'Painterly' Two-Layer Purse- Part 2 of 3

Removing the resist midway through felting...

...by cutting open the project at the 'lining end'.

 

Snipping the pockets open...

...to remove the thin plastic resists within.

 

The finished felt on one side...

 

...and on the other.

 

Turning the project inside-out...

...and sewing the 'lining end' mostly closed...

 

...leaving a small opening...

 

...for turning it right side out again...

 

...then hand-stitching the opening closed.

 

Because this project is both outer layer and lining in one...

...it's rather simple to 'assemble' the bag once the felting is complete.

By temporarily turning the bag inside out in order to stitch the lining closed...

...I avoid an ugly seam on the inside of the purse.

Next time: the finished bag...

...with leather accents.

'Painterly' Two-Layer Purse- Part 1 of ?

Laying out 'teased open' sections of roving to cover the resist...

 

...rather than 'perpendicular shingles' (my usual method).

 

Wetting out side one.

(The yellow end will become the purse lining.)



Flipping the resist over to side two...



...and adding another layer of roving.

 

In order to achieve the desired thickness...

...I added one additional layer of wool to each side.

I also added inner pockets...one in each yellow section.

 

I found that I struggled a bit with this unpracticed layout technique...

....but I do love the way that it retains strong 'bursts' of color in the final piece.

 

The spot of orange you see is not a 'which side is which' marker this time...

...but merely the repair of a thin area in one of my pockets. :)

 

As with my earlier two-layer purse, I began with a long, rectangular resist...

...and covered it with several layers of wool roving.

For the 'lining end', I chose fiber in a sunny yellow color...

...and for the bag itself, I used my friend Lorin's intensely dyed "Tiffany Glass" roving.

Observing her 'painterly layout' last year in our Arrowmont class...

...I noted that this method made the most of the intense color shifts in her roving...

...so I tried to emulate her way of laying out wool while creating this purse.

Next time: the bag takes shape.

Green Pre-Felt Leaf Bag

Glorious 'Tiffany Glass' variegated hand-dyed roving...

...from my dear friend, Lorin Fields.

 

After covering both sides of the resist with roving...

...the project is wetted out.

 

A pre-felt leaf is added here...

 

...and a second one, here.

 

After felting for a time...

...a slit is made in the felt to remove the resist...

...and the project is felted to completion.

 

The finished bag with leather closure and brass button.

 

The bag back.

 

The finished bag.

 

With wonderful blue and green variegated roving from my friend, Lorin Fields...

...I created a small felted bag for Christmas gift-giving.

I used silk and wool pre-felt left over from this project...

...to make the cut-out leaves for embellishment.

A strip of green leather and a brass button from my stash...

...finish off the project.