Felted Bag – Project 2 from Holiday

I think I’ve done enough “serious” posts for a while so let’s get back to the fun. Although I no longer recall my holiday, I do remember I want to show you what I got up to project-wise. I cannot tell you how proud I am of this little beauty.

And so that I explain what it is as my photo skills don’t live up to real life – it’s my first big felted project. A handbag. And the inside look like this:

I don’t normally carry around crumpled up newspaper! I’m just using it as stuffing.

So this project started life like this:

The body is a large rectangle made from self-striping felting yarn – S+S Filzi colour. A massive seven balls of it. When I finished, it was so large that I didn’t take a photo as I wanted no evidence of my failure to get the maths right (felting yarn usually shrinks about 40%). And the handles looked closer to ropes – my husband commented that they looked thick enough to tether a barge boat, Haha.

And the sides. Well. They were very large prior to them felting. They now look like this.

Once I assembled the pieces (you can sew them together or crochet them on), I put it in the washing machine with two tennis balls on a 40c wash. And lo and behold – it came out looking like this. I was so chuffed. The process of deciding on a design was not easy – I ripped out twice. The  yarn was warm to knit with, I was laughed at and ridiculed but now I feel justified in the process.

I love it so much that rather than using a button to close it, I’ve attached one of my prized vintage brooches and there is an elastic hook on the front flap to keep the bag secure. To be honest, the straps hold the flap down anyway.

I’ve taken courage from the process and I’m working on a matching hat.

Both the bag and the hat will be available next week in the Monster Yarns shop as knitting kits in a range of colours. Perfect present for the you know what which is getting to be just around the corner.