'Sparkling' Wine Tote- Part 2 of 2

Cutting wide 'U's' for the handles...

...prior to further felting.

 

The flower accents in close-up.

 

The back of the finished tote...

 

...with its festive surface!

 

The wine tote in use.

 

See how it shimmers and shines?...

 

...just perfect for carrying bottles of 'bubbly' to a holiday party! :)

 

'Sparkling' Wine Tote- Part 1 of 2

Cutting a tote-shaped resist with a lengthwise hole in the center...



...and covering it with wool from one of my handmade art batts.

 

Additional layers are added from a second batt...

...(made with domestic wool roving and green tussah silk).

 

Wetting out side one...

...for a painterly background...

 

...then adding wool from a super sparkly pink art batt...

...(a gift from my friend, Linda Koch).

 

Adding flowers and stems with wool roving and additional tussah silk...

 

...then defining them with pencil roving.



Here's the project after I felted it awhile...

...but before I cut slits for the handles.

 

I've been making a lot of totes this autumn...

...and I wanted to figure out an easy resist design...

...for making a divided wine tote.

This resist is a winner!

By opening it in the center...

...prior to covering it with wool...

...the front and back of the tote fuse together during felting...

...in a wonderful and subtle way.

Looking at the finished, flat totes...

...you would never guess that they open up for 'double duty'!

Next time: the finished tote...

...in all of its sparkling glory! :)

'Mock-Croc' Tote

My 'Mock-Croc' tote....

...with hot pink accents! :)

 

A reconstitution of the general shape of the resists that I used...

...waaay back in the summer when I made this tote...

...except that I'm showing the cut-out one made from paper, instead of bubble wrap...

...to help you see its shape more clearly.

The back of the finished tote.

 

The handle.

 

The interior.

 

Perfect for knitting projects!

 

This tote is coming in quite handy, lately...

...now that I've learned to knit :)

I wrapped a foam resist with layers of wool roving...

...then sandwiched-in a bubble wrap layer (with cut-out holes!)...

...and covered the whole shebang with additional layers of roving.

(Hot pink wool was used for the center two layers...

...just for fun!)

Mid-way through felting...

...I cut along the surface of the bubble wrap resist, all around...

...and lifted it out...

...then continued to felt the tote...

...and finish it, as usual.

Portuguese Pencil-Roving Tote- Part 2 of 2

Using masking tape...

...to accurately position the handles prior to stitching.



I zigzag stitched along the exposed seams...

...for a neater interior appearance.

 

The front of the finished tote...



...which, thanks to the box bottom...

...easily stands on its own for 'filling'! :)

 

The back of the finished tote.

 

Despite the color disparity (green and tan)...

...I really like the way this lining coordinates with the felt. :)

 

Portuguese Pencil-Roving Tote- Part 1 of 2

A large piece of flat felt made with pencil roving...

...and wool roving from Bordeleria sheep.

(Shown here, along with my nuno felted beret and a classmate's raw fleece project. )

 

Quirky wax-resist batik fabric...

...that I purchased at an outdoor market in Rotterdam.

 

Stitching the lining fabric to the felt sheet...

...to create an open-top envelope.



Making a box bottom...

 

...then turning the project right-side out.

 

Fashioning long leather straps.

 

This was a summer project that I somehow neglected to show you...

...so I guess now is finally the time! :)

With felt made from light brown Bordeleria roving...

...and hairy pencil roving (from Portuguese sheep)...

...plus wonderful batik fabric that I purchased in Rotterdam...

...I constructed this light, roomy tote.

I stacked the felt and lining, wrong sides together...

...and stitched them up into an envelope...

...then re-folded the project to stitch-in box corners.

I then fashioned long leather straps...

...from a large piece of black leather...

...and machine stitched them to the bag.

Next time: the finished tote.

Felted "Detritus Tote" Tutorial- Part 3 of 3

The highly textured surface of the finished tote.

 

Side one in all of its wild glory! :)

 

Close-ups...

 

...of the layered and felted-in embellishments...

 

...show what good 'bedfellows' these quite disparate inclusions can be...



...when felted together... 

 

...into one bright and chaotic project! :)



Side two of the finished tote. 

 

It was a little surprising to me...

...how harmoniously all of these different elements came together in this project...

...especially because so many of them had initially been discarded and rather dirty detritus...

...or small snippets left over from old projects.

I did, upon occasion, have to pull out a clot of fuzz or other non-fiber-type matter...

...but, as my friend, Els says...

..."with lots of soap during felting...

...the 'dirty' isn't a problem anymore"! :)

The finished felt is quite thin, but very strong...

...owing to the quality of the superfine merino roving...

...and the layer of supporting cotton gauze.

                                             

Felted "Detritus Tote" Tutorial- Part 2 of 3

Mid-way through felting...

...you can see the piece starting to shrink on the resist.

 

After removing the resist...

 

and turning the project 'right-side' out.

 

Additional rolling from side to side...

...reduces the width of the tote's 'mouth' and makes it a more appealing shape.

 

Side one with raw locks...

 

...and side two with lots of leftover snippets from this project.

 

Close-ups...

 

...of the bag's texture.

 

Many of you know how very much I enjoy working 'inside-out'...

...and this project is a good example of 'why?'!

Even with all of the synthetic add-ons and partially felted bits...

...working in this manner kept them all in place!

Next time: the finished tote...

...and a few more close-ups of the fun stuff! :)