Friday, February 26, 2016

"Who's Got the Button"? Purse- Part 3

After turning the project right-side out...

 ...the felting continues.


                                              Unfortunately, this experiment...

                         ...designed to cut out the fiddly work of sewing on buttons...

                                                          ...was a complete fail. :(


                                
                             Instead of holding tightly to the surface of the (pre-)felt...

                               ...the buttons dangle from their linen boucle yarn tethers. 


                                   
                                           The fix? Using strong beading thread...

                       ...I hand stitch each of the 84 buttons to the surface of my bag.



                    In other disappointing news, it's only at this stage in the process...

                                ...that I realize I've forgotten to add hanging loops...



                             ...so I quickly fashion a pair from the trimmed off bits...

                                ...and hand stitch them to the top of my pre-felt bag.



                                           With everything (finally) firmly affixed...



                                             ...I continue my felting in earnest...



                                      ...and watch happily as the bag takes shape.



                                               Side one of the fully felted purse...



                                                            ...and side two.



                                                Next time: the finished project...

                          ...with brown leather strap and festive turquoise zipper!

5 comments:

Rachel said...

Well, it was worth a try, even if it didn't work as you wished. And the result is wonderful!

Lisa said...

the idea is so original! i think i would have given up when i saw that the buttons were loose. I really admire you for your endurance and patience and I'm curious to see the finished project! But from what I can see on your last picture the hard work was totally worth it! :)

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Rachel! I hope you'll like the finished bag! :)
Lisa- Thank you for your kind remarks! Your blog is absolutely lovely! I really love the stitching you do on felt!!

Lisa said...

thank you so much heather! I'm proud to have you as my first follower. :)

Heather Woollove said...

Lisa--I'm excited to know about the work you're doing. It's wonderful!