Hand-Dyed Two-Layer Purse- Part 2 of 2

Two dips in the dye pot and my white bag is utterly transformed!

 

After sewing the open end closed...

 

...I tuck one half of the felt into the other...

...to make the lining...

 

...then top-stitch around the opening to hold everything in place.

 

A green leather strap and buttonhole are added...



...along with a white ceramic button... 

 

...with a lovely, nubby texture.



The finished bag (back).

 

Having a newly denuded bag at my disposal...

...and a master dyer on the premises...

...(my friend, Lorin Fields during her recent visit)...

...I decided that it would be fun to do something really bold with this project! :)

Emulating the zesty style of my sweet friend, Fiona Duthie...

...we 'double dipped' the piece in olive and boysenberry acid dyes...

...leaving a 'slice' of white in between.

To finish the bag, I sewed up the open end...

...tucked the 'lining' into the bag itself...

...and stitched around the top to keep the insides from pulling out again.

A leather strap and buttonhole were fashioned and added...

...and a fun button was chosen from my stash to finish it off!

Hand-Dyed Two-Layer Purse- Part 1 of 2

Laying out strips of re-purposed silk...

...(from thrift store blouses)...

 

...and covering them with merino roving.

 

After flipping the resist to side two...

...I can check on my design through the plastic. :)

 

Adding layers of wool, a thin plastic resist and cotton gauze...

...for an internal pocket.



After felting for a time...

..the resist is removed. 

As you can see, the silk strips were quite tightly woven...

...and 'did not want' to felt-in without additional work on my part.

 

The internal pocket, after felting.

 

Cutting the felt to remove the thin plastic pocket resist.

 

This is one of my experimental 'flub and rescue' projects. :)

After seeing a cute, narrow purse in a museum gift shop in Hamburg in December...

...I got the idea of making a long, narrow resist...

...covering it with a scant amount of roving (to make thin, flexible felt)...

...and then tucking half of it inside the bag, to act as its own lining!

After felting the piece for a short time with the resist in place...

...I removed it, only to find that my silk strips were far from felted-in.

Because I wasn't wholly invested in the look of the embellishments...

...and because sometimes I just want to move along with a project...

(This is spelled L-A-Z-Y) 

...I yanked them all off and finished felting the now totally white bag.

Next time: how a white bag becomes the perfect canvas for another idea...

...and how the dyeing style of one friend...

...and the dyeing technique of another...

...save the day!! :)

Finished WIP: 'Sandwich Felt' Purse- Part 2 of 2

The back side of the dyed felt piece.

 

My 'custom-sized' resist with variegated wool roving.

 

The various elements of the purse. :)



The finished bag...

 

...with front flap open...

 

...peering inside...

 

...and, again, from the 'outside'.

 

It's a great feeling to finish a long-standing WIP!

 

After seeing how much nicer the felt looked after dyeing...

...I was inspired to create a resist to match its 'tooth-shaped' profile...

...and turn it into a purse!

Using variegated roving in blue and grey...

...I created a purse body that would 'just fit' inside the folded felt...

...plus a long cord for the strap.

I stitched the back flap securely to the felt lining...

...and allowed the dyed piece to act as the front flap of the purse.

Since I'm already a month late for my annual Blog anniversary giveaway...

...I would like to offer this purse as a gift to one of you!

If you would like to be entered in the drawing for this bag...

...please leave a comment on this post by midnight (EST) on Wednesday, November 7th...

...and make sure that I have a way to contact you!

Finished WIP: 'Sandwich Felt' Purse- Part 1 of 2

'Scrunching up' silk and cotton gauze...

 

...and covering it with a layer of wool...

 

...and a thin silk scarf.

 

Wetting out the piece...

 

...and, after felting it, drying it en plein air.

 

Unfortunately, during felting, some of the cotton sections turned a little pink...



...from 'used' soapy water that had residual dye in it. :(

 

So, while I was dyeing the silk for my nuno jacket...

...I decided to pop this piece in as well...

...and, wow, what a difference it made!

 

I made this portion of the project back in August, 2011 at Felter's Fling...

...and have had it tucked away ever since.

It was my sample piece for a 'laminating' technique taught by Liz Clay that week...

...for possible use as a couture embellishment on our felted garments.

Unfortunately, sections of it had turned pale pink...

...from dye in my soapy water, left over from another project.

My 'failed project inertia' was finally overcome recently, when I threw it into a dye bath...

...but I find it curious that it came out so much 'bluer' than the silk that I dyed along with it!

Like nearly everything else that finds its way into my 'felting orbit'...

...it somehow ended up as a bag! Grin.

Next time: the finished purse...

...and the opportunity to win it.

Dyeing Silk Paj Fabric

Yards and yards of silk Paj...



...plus one easy-to-use Jacquard dye packet...

 

...equals this beautiful result.

 

A lovely, pale periwinkle-grey piece of silk is born...

...and it was super easy!!

It's not quite as blue as in the above photo... 

...nor quite as grey as in these photos, either...

...but somewhere in-between.

 

To prepare for a garment class with Linda Veilleux...

...I needed to dye 15 yards of silk Paj.

Not wanting to mess about with the process too much...

...I used a 'direct dye' that came in a melt away sachet...

...(no loose dye on your skin or in the air that you breathe!)

The dye is thrown into the washing machine along with the silk and some vinegar...

...and only one packet was needed to dye this entire length of fabric.

The literature says that it's not quite as colorfast as traditional acid dyes...

...but since this fabric is destined to be made into a nuno felt jacket, anyway...

...I don't think it will matter all that much if it fades a bit over time. :)