Saturday, July 16, 2011

Negative/Positive Bags- Part 1 of 5

Laying out wool roving and synthetic floral fabric.

 


Adding blue, white, green and grey roving.

 


Adding a layer of cotton gauze.

 


After trimming out and stitching the handle.

 


While my friend Linda was visiting recently...

...we decided to work on a couple of bags together.

She made one with black roving and bright, neon-dyed locks...

...and I decided to see how well a certain piece of synthetic fabric would felt.

I used my newest messenger bag resist...

...and 'built' the bag from the outside-in, as I often do.

Because I wanted to tint the flowers and leaves in the finished felt...

...(like hand-coloring an old black and white photograph)...

...I laid out areas of white, blue and grey...and green roving for the leaves.

I covered this design and the entire resist with layers of black roving...

...plus a layer of cotton gauze on the bottom half of the bag.

Next time: the finished bag with its handmade, fused-glass button.

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17 comments:

vilterietje said...

i think i'm too stupid to understand what you did with the rovong, the gauze, the cotton, but one thing is sure:IT LOOKS AMAZING:)

Heather Woollove said...

Oh, no, Riet--let's try this again...
Picture that the synthetic fabric (which will be the bag outside) is on the bottom, against the plastic resist. Now imagine that I'm sandwiching the colored roving between that fabric and the black roving that will make the rest of the bag. Get it now? :) The gauze went on in between layers of black roving for structural support. XXO-

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Unknown said...

Oh! So great Heather! I love the idea...The idea of handpainting the flowers is fantastic! I'm looking forward to seeing how the different colours migrated through the fabrics. Also looking forward to the black and neon locks if you have pics of that bag...I'm trying to imagine the bags shape based on your pics....but will wait for your next post..I love the suspense! Very cool felting!

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Rachel!
Fiona--I'm glad you like this one! Actually, I didn't pile enough roving behind the fabric for the colors to really show very well after it was felted. When I post photos of the 2nd version of this bag (white, instead of black), you'll see that I used a little more and it shows a bit better. As far as the black + neon locks bag goes...Linda blogged about it here: http://alteredvisionsfiber.blogspot.com/2011/06/where-has-time-gone.html
XXO--

Melissa Plank said...

Fabulous!!! You are so creative and inspiring!!! I'm gonna peek around and see if you teach classes?

FeltersJourney said...

Looking forward to seeing the finished bag Heather... I think this is going to beautiful.

I love what you have done with the coloured fibre behind the fabric..absolutely cant wait to see how it turned out.
xx

Heather Woollove said...

Melissa--Thanks so much! (Was so excited to see your felted art yarn, too!) I don't teach classes, but if you'd ever like to plan a trip to Philadelphia to visit me, I'm sure we could make some great projects together! XXO-
Deborah--Thanks! When I bought the fabric, I thought, "How great...it's like a coloring book...just black shapes on a white background!"
It turns out that it really needs a PILE of roving behind it, for the color to show. You'll see in my next post...very little of it came through. I did better in the second bag of this series, though. XXO-

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry the colors didn't show through as you had planned, but I think the whole idea is magnificent, and I know that before long, you will have perfected it too! You are just SO CREATIVE! I can't even imagine how you come up with some of your ideas, but you do, and you surprise me over and over again, with the neatest things. :)

Voie de Vie said...

Well, while I definitely agree the second bag in the series is extraordinary (!), the black background has a certain charm, too.

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Sandie!
Denise--Hahaha...I like them both, too. I think I got the coloring a bit better on yours, though. :)

Gabi said...

A great Idea! I`m curious about the
bag!
Gabi

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Gabi! Stay tuned!...this posting set will show both this bag and it's black and white negative...both using the same fabric and method.

vilterietje said...

thanks heather! i must try this, because i like it very, very much:)

Heather Woollove said...

You're welcome, Riet! With English not being your first language, I think you do amazingly well! :) I hope you will try it and let me know how it goes! XXO-

Michelle said...

Ohhh, can't wait to see this through the steps. Very exciting!

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Michelle. I took more 'process photos' with the next bag, so you'll be able to see more of the steps.