Thursday, May 22, 2014

Flat Felt and Leather Purses- Part 3 of ?

Cutting stone-shaped pieces of finished felt...

                                   
                         ...and covering them with hanks of wool from black and green batts.



                                        Laying out 'color blocks' of hand-dyed silk...

                                      

                                                      ...adding the 'stones'...



                         ...and covering the whole shebang with a layer of wool roving.



                                                        Wetting out the piece...



                      ...adding a foam resist (with a thin opening cut down the center)...



                                                   ...a layer of silk gauze...



                                  ...and a thin rectangle of pre-felt as a 'cutting line'.



                                  After flipping the project to side two and wetting it out...



                                                     ...felting is begun.


                                   Pulling the foam resist into pieces for removal.



                                           Because I so dislike making felt straps...

                                                ...many of my purse designs...

                            ...involve some sort of alternative strap-making method.

                              And because flat felt is so quick and easy to make...

                                             ...(no fiddling with a resist)...                    

                                   ...these four purses were a delight to make!

                    Next time: I fashion a narrow flap, sides and strap from blue leather...

                                       ...and add a button closure.

                             

                                   

4 comments:

Rachel said...

I'm always completely baffled by what I see in your stage one photos, and never manage to visualise correctly how it will turn out. How often does it surprise you?

Heather Woollove said...

Rachel-I usually have a pretty good idea of how things will look when they're done (shapes, anyway), but I do love the surprise and mystery of feltmaking in general, and I 'help it along' by often working inside-out, so the surprise is greater! :)

Kelly said...

Love, love, love! Making flat panels of felt is the best. Do you iron your silk to keep it so flat? Mine never lays as nice.....unless I iron it.

Heather Woollove said...

Kelly-I'm so glad you like it so far! I didn't iron the silk at all...but keep in mind, it's still wet in that last photo! :)