Monday, July 16, 2012

Portugal- Pre-Felt Bordeleria Book Pouch

Laying out white Bordeleria pre-felt circles...

 
...then ringing them with pinky-orange silk and merino blend roving...

...before covering them with layers of brown Bordeleria wool.

 
White pre-felt strips form the sole design element on side two.

 
The finished pouch (back)...

 
...and front...

 
...and with the flap up, showing off its stripes! :)

 
Once home, I felted the pouch a bit more (to shrink it)...

 
...and now it fits a hardback book perfectly!

 
Toward the end of the week and 'between projects'...

...I decided to experiment a bit with our Bordeleria roving.

I made a small sheet of pre-felt with the white wool...

...and from it, cut circles and strips.

Working inside-out, I laid circles onto the resist...

...then wrapped lengths of silk and merino blend roving around each one.

Covering side one with brown roving, I continued on to side two...

...laying out strips of pre-felt and covering them with layers of brown roving, as well.

If I had taken just a little more time with the layout (or had worked right-side out!)...

...the finished design might have looked a bit more thought out.

As it is, everything looks like it needs to move down, somewhat, on this pouch! :)

Additionally, since I continued to felt the piece once I arrived home, to make it smaller and thicker...

...more of the brown wool was able to migrate through the white pre-felt...

...and the designs are no longer quite as crisp and bright. :(

I may yet add a button or configure some sort of closure for this project...

...but for now, it's 'earning its keep', finding utility as a protective pouch for my latest novel! :)

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11 comments:

Linda said...

So beautiful Heather, you are very talented.
xo
Linda

Heather Woollove said...

Linda--You're sweet! I'd like to try a few more pre-felt projects like this sometime...and take a little more time with the layout!! XXO-

Karen said...

you have definitely created something beautiful yet I adore the first picture just as it is! and Aunty was thrilled!

Heather Woollove said...

Karen--Hahaha...the first photo reminds me of a children's game we call "Hens and Chicks". It has small and larger wooden pieces 'penned' into a spring-loaded rectangle and you have to choose which one is safe to remove with each turn, so that the whole thing doesn't 'blow'!!! :)

Rachel said...

looks good, and very useful as well!

Heather Woollove said...

Rachel--You know me...I can never have enough bags/purses/pouches/
totes!! :)

Terriea Kwong said...

Never boring seeing your creations. Love your way of doing some prefelts for the pattern. Ah... a iPad case like it is good.

Grazyna said...

Geniale, come sempre!

Heather Woollove said...

Terriea--Thank you!
Grazyna--You're too kind. :)

Anonymous said...

I do like it better after you felted it a bit more. It just has a more "finished" look. Very attractive, and extremely useful. Great job kiddo! :)

Heather Woollove said...

Sandie--I like the way the felt looks and functions better now that it's thicker, but I did like the crisp edges of the white stripes better prior to the additional felting.