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:
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?
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! :)
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.
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! :)
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