Felt is one my favorite fabrics to work with. And although the site is called “the felted purse” felted bags and purses are only the tip of the iceberg when creating with felt. Felt can be dyed any colour and worked into any shape or size you need. It is one of the oldest fabrics known to man. Remnants of felt making have been found in Turkey dating back to as far as 6,500BC Felt is used around the world for rugs, tents, clothing, felt bags and art just to name a few common uses. Felt is made from natural wool fibers that are matted together to form a fabric. This is called wet felting in which the fibres are matted together using water, soap and friction.If you dont have the time to make your own felt from scratch you can always use an old wool sweater, wash in hot water and a little soap. This will shrink the wool fibres and create a felted fabric that can then be cut up and sewn into any new item you want. This is sometimes referred to as fulling. Since felt will not fray it is easy to work with. You can also knit or crochet an item and felt it afterwards to create a unique gift. This site will show different felting techniques and items made from it. Future posting will show you how to: – create felt from wool roving to make a unique felted purse – make a knit or crochet purse and felt it in the washing machine – needle felt a design on a handmade purse or any other item – make a felt bag from an old recycled wool sweater – make a 3D item from felting wool or wool roving (like a dog or bear) Using only a barbed needle. This process is called needle felting and is one of my favorite pastimes.

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after making a square of felt using wool roving and mohair I then added the balls in rows under the felt as in the shibori scarf and continued felting until I was satisfied with the texture.  After it dried I then removed the balls and designed the following purse with a cotton lining and zipper closure.  Size 15″ by 9″

The next piece of felt I made was made with gray roving and gray wool curls.

then designed this lovely tote with outside pocket for cell phone

other items made with smaller pieces of handmade felt

eye glass case made with merino and silk

green with white leaves- glasses cases with vintage buttons

and last but not least from brown roving and brown wool curls this lovely little bag just big enough for your phone and keys.

I think that is it for today but check back soon for some of the other felted items.

Most items will be on sale through my etsy store soon.

Hope everyone is having a good year.

This is the first needle felted owl I have ever made and I think she is precious sitting on her stump overlooking the forest.

Needle felting is a method of felting using only a barbed needle to sculpt 3D animals or other objects from wool roving.

If you can imagine it you can needle felt it.

Technorati Tags: barbed needle, felted purse, needle felting

The term Shibori is a japanese term for a tie-dye technique that uses objects placed in the fabric to create interesting textures. I omitted the dye since I wanted a plain coloured scarf.

This is the skirt as it looked when I first got it.  I then cut it into strips and sewed two of them together to make a long plain scarf

The next step was to add the items to create the bubble look. First place pins in the spots you would like to place the items.  I used beads and styrofoam balls. Slip them under the pinned area and secure using elastic bands or non felting yarn, string or ribbon.

After all the items you want to add are in place now comes the fulling process.  Simply place the scarf in a zippered pillowcase or lingerie bag and put in your washing machine on the lowest water level with a small amount of detergent and a pair of old jeans or heavy clothing to create friction.  Using hot water run through the longest wash cycle checking the scarf every now and then to see if its felting enough. Remove when felted enough or at end of cycle.

now place in the dryer if it can still stand more felting or just hang to dry, it may take a day to completely dry.

When dry remove the objects you placed in the fabric by carefuly removing the rubber bands or yarn. You are now left with an interesting fabric that resisted felting where the objects were. 

additional decorating can be done by cutting small circles out of the scarf.

FINISHED ITEM, CAN BE SEEN AT MY ETSY STORE ALONG WITH OTHER FELTED ITEMS

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7759949

This same process can be applied to any pure wool sweater and then sewn to make a felted purse or other fashion items

Technorati Tags: felted, felted purse, fulled, shibori, wet felted

Technorati Tags: felt bag, felted purse, handmade purse, wet felting

Thank you Potpourripot productions for a very informative lesson on making a felt bag

Technorati Tags: felt bag, felted purse, handmade purse, wet felting