Crafty Bootcamps and more Sessions!

Crafty Bootcamp: felting a book cover

Today we begin our Crafty Bootcamps for 10-15 year olds.  Craft in Kerry works to promote handmade traditions and so this is part of that effort--start the future makers on the right track!  We are starting at 10am and going until 130pm and they will start with an overview on colour and dyeing and then get stuck into dyeing their own wool yarns and cloth for patchwork.  Don't worry, I've pre-mixed the dyes so that we aren't doing anything dangerous with them!  They will felt and do a bit of drawing today and that should be it for today.  For the rest of the week: felting an item of their choice (book cover or phone cover usually), learning to stitch on their sample felt piece, cut fabric and make a patchwork sampler, and learn to crochet.  Their brains will be full!


This week's Handmade Sessions:  


Monday, upcycling clothing: learn to customize and recycle clothing for great fashion flair!  Andrea will show you how to get started.  Please bring an item of clothing that you want to change and we will provide the rest! 


Tuesday, wood carving: John will teach you the basics of wood carving and how to handle carving tools.  He has been teaching over 20 years and is chairperson of the Kerry Wood Turners guild.  


Wednesday, knitting: Learn to knit from the beginning or just pick up some new pattern ideas.  Vicki knits for a professional co-operative and can show you how to finish a garment to perfection.


Thursday, felting: Sharon has been felting for six years and will introduce you to the magic of creating your own cloth.  With beautifully, soft Merino wool and soap and water, you can make your own fabric and products.  We will learn basic felting and then learn to felt a book cover or scarf.


Friday, crochet. Learn the basic stitches of crochet and 


For more information, please ring 087-9111793.  Pre-booking is essential.  Also, we will have a weaving Session with Mairead Sharry on Friday, July 22nd and a spinning Session on Friday, July 29th.  Mairead is fantastic with the traditional crafts and is also quite good at rushwork/basketmaking.  Give us a ring if you want to take part in her fantastic Session!

Busy Week for Craft

This week's Handmade Sessions: 

Free-form crochet

Monday: upcycling with Andrea.  Andrea has been designing clothing for almost ten years now and will show you how to customize your clothing to creative innovative, sparkling design.  Bring a piece of clothing that you want to change and we will have the rest of the materials for you!

Tuesday: dyeing with Sharon.  Learn the basics of dyeing protein-based fibres (wool/silk) and cellulose fibres (cotton/linen/rayon).  We will dye cotton fabric suitable for patchwork and wool fibres suitable for felting and discuss safety precautions for dyeing.  Get the great colours that you see in professional work.

Wednesday: knitting with Vicki.  Vicki is a life-long knitter and part of a consortium that knits for Everyone Loves Lilly, a company based in Kenmare that makes children's knitwear and clothing.  Class is suitable for beginners or improvers.

Thursday: felting with Sharon.  Learn the ancient art of felting.  It's said that originally people put sheep's wool in their shoes to prevent blisters from forming and the felt was created by the sweat and friction!  Either way, we will be making felt with lovely, soft merino wool and making our own cloth.  Very easy to learn and suitable for children, as well.

Friday: free-form crochet with Sharon. Learn the basic crochet stitches and how to link them together to create a unique design for yourself.  

All Sessions 2-530pm and cost €35, materials included.  Booking is essential. Please ring 087-9111793 for additional information.

Crafty Bootcamp: crochet

Craft in Kerry’s Handmade Sessions will be starting their Crafty Bootcamp starting Monday, 4 July. Participants will learn craft technique in the following areas:

Felt—stitch a sampler, make a small handbag or pair of cuffs

Stitch—embroider and embellish a felted & dyed piece; hand sew patchwork wall piece.

Dyeing—dye wool yarns for crochet, fabric for patchwork & merino for felting

Crochet—Learn to crochet a scarf, e.g. basic single and double crochet which can be adapted into larger projects

Patchwork-dye fabric and cut and sew a pattern for a small wall hanging

Drawing—learn to draw and keep a design & idea book

The Bootcamp runs 10-130pm and costs €60 per student.  Price concessions can be made for multiple bookings.  Booking is essential. Ring 087-9111793 for more information.

This Week's Agenda...

Hi!  We are busy at the Handmade Sessions.  If you are going to be in Dingle, please do stop by and see our new venue.  This week's workshops are:

Upcycling Clothing with Andrea-Monday
Learn to customise and alter clothing to make it personal and fabulous!  Bring an item of clothing with you to the class and Andrea will show you how it's done!

Carving with John-Tuesday
Learn the basics of carving with John Murphy, who has been teaching wood-turning and carving for over 20 years.  Design and basic tool handling are covered to produce small carved objects.

Knitting with Kathleen-Thursday
Learn to knit a bit or learn a few new tricks!  Vicki will walk you through the process and you will be knitting in no time.  Experience not necessary and materials provided.

Felting with Sharon-Wednesday & Friday
Learn basic felting in our studio and then progress onto felting a small camera or phone case.  The basics from this workshop allow you to learn how to make a handbag in an advanced workshop, if you should wish.

John Murphy teaching wood carving

All workshops are 2-530pm and the fee of €35 does include materials.  Please feel free to ring 087-9111793 with any questions you may have.  Booking is essential.

The Day is Here!

The delightful Pam de Groot started us off
on great footing with a master felting
workshop in our new venue.

Please join Craft in Kerry in celebrating our new venture, The Handmade Sessions, on Monday, June 20 at 4pm on John St in Dingle, Co Kerry at our new venue opposite Galvin's travel agent. We will be showcasing some of our craft workshops, including wood carving, felting, knitting, spinning, and clothing upcycling. All welcome!


It's been a hard couple of weeks getting it open, and we could use a few more things up on the walls, but we will be officially open for business on Tuesday, June 21st with a wood carving workshop.  All workshops are 2-530pm for the present time and cost €35, materials included.  Please contact +353-087-9111793 or email handmadesessions@hotmail.com.  Lots of great workshops coming and if your group would like a day-long workshop, please contact me as we can accommodate that!  Parking in old CBS parking lot just four doors up from us on the right.


See you there!

Is This Summer???

Learn to felt and make personally designed book covers

Okay, I am freezing!  The weather, for the month of May, is as damp and miserable as March.  Luckily, I have plenty of indoor work to do to get the Handmade Sessions up and running.  We are looking at June 13th for the launch and June 14th as the first day to take part in the Sessions.

I have set up a calendar on the blog to showcase our Session offerings. So far, we will be teaching wood carving, felting, dyeing, creative embroidery, up-cycling clothing, knitting, crochet, and jewellery. This list is not exhaustive as we will be adding more workshops over the summer and we do have many members of Craft in Kerry that teach in their own studio, so if you have a request please do get in touch and we can assist you in organizing the workshop of your dreams.  You can try your hand at felting or up-cycling clothing and your partner can make a bespoke greenwood chair.  Click on the day on the calendar and it will highlight the day's Session.

The venue is nearly ready and we will soon be furnishing the interior. Please do come by and see us in Dingle, Co Kerry on John St on Monday, June 13th and try your hand at carving or felting or knitting on the day. We will be there, rain or shine, from 4-8pm.  

For more information or for booking in advance, please email handmadesessions@hotmail.com or ring 011-353-87-9111793.  We do prefer to have people book in advance as materials are included in the price of €35 per Session and it will help us not only secure your space, but also ensure there are enough materials.

Nuts and bolts

• €35 per Session per person, materials included
• Workshops will be 2-6pm, but do check the calendar to confirm times as they may vary throughout the summer
• Venue is on John St in Dingle town, an 8 minute walk from the Tourist Office
• There is parking just above us on the right in the old secondary School (CBS) and it will accommodate a large van or bus.
• Most Sessions are geared towards beginner level, so don't panic about being in over your head.  If you already have basic knowledge, then your instructor will work with you to develop a more challenging project for your time here.
• Some materials may be for sale by the instructors to get you started in new projects as Dingle would not have supplies easily available.  Just ask when you register.
• There are two fantastic restaurants across the street from us (The Half Door and Doyle's Seafood Restaurant), so you can continue your wonderful Dingle artisan experience!

Instructors

John Murphy                   Wood Carving

Ann Moore                     Creative Embroidery/Up-cycling

Sharon Crandall               Felting/Dyeing/Crochet

Kathleen Flannery            Knitting/Jewellery

Ann Moore's creative embroidery

Nationwide and Craft in Kerry

Cathy Teahan's beautiful
apron.  Who has to be
dowdy in the kitchen?

Well, Nationwide has come and gone and are we any different for it???  The publicity for the group was wonderful and I am hoping that new members find their way to us via our blog here and on Facebook.  I know that CIK members Garry Marcham, Cathy Teahan, Sharon Crandall, and Emer Leogue are very appreciative of their profile on the show, as well as others that received camera time and no credit.  Pat Lawless had his furniture designs shown several times and Kathleen Flannery's beautful jewellery was shown.  We had a glimpse of Linda Hannafin's and Colleen Bowler's ceramics and Fiona Crinnion's colourful bracelets and necklaces that were a big hit on the day.  Roll on the next showcase!

We will be finalizing our calendar for the year at our next meeting, so watch this space for more Craft in Kerry events.  For sure, we will be in Killarney on May 19th at the Malton Hotel for the Kerry Tourism Showcase from 12-8pm. It will be free to the public (and free to exhibit, for that matter) and a place for all Kerry people to familiarize themselves with what is on offer for visitors and residents alike.  See http://www.discoverkerry.org/ for more information.  

As for our next meeting, it will be on Monday, May 30th at 730pm in Dingle.  We hope to have our new premises for the Handmade Sessions ready to launch, so it will be time for a party!  We will be demonstrating a sampling of the Handmade Sessions and also celebrating a bit.  If you have any interest in making handmade products, come along and have a look and see what we have been up to!

Cathy Teahan's floral tote--take me to
the beach!

You might have seen Dragonfly Cottages featured on Nationwide last week.  Her gorgeous soft furnishings were a big hit.  Here is another apron in the most gorgeous spring colours.  I agree with her 100% that you don't have to look dowdy in the kitchen!  As she says herself, they are styled after Marilyn Monroe's dresses.  Now, whether you wear anything underneath yours is your business alone! There are also new designs in her tote bag range for spring. We are in the throes of summer now, so watch this space for more activities that are coming up...

Craft Fairs and Handmade Sessions

Linda  Hannafin's ceramics and Karen
Flannery's jewellery and hats

Easter seemed to come and go in a blur this year, with so many crafts activities on the go.  Craft in Kerry had it's first crafts showcase at An Díseart in Dingle, Co Kerry.  Exhibiting the best of handmade Kerry crafts, there was a great turnout and even better weather.  Perhaps TOO GOOD, as many customers ventured down to the waterside for lunch that afternoon and didn't make it back up!  Many thanks to all our talented artisans and new customers for coming on board.

Nationwide was there filming us on the day and it should air on Wednesday, May 4 at 7pm. They were all over the place filming, so we just have to wait and see what the final edit ends up looking like.  Many thanks to them for their time and great promotion--they have been so good to the Year of Craft!

Watch this space for information on more Craft in Kerry events.

Garry Marcham preparing his greenwood chairs.  Garry will
be teaching as part of the Handmade Sessions.

Our focus is now shifting to our new Handmade Sessions. We will be teaching half-day workshop sessions (10-1pm and 2-6pm) in a wide variety of crafts in Dingle, County Kerry. Your 4 hour session will include materials, instruction, and a fine Kerry welcome! Workshop offerings include traditional Irish knitting, Irish crocheted lace, woodcarving, jewellery, creative embroidery, felting, dyeing, and more. Customized workshops available on request, as well as longer sessions. Please contact handmadesessions@hotmail.com for more information.

Debbie McCarthy and Dawn Thomas' exhibition at the
Craft in Kerry craft fair last Friday.

Our next member focus is Dawn Thomas.  Dawn hand knits and crochets beautiful adult and children's wear from her base in North Kerry.  Specialising in custom-made wearables, Dawn makes hats, cardigans, blankets, and more to cater to almost any occasion.  Using a wide variety of patterns and  yarns, she is kept busy on the craft fair market sharing space with Debbie McCarthy.  They will be exhibiting at the craft fair in Killarney May 28 and at many fairs around Kerry.  

You can find more information about all Craft in Kerry members on our Facebook page or email sharon1_crandall@hotmail.com.  New members welcome, but produce must be handmade in Kerry.

Dawn Thomas' beautiful hand-crocheted girl's tunic dress