Making Felt Hats with Milliner Jo Barr - Saturday June 8
Discover the Art of Wet Felting Millinery and make your own felt hat to take home !
During the workshop participants create a simple wet felted brooch and a cloche or small brimmed style hat utilising Australian Merino fibres mainly sourced from a mill in Nundle NSW. All of the materials required to complete the workshop are provided to all participants along with access to the necessary equipment.
Wet felting is not a quick process and can’t be rushed. This allows plenty of time for participants to chat and engage with each other as they work and share life experiences and stories and inspire and encourage each other whilst they create their unique hat.
The workshops are conducted in an inclusive and supportive manner that are designed to engage and energise creativity in people and to build connections and relationships.
Participants leave the workshop not only with a hat and brooch but are equipped with the skills, knowledge and necessary equipment to continue with the art of wet felting at home allowing them to complete further projects if they desire.
YOUR TEACHER Jo Barr is a Milliner, wet felter, teacher and farmer based in Currabubula and has a studio near Walcha NSW, with qualifications and experiences in a range of areas including Textiles, education and training and agriculture.
Jo has had a passion for textiles most of her life that began with her grandmother teaching her to sew as a child. She studied Textiles and Design throughout her schooling and then went onto study Applied Science specialising in Textiles at University. This led to Jo being employed in a textile mill (spinning, knitting, dyeing and finishing mill) as a technician. Her work within the Textiles Industry continued for many years where she took on many different roles for various companies.
Jo has always had a love of fibres, textiles, fashion, education and agriculture and an interest in hats and learning the art of felting enables her to blend these passions, where she works with Australian agricultural produce (fibres) to create beautiful hats. Jo has been making hats for over 18 years and has been creating wet felt hats for 5 years. She has recently given up her full-time high school teaching job to allow her to focus on her farm and business - JAMB Hats and Millinery, specialising in wet felt hats and conducting wet felt and craft workshops to a range of audiences.