Wednesday, December 29, 2010

'Peanut-Shaped Resist' Purse- Part 1

Laying out wool roving and silk gauze bits.

 


Adding a new color in layer two.

 


Cutting out the handles.

 


Stuffed and hanging to dry.

 


After my recent triangular purse, I had in mind a curvier design...

...this time, making a resist in the shape of a peanut.

With each of these bags, I wanted to branch out from an egg-shaped, integrated handle pattern...

...and create a resist that had a clearer demarcation between body and strap.

I cut a resist from foam floor underlayment...

...and covered it in layers of wool roving.

To the bottom half, I added leftover snippets of silk gauze...

...and decided to make the handle and flaps a coordinating color.

When the resist was starting to curl up inside my piece...

...I carefully cut out the handle and bag flaps with sharp scissors.

During felting, I turned the bag inside out periodically and used a felting stone...

...in order to help keep a crease from forming in the bag bottom.

When the bag was completely felted and rinsed...

...I stuffed it with cloth dishtowels and steamed it with an iron.

Drying it with the towels inside for a few hours...

...helped it to maintain its shapeliness.

Next time, the finished bag.




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10 comments:

vilterietje said...

how funny! i used to use floor isolation as a resist, now i use plastic, which is thinner.
your purse looks amazingly beautifull! looking forward to the end result.
love, riet:)

Heather Woollove said...

Hi Riet! I've worked with thinner plastic, too, but I think I can feel the edges a bit better with the foam underlayment. That's what's so great about felting... there's no 'one way' to do it!! XXO-

Patty Biermans said...

Heather can you tell me what a felting stone is? I use sometimes a resist made from a soft plastic placemat. That is a little bit thicker than ordinary plastic tablecloth that Riet used. B.t.w. I can't wait to see the end result of the purse. Hugzz...Peebee

Fi said...

I made a little bag today with flap but without handle. Must be bag making day! I'll post mine up tomorrow. I like the way yours is shaping up.

Fi said...

Oh and ...what's a felting stone? Does it help get rid of the ridge you sometimes get when working with resisits?

Heather Woollove said...

Hi Peebee and Fiona!
Here's a photo of my felting stone:
http://halcyonyarn.com/images_products_large/66000400.jpg
It's a pottery piece that fits in your hand and has smooth ridges so
you can rub hard in areas you want to smooth out.

Kelly said...

Love this type of handle! The shape is is cool, but then anything that reminds me of peanuts...peanut butter....and somehow I end up thinking chocolate...dang...now I'm hungry anyone got a peanut butter cup....oh where was I? Awesome purse Heather! :)

WonderWhyGal said...

gorgeous purse!

Thanks for the felting stone photo too.

Heather Woollove said...

Hahaha...Kelly! Great idea...now which one of my children can I con into baking me some peanut butter cookies?
Andrea--Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see the finished purse. I love the fact that there is always something new and different to discover here. :)