Choice of workshops throughout the day:

10am - Beginners Spinning

10am - Distaff Spinning

10am - Wet Felting

11am - Weaving

LUNCHTIME

2pm - Wet Felting

1.30pm - Natural Dye Walk (Free)

2:30pm - Natural Dye Workshop

2pm - Weaving Demo (Free)

3pm - Tuffet weaving

Throughout the day:

• Demo (free) - Fancy Art Yarn spinning with Sue Kimber in the Horseshoe Barns

Please note - £10pp for each workshop covers set up and delivery costs and helps to establish the new IWH CIC - details announced soon

Please contact us for accessibility discounts, suitable for students, and those on benefits etc as we aim to make every welcome to our events and educational programmes

Workshop details:

10am - 12.30 - Beginners Spinning with Bec Briar from the The Woven Briar.

This 2.5 hour workshop is being held in the sheep shearing shed, amongst all the action in a quiet private corner so you get to enjoy the best of everything - if this workshop fills, we can run an afternoon session too

The Woven Briar - The Woven Briar is shepherd and weaver, Bec Briar. “I work in my hand weaving workshop based on the rolling hills on the edge of Exmoor. Using blade shorn fleeces from my flock and harvested or foraged plant materials, I create textiles and craft materials that are fully traceable and sustainable. Many of my weaves are named for the individual sheep that grew the wool; all my products are fully traceable to flocks in the South West. I offer tuition in my workshop in Ford, where I teach how to take a raw fleece through all the stages to spun, plied yarn, as well as dyeing wool, making natural inks and weaving”.

Here @ Fernhill Farm, Bec will be taking a maximum of 4 participants through the basics of spinning and on to wheels in a relaxed workshop atmosphere, with time to practice both short and long draw spinning.

10am - 1.00 - Distaff Spinning with Jane Hunt from The Thread of Time (advanced spinners only)

This 3 hour workshop is being held in a ground floor, private, heated workshop room we call the Saloon and includes access to teas and coffee with easy access to the toilets and café.

“The distaff, as a hand spinning tool, is seldom seen today and is often dismissed as being necessary only for flax. However, for centuries it was used for wool as well and along with a medieval style spindle and a short suspension technique, a proficient spinner can easily produce 100m or more of yarn per hour” Jane Hunt

In this workshop you will learn how to dress a distaff and then spin from it with a medieval style spindle, using both the in-hand and short suspension techniques. There will also be a demonstration of wool combing, with the opportunity to try the combs for yourself. All materials and tools will be supplied on the day. If you would like to take your spindle home with you there will be an additional charge of £25.’

Find out more about The Thread of Time: Historical Distaff Spinning:

https://thethreadoftimedistaffspinning.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thread.of.time

https://www.instagram.com/the_thread_of_time/

10am - 12.30 - Wet Felting Laani Takahata

Learn from Laani, a felt maker from Dartmoor

Learn the ancient craft of wet felting with freshly shorn Fernhill fleece and curls, where you will make a pouch or small bag.

An opportunity to learn about fibre processing, felting using a resist template, and finishing off with buttons and button holes.

This 2.5 hour workshop is being held in the Hay Shed, next to the Saloon workshop room, café and toilets - this workshop will also we run as an afternoon session 2pm - 4pm

Instagram is: @hamamacrafts www.hamamacrafts.co.uk

10am - 12.30 - Introduction to Weaving

Each participant will make a small little weave, a similar size to a notebook cover, using very simple frame looms that are great to teach beginners.

There will also be an option to turn these woven pieces into a wall hanging, using local sticks to hang them.

Hand spinners are also welcome to bring along their own yarns if they want to incorporate these into their weave throughout Chris's workshop

This 2.5 hour workshop is being held in the Hay Shed, next to the Saloon workshop room, café and toilets - this workshop will also be followed on with a warping and weaving demo (free) in the afternoon session 2pm - 4pm

LUNCH TIME

1.30pm - 4pm - Natural Dyes with Ria Burns

1:30-2:30pm Natural Dye Plant Walk and Talk

(free to attend, numbers are limited so please pre-book your space)

Join natural dyer Ria Burns for an interactive exploration of natural dye plants found on Fernhill Farm. We’ll meet at 1:30pm in the saloon and take a short walk across the farm, identifying and foraging for wild dye plants along the way.

Back at the saloon Ria will talk more about her work with wild dye plants and show the range of colours that can be achieved with the plants found during the walk.

This event is free to attend. After this Ria will be running a workshop using the natural dyes found on the walk to dye Fernhill wool yarns where an additional cost applies.

2:30 - 4pm Natural Dye Workshop (£40 per person)

Following the Natural Dye Plant Walk and Talk, Ria will be running a workshop in the saloon where you can learn how to create natural colour on wool.

We’ll use natural dye plants gathered on the farm, plus fresh flowers from Ria’s Bristol garden to dye Fernhill wool yarns and scarves in a range of vibrant colours, using a variety of different natural dye techniques.

The workshop is priced at £40per person, which includes either 50g of yarn to dye (in the form of 5 10g mini skeins), or a knitted scarf to dye which can be taken home to enjoy at the end of the workshop

During these afternoon sessions Ria will also have a pop-up shop in the saloon selling their naturally dyed knitwear, her book, dried natural dyes and seeds.

1pm - 4pm Wet Felting with Laani Takahata

Learn from Laani, a felt maker from Dartmoor

Learn the ancient craft of wet felting with freshly shorn Fernhill fleece and curls, where we will make a pouch or small bag

An opportunity to learn about fibre processing, felting using a resist template, and finishing off with buttons and button holes.

This 2.5 hour workshop is being held in the Hay Shed, next to the Saloon workshop room, café and toilets - this workshop will also we run as a morning session too 10am - 12:30pm

Instagram is: @hamamacrafts www.hamamacrafts.co.uk

3pm - 4pm Peg-loom tuffets - in the Sheep Shearing Shed - suitable for every age and ability

Using fleece and yarn from our sheep's wool to make a tuffet on a peg loom, and you can still be amongst some of the sheep that provide the wool and see how and where they're shorn.

This simple form of weaving uses our raw fleece to create a textured tuffet that can be used as a cushion for sitting by a campfire or on a picnic. Use our naturally coloured fleece to create patterns of stripes or gradients.

Full Fibre Experience event details here: Fernhill Fibre Experience — Fernhill Fibre