CraftEd – Under the Sea
This month 5th and 6th class did a series of felting workshops.
Week 1
First, Sue told us how wool is turned into felt. We started off with the basics; we made a 3D rock from some felt in order to get used to working with the medium. First, we chose two colours for our rocks. Next, we soaked the wool in warm water and soap. After, we rolled the felt in our hands until all the fibres stuck together firmly to form a rock.
Week 2
This week we talked about and discussed ideas and themes that we could focus on for our big project. We decided as a class to base our art project on the theme of “Under the Sea”, as we have completed lots of work on this area in class since the start of the year. We made lots of fish, jellyfish, starfish and octopuses based on our sketches from the felt.
We got an A4 size of blue felt and we made our sea animals on that. We soaked it with warm water and soap and rubbed the fibres in with bubble wrap. We gave it a pinch test to see if the fibres were stuck together. If they were, we squeezed the soapy water out of it and left it to dry.
Week 3
Today we made some sea creatures on an A3 size sheet of paper. Sue called us up in groups of threes or fours so she could help us. When we were finished our wool creatures we put them on the ground in preparation for the following week.
Week 4
This week we finished our project. First we got a big sheet of bubble wrap and a big piece of blue pre-felted sheet of felt half the area of the bubble wrap and some bamboo. We put all of the sea creatures on it and soaked the project with a mixture of warm water and soap. We repeatedly rolled the project on the bamboo. Then we put the other half of the bubble wrap over the project and rubbed the soapy water into the wool until the fibres were stuck together. After that we rolled the project into a cylinder so that more water could escape. A few of us got into a circle and passed the project around. We went outside and squeezed the left over water into the drain and left it to dry in the morning sun.
This was a really enjoyable art project. We are extremely grateful to Sue and Mrs McAnearney for all their help and guidance. We learned lots of new skills and are very proud of our finished artwork. Míle Buíochas.