RESIDENTS of Weymouth and Portland are being invited to slip off their shoes and experience the fun of felt making this Easter.

For those who do not fancy wading into tubs of wet fleece, there will be opportunities to make sculptures out of driftwood and flags out of parachute material.

Free creative 2012 workshops are being held across the borough this month to make decorations for this summer’s Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and Olympic torch relay.

The latest sessions follow four previous Let’s Make It! workshops at Weymouth’s new community fire station and Littlemoor, which attracted more than 90 people.

Organiser Julie Hursthouse, community development worker for the borough council, said: “The workshops are free to attend and are being sponsored by Synergy Housing.

“More than 90 people, aged from three to 84 years old, took part in the last four workshops and it’s really encouraging to see the amount of people who said they were brilliant and have booked to do them again.

“With the help of local artist Jenny Frances we’re going to carry on making hand-felted banners for each area.

“We’re also going to make driftwood sculptures to put along the seafront flowerbeds and flags using parachute material for a display on the grassy bank by Swannery car park, where the Olympic transport hub will be based.

“At the RSPB nature reserve workshop, we’ll take people on a nature walk to collect feathers and other materials.”

The idea is that all the individual felt creations will be added to 4ft by 2ft banners in each community that makes them – at Littlemoor, designs so far include Bincombe Bumps, the Jurassic Stones sculpture, sheep and a rainbow.

Julie said: “People will be able to get their shoes and socks off and learn how to make felt using fleece straight off the sheep in soapy water.

“You usually have to flatten it with your fingers but as this one’s big we’ll be using our feet.”

The Let’s Make It! Team also hope to work with groups of adults with learning disabilities and people on probation ‘to make sure every person has an opportunity to have a go’.

Julie added: “If it wasn’t for the Games we wouldn’t be teaching people how to make felt, flags and sculptures.

“It’s a lasting legacy, we’re giving people new skills through us having the Olympics, it’s fantastic.”