Monday, April 25, 2011

Paisley Purse- Part 1

Prefelt paisley shape...hand-stitched with linen thread.

 


Needle-felting the closure into a tube.

 


Laying out the bag back.

 


The front of the bag.

 


I'd been wanting to try hand-stitching on prefelt prior to felting...

...to see how tiny and well-integrated the stitches could become in a finished piece.

So I cut a piece of prefelt into a paisley shape...

...and covered it with rows and rows of tiny stitches in linen thread.

I used a natural thread, thinking that it would be more likely to felt than a synthetic one would...

...and I took care in my handwork, so as not to rip the fragile prefelt with my stitches.

As I often do, I chose a peanut-shaped resist for this purse...

...and, since it was for a swap, I added a tube closure at the recipient's request.

Because it wasn't for me, I chose a rather neutral palette of colors...

...and confined my favorite color to a few judicious splashes here and there! Grin.

Next time: the finished bag.





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6 comments:

vilterietje said...

that's the problem with making something for someone els. you always want to put something from yourself in it:) it looks very promissing

Anonymous said...

I am curious to see if it all worked out like you planned... in my case lately all things I think out and start to felt don´t turn out like I expected... :( but great experiments!!

krex said...

looking forward to seeing the finished result...I haven't tried this technique yet but am always excited to try something new...do you wait for the prefelt bag to dry before stitching or stitch while wet ?

Heather Woollove said...

Riet--So true!
Kim--I also allow for a lot of 'serendipity' while felting. A lot of my pieces become something else during the process, too! :)
Krex--I used prefelt for the paisley and the tube closure...the bag was made from roving...and I stitched the paisley piece first, before adding it to the back of the bag. :)

Dawn Edwards/Felt So Right said...

Good morning buddy,

I can't wait to see the completed bag and I am so excited to see how that stitching turned out. You are so talented....I'd have needed three pairs of reading glasses on to make those teeny-tiny stitches ;-)

Coffee...I need coffee... Wish you were here so that we could have a cup of Joe together.

Big hugs,
Dawn

Heather Woollove said...

Dawn-I wish I were there, too! :(
Hugs back...