank you for an excellent session where I was able to reinforce the core techniques of the stages of felt making , and to improve my understanding of adding colour and texture. The exercise of making flowers focused on shaping and finishing to obtain textures and arrangements that suggested a selected botanical form, and I improved my understanding of developing detail through the whole process. The session was tailored to my previous experience and delivered in a positive and encouraging style. The access, premises , teaching materials and refreshments added to the pleasure of the session and I hope to return for further courses."

21 Mar 17'

Di Fenn reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"A most enjoyable, fast moving and well structured course. The information given both verbally and in note form was excellent. The samples with their explanatory labels were very useful and provided plenty of inspiration. I had undertaken felting courses before but seem to have forgotten how physical the activity is! However with 3 partially completed samples I'm now trying to complete the set. Emma, you gave all the participants an equal share of attention and guidance which is so important. Thank you once again - I'm about to consider cutting along the lines of the resist to reveal the underlying design and I'm holding my breath!"

21 Mar 17'

Susan Frier reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"A thoroughly enjoyable day with new and different techniques to try out. It was inspiring to see so many different samples and the lampshade was really beautiful. It's a long time since I did any felt making, mainly due to the amount of elbow grease needed! but the technique with the pipe and rolling is slightly easier than how I had done it previously. Lovely to meet you too, many thanks, Sue."

20 Mar 17'

Tina Watkins reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"Excellent course. Lots of ideas and inspiration. I can now 'see' how the shibori designs I see on the internet are formed."

20 Mar 17'

Mary Sotheran reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"What an excellent day.Information provided was very good and clear. Buying your materials pack made it possible to keep the momentum up not needing to stop to find ingredients from what I had brought with me. The four samples I have made all worked well and I am particularly pleased with the 'Cracked Mud samples that I have made which was of leaves. The least successful sample was the 'Nuno Shibiri which has only partially worked -I suspect I was a bit heavy handed initially!!!! I am sending photographs of the finished samples to your email address for your information. Thank you5"

20 Mar 17'

Beryl Trimby reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"The teaching was clear and concise. Samples beautifully labelled and easy to understand. Tutor friendly and approachable. All in all, an excellent day and I learned tips as to where I was going wrong! Look forward to using the techniques in future."

20 Mar 17'

Carol Clark reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"The first time I had done a bit of Felting was back in the Summer and I must admit I loved doing it. It was only the straight forward kind. It was great to have other ideas and end up with samples of what is possible with the different procedures that we did . I thoroughly enjoyed myself and with Emma's help made it very rewarding, and at the end of the workshop came away very pleased with myself. Thank you."

20 Feb 17'

Liz Davies reviewed: Felt Pod Vessels

"A terrific morning. I was delighted with my creation. I hadn't done felting before so tried not to have great expectations. However my pod exceeded my suppressed hopes. I was greatly stimulated by the examples we were shown, and was able to craft my own simple but effective version. We had a rich variety of materials to work with, and very personalised guidance and tuition. I particularly appreciated the physicality of the task....so tactile and energetic. Like a good workout but with a gift at the end of it! I would love to do more......small bags, glasses cases, table mats.....all spring to mind. Please keep me in touch."

19 Feb 17'

Lesley Stewart reviewed: Felt Pod Vessels

"Fabulous morning: challenging, stimulating, thought provoking! Superbly explained, excellent explanatory handout, loadsa lovely wools, wonderful made vessels as models, lovely garden setting (complete with hens!),plenty of tea, coffee and biscuits. A lot packed into the session, though I know it's my own energy levels that let me down. For me, with some experience of felting, it was a great opportunity to have input from a truly professional and expert feltmaker artist. A privilege to share the time with Emma, and there were several aspects of the feltmaking process that I appreciated "re-learning". More please!"

11 Feb 17'

Jan Woolfenden reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"This was my third course with Emma which I thoroughly enjoyed. The techniques we learned were well taught, and we had all the help we requested with our questions helpfully answered. We were encouraged to work at a good pace but not so that it was stressful...it was fun. I felt I had both learned and achieved lots: I had done a good day's work and was in need of a restful evening! Thank you Emma for a lovely day."

8 Feb 17'

Andrea Flowers reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"I loved the Felt Manipulation day workshop with Emma. We did four different techniques using prefelt and fabric, sparked lots of ideas. Emma is a very generous and motivated tutor, encouraging the what if? to get the creative thought process moving. Yes I slept well that night but couldn't wait to finish off the samples next day."

8 Feb 17'

Sara Marconi Di Maio reviewed: Felt Flowers

"Fun creative and well explained class. Emma is always happy and very professional to answer any questions and to enrich the experience with useful tips and techniques to improve the finished result. I would recommend to friends for a great creative experience."

5 Feb 17'

Carolyn Giddings reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"I really enjoyed the workshop last Thursday. It was the first felt making workshopI had been on with Emma.The day was well organised with all the materials we needed available and detailed instructions . Emma taught us what to do step by step and was very willing to answer our questions and give help when required. A very relaxed fun day !"

4 Feb 17'

Anne Thumpston reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"This was my second felt sampling day with Emma. The workshops have been excellent, with clear instructions and advice. Well organised and paced. Emma is a very patient and friendly teacher. Her workshops are fun and very productive."

4 Feb 17'

Val Payne reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"Emma explained the procedures well and we were able to try out 4 different procedures. A very enjoyable day!"

30 Jan 17'

Sandy Bridge reviewed: Felt Techniques: Sampling Day

"An excellent day. Well prepared, with materials and notes all to hand. There was a good balance of demonstration and clear instructions, which enabled us to make 4 samples during the day. Emma's willingness to share her knowledge and help us along the way, in a relaxed atmosphere, was refreshing. Brilliant - well worth travelling from Devon!"