There's a brand new course running on Saturday 9th November 2013 to make your own designer felt lampshade - embroidered too!

Come along and spend the day with us at The Fluff-a-torium and leave with a gorgeous drum lampshade covered in your own fine felt made in any colour or design. The course costs £75 and includes a 20cm drum lampshade kit and all your felting materials. Plus of course drinks, biscuits, and afternoon tea and cake. There's also 10% off in the shop for all course attendees.

The new felting lampshade course results in a lampshade that can be used either as a pendant lampshade or a table lamp lampshade as it is totally rigid. The possibilities in design and colour (and embellishment of course) are ENDLESS!

Suffice to say I can actually think of something I'd quite like to make out of all of them! Or maybe I'll just patchwork them all together :-)

There's rather a lot of lovey ones to choose from I'm afraid. I couldn't decide myself!

These Art Gallery fabrics are all of the most fantastic quality 100% cotton and are about 114cm wide. Great for bags and clothes, cushions and the like.

And at £12.90 a metre (or £6.45 for half a metre) they are unbelievably good value too. Think I feel some new Pyjama trousers coming on...

Check out our full range of Art Gallery fabrics right here!

We were very lucky to have had Sophie Long teach her first course with us at The Fluff-a-torium at the weekend.

Sophie Long is a graduate from The Royal School of Needlework and had the privilege of working on none other than Kate Middleton's wedding dress! She also specialises in Ribbon Embroidery, and all sorts of other embroidery, and has put together a lovely course for us at The Fluff-a-torium where you can come and make a gorgeous little embroidered felt needle case covered in beautiful flowers.

We are also selling signed copies of her gorgeous new book "Mastering the Art of Embroidery" in the shop or by phone. It's a fantastic book, packed to the gills with information, inspiration and techniques. Call us on 01306 898144 for more information.

In preparation for the course, we now stock lots of hand dyed silk ribbons, which are so beautiful! I got rather carried away when ordering all the colours as there were so many to choose from - all amazing! I will try and get these silk ribbons online in the not too distant future...

Everyone had a fantastic day making their needle cases! If you are interested in coming to The Fluff-a-torium and taking a course with Sophie, then please see the website for dates and prices.

it seems like it's taken me forever - but I came across these gorgeous knitting bags and sewing boxes and fell in love with their pretty retro sewing fabric. Reminds me of all those old wooden reels of Silko thread that used to be in my mums sewing basket. Wish it still came like that!

Firstly, here's the new knitting bag I found:

Available at The Fluff-a-torium or online for just £22.95, there's plenty of space inside for even the longest of knitting needles, plus there's a zipped pocket on the outside too.

And here's the sewing basket, - it comes with a little plastic tray inside to keep everything organised, plus a little pincushion inside too. Just LOVE the fabric!

It costs £27.95 and more details about it are on the website if you're lusting after one ;-) here!

There's also a really lovely craft bag to match - on it's way in May, so keep an eye out if you like the print!

After the runaway success of little "Chirpy Chappy" needle felting birdy kit last year, I'd been hard at work designing new needle felting kits, which we launched recently to the world and now have for sale on our own website! Needle Felting seems to have hit the popularity stakes recently - it's just so self contained and magical. I absolutely LOVE teaching my new needle felting course too : Needle Felted Birds and Fishes.

Are you a dog person? Or a cat person? Well - either way - I've got it covered!! Ha ha!

Meet firstly "Monsieur Saucisson" - my cute new little needle felted doggie kit. He comes complete with felt to make a little dog coat so he won't get cold. Awwwwww! And if dogs aren't your thing and you prefer a purring moggy, then here is "Captain Catpin":

Both are brooch kits & come with everything you need to make them. These dog & cat needle felting kits are £13.95. Available now from our website here!

If you prefer your brooch a little more floral - then we have a needle felting kit for you too! "Flirty Gertie" is also a cute little brooch kit and comes with everything you need to needle felt this retro looking floral shabby-chic woolly accessory! Again, £13.95 and available now online here.

Next, if you think there's something fishy going on - you're right. In the shape of new "Submersible Percival" Needle Felting Fish kit. He comes with a little clip so you can clip him onto something when he's finished and is available - also for £13.95 - here on the website:

Finally - it may only be April as I write - but there's no time like the present for preparing for the "holiday season" at the end of the year. Dare I type the "Christmas" word in April? There I just did!! - but you must appreciate that maybe a penguin and a robin are for life - not just for Christmas! Tee hee! So please meet: "Gwendoline Penguin" needle felting penguin kit, and "Bob the Rob" needle felted robin kit. Gwendoline stands up as she is and Bob comes with a loop to hang him up. Both of these Christmas Needle Felting Kits are also £13.95 and available right here right now!

TOP TIP: For those of you that have never tried needle felting - it's really easy! I promise! Just follow my step by step illustrated instructions really carefully and you'll be fine. The most important thing to remember is to keep the felting needle upright and stab at the wool GENTLY. It's not really meant to an aggressive action - stab too violently and you'll break the needle! (And keep an eye on where you're stabbing. It's very painful if you accidentally stab your finger!) Oh - And it's most definitely NOT for kids - for obvious reasons!

Since the Olympic cycle race rode down West Street in Dorking and past The Fluff-a-torium, Dorking seems to have become famous for cycling in and around the Surrey Hills. So I thought it most appropriate to stock these gorgeous British handmade ceramic buttons featuring bicycles! They are so cute - measuring about 3cm wide, they'd look great sewn onto all sorts of things. I'm thinking maybe the front of a handbag, - or down the front of a cardi. And in lovely pastel shades for Spring and Summer too! £1.75 each and here on the website now!!

If you're curious as to where I (Gillian) could possibly live when I get home from The Fluff-a-torium of an evening (a lot of people say they could live right THERE) then your wait is over. Tempting though it is to sometimes just lay down and go to sleep on top of piles of fluffy wool tops, I do in fact actually live in a real house with my unfelted husband, unfelted 2 daughters and unfeltted Betty Boo the dog. (Although Betty Boo sometimes gets a little bit felted after a bath.)

If you'd like to see it, this month's new September 2012 edition of "25 Beautiful Homes" features my colourful house, where I have lived with my family since 1991. Located in a small Surrey village, it's changed and grown with us over the years, and I can't imagine living anywhere else!

Not content with trespassing on roundabouts and decorating Cockerels in Olympic regalia, those Fluffy Knit & Knatterers were at it again in time for the Olympic road race to come through Dorking past The Fluff-a-torium. Concerned that one of the cyclists' bikes might break, this knitted one was ready for action should it have been required. Gillian added a special felt bag for them to keep their Olympic medal in too.

Needless to say, all the cyclists whizzed past very quickly and no one seemed to need it, so it's still in our window for the time being!

Not just once - but twice!

For those of you not familiar with our home town of Dorking in Surrey, the emblem is a Cockerel. I know, - of all things. And a few years ago, the council commissioned a rather spectacular metal Cockerel sculpture, which stands in the centre of a roundabout at one side of the town. This now iconic Cockerel not only has his own facebook page (!) but is regularly decorated with various regalia according to the time of year.

Unsuspecting and upstanding members of The Knit and Knatter Group at The Fluff-a-torium by day; Undercover "Guerilla" Knitters of Dorking by night, - they collectively knitted a 25ft Red White and Blue Scarf - with gargantuan matching bobble hat, to dress the Cockerel in readiness for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Understandably, the operation was conducted under the cover of darkness, with members dressed incognito - as the royal family - no less.

Applauded by everyone as a huge success, the cockerel remained dressed in red white and blue until the Queen had sailed down the Thames, and the British rain caused slight knitted 'sagging'!

The pressure was now on for an Olympic equivalent, and the knitting Guerillas turned their attentions to a knitted Gold Medal. Another undercover mission was carried out, where the knitters held their own gold medal ceremony on the roundabout - a gold medal was awarded to the Cockerel for "The longest time standing still on a roundabout". A new Olympic Sport.

Once again, the knitting chenanigans were received with rapturous applause, with locals and council members alike enthusing over the Cockerel's new look. He even made it to the Daily Mail's website. (Not that that is any sort of accolade, but it demonstrates the incredible enormity of the situation :-)

Quite rightly, the Dorking Cockerel was appropriately dressed in time for the Olympic Roadraces which came through Dorking this summer.

If you'd like to get involved with the next 'yarn bomb', they meet every Friday 10-12 in the studio upstairs above The Fluff-a-torium. If they're not there, it's probably cos they've been arrested for trespassing on a roundabout...

Well it's not every day that you get a lovely photographer from The Sunday Telegraph nipping round for a photoshoot is it? After retrieving my relatively little used makeup/concealer from my 14 year old daughter's bedroom, I was ready.

Sarah Lonsdale (journalist) was writing a piece on eco and sustainable fabrics and yarns, and felt a bit of Gilliangladrag was in order for her article. No sooner had she laid eyes on the felt chandelier from Carnival of Felting than a photographer had been despatched to The Fluff-a-torium to come and make me smile more than is usual for a Monday. He wouldn't show me the results (don't blame him) so I was pleasantly surprised with the photo.  More importantly the chandelier looks great, and Sarah very kindly mentioned the fact that we run lots of felting courses, so ALL GOOD!

Here's the link to the article in The Sunday Telegraph if you'd like to read it:

Gillian Harris Felting Article and Chandelier from Carnival of Felting, Sunday Telegraph

Dyed. And gone to hand spun heaven. Now for sale online and in the shop, get a piece of this:

Our brand new Flora Fina Yarns, that have not only been handspun into a thick and thin yarn, but are then embellished with amazing little multi coloured (hand made) needle felted flowers, which have been attached to the yarn randomly, so that when you knit it up, you have little flowers all over the place! Like a fluffy summer meadow.

Here it is in the turquoise:

And here it is in grasshopper green:

You can make a scarf from one skein, if you use approx 12mm needles and cast on about 8-10 stitches. Garter stitch to the end leaving enough for casting off, and hey presto.

The style and gorgeousness that oozes from these yarns, far outweighs any that I've seen in any shop anywhere. Which is why I did the special "I've found the most stunning thing" dance when I found it! (And Caroline looked at me, slightly concerned, but with a sense of foregone conclusion.)

I've gone to great lengths to get it here to sell to YOU -  purveyors of all things wonderful and fluffy, so please:

Enjoy it, knit it, give it, or just hang it up somewhere and gaze at it! Available here in our unusual yarns section of the website.

My new book "Carnival of Felting" was officially launched on Sunday at our fluffy jamboree at The Fluff-a-torium! I hope that all who sail in her be lucky in fluff and particularly well felted.

Oh look! Gilliangladrag's Little Needle Felted Birdy "Chirpy Chappy" is in the May issue of Prima magazine!!

Made in just a couple of hours, this cute little birdy kit comes with everything you need, including felting needles, real merino wool tops and a little clip, so when he's finished you can attach him to something and he won't fly off! Instructions are easy to follow - so if you've fancied trying your hand at Needle Felting, this is a good little felting kit to start off with.

Look at these totally amazing bag handles I've just sourced. I'm SO excited and in love with them and want you to share the lurve....they are all online (and in store) and for sale right now!

Olympic Cushion Stuffing at The Fluff-a-torium yesterday, - organised by our knitting teacher Clare Davies. (Cushions were made by local knitters as part the Cultural Olympiad. They'll be given as a personal welcome gift from the people of Britain to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic athletes.)

Our knitting teacher Clare Davies (in green, on the left), who organised the whole event at The Fluff-a-torium.

If you haven't pre-ordered my new book "Carnival of Felting" yet
- there's still time to do so and get the FREE bag of "twinkle-fluff" that will come with it!

(Please note this offer has now finished.)