There is a pink felt bra hanging in Bev Harris’s workshop – it’s evidence that she really will attempt to make anything out of her favourite composite material.

In preparation for the chilli festival she has created her own take on the fiery peppers, fashioning them from felt in gorgeous greens and reds so realistic you can almost feel the heat.

Elsewhere there are trays of jewel coloured buttons and beads – the perfect adornment for her hand-crafted accessories.

“I really will have a go at making anything out of felt – nothing is too much of a challenge,” said Bev, who lives in Petersfield and exhibits throughout Hampshire and beyond.

She became hooked on felt at the end of her art access course and developed her skill through university.

Always good at drawing, Bev, 48, had given up art at school in favour of a more academic route but when her children were old enough she was drawn back to the subject she loves.

“Since I was a child I have always drawn but when I was choosing my options at school I moved away from art.

“I only went back to it when my children were old enough for me to go back into education.

“I love the flexibility of felt. I have so many options when it comes to colour and how I will eventually use the felt I have created,” she explained.

A design book filled with drawings of animals is a resource she turns to for inspiration but largely she lets the felt dictate what it should become.

Her pieces are intricate and time-consuming to make.

The felt itself takes many hours to create and then there is the embellishment of buttons, beads and thread.

“I learned many different techniques at college and then university but it was felt-making that I really loved.

“I like to play around with the colours,” she said.

Her bags are works of art in themselves often created from one piece of felt that is fashioned in the shape of the bag.

Attractive to look at, they are also incredibly hardwearing due to the density of the fibres.

“I build up the fibres in the process of making the felt – it’s a bit like filo pastry,” she explained.

• Bev’s work can be viewed online at her webpage and she will be at the Knitting and Stitching show in London in October as well as the Festival of Crafts in Farnham. bevharrisarts.co.uk