Learning an Ancient Craft Using 21st Century Technology

One of the things I love about felt making is that it is such an ancient craft. I have images of ancient man, sitting beside a fire, in his cave, vigorously rubbing the fleece from his sheep or goats to make a warm cape for himself.

It has always intrigued me that even with all our modern technology we still fashion felt in much the same way as the ancient Sumerians or Vikings.

Therefore, it was a bit of an unusual juxtaposition to find myself rubbing and rolling a fleece using the ancient tradition, in front of a modern day camera.

For several years I have been teaching a workshop called “Your First Felt Project – A Beginners Guide to Felt Making”. It has been a popular course and I’ve made many friends along the way and watched as they embraced the craft and took their creativity to new levels.

Word spread a little and I noticed that some of my students were driving quite long distances to attend the workshop. The idea of an online course was born.

Now, before I get too advanced, let me tell you – I make online courses for a living! You’d reckon it would be easy to make a course for something I have a real passion for, wouldn’t you?

Probably one of the hardest courses I have ever developed!

When I build a course for my job I have a subject matter expert who provides me with the information, images and resources.

Trying to decide what images to use, how much information to provide and what was relevant, was much more difficult than I anticipated. I was determined to provide the same quality of information as my workshop, but I also needed to keep it short, succinct and engaging.

Then there was the technology. My workplace provides me with very sophisticated and expensive software. Without that luxury I had to find software that I could afford and then learn to use it. On a few occasions my frustration with technology nearly shipwrecked my project - but I was determined to get it off the ground!

Finally it is finished and I’m pleased with the result. It is as close as possible to my face to face workshops and provides online participants the opportunity to interact with me if they need assistance.

For more information view the video or log on to my website the feltworkshop.godaddysites.com