Introduction to Tufting: Make a Coaster or Mini Wall Art Piece

Tiger Lily Tufts are running an introduction to tufting at Hotwalls Studios in Old Portsmouth on Sunday 12 July. It's a beginner-friendly workshop where you'll make either a coaster or a mini wall hanging, so you don't need any prior experience to get stuck in. The sessions run for an hour, with slots available between 10am and 4pm, which makes it easy to fit around your day rather than committing a whole afternoon to it.

If you've never heard of tufting, it's essentially a way of creating rugs and wall art by punching yarn through a fabric backing. You'll be working with a tufting gun to push the wool through, building up the pile until you've got a textured piece of your own. You get to choose between a coaster or a small wall hanging, so you can decide whether you want something for the table or something to hang up.

Hotwalls Studios is a good spot for it, too. It's located in Old Portsmouth, where a set of old, rarely used arches at Point Battery were turned into modern workspaces. The studios were inspired by the Sunday art sales that have happened there since the late 1950s, and in 2014 Portsmouth City Council secured the funding to transform what was once a defence against invasion into a creative quarter. There are thirteen studios working from the arches, alongside a deli-style café called The Canteen, so it's a proper working hub rather than just a gallery.

It's £36 per person for the hour, and with the sessions running from 10am through to 4pm, you can pick a time that suits you. If you're new to the whole thing, this is a low-pressure way to try it out and leave with something you've actually made.