Two 'Dining Out' Purses With Exterior Pockets- Part 1 of 3

Fashioning a resist with a large pocket and two 'mystery sleeves'.

 

Beginning the layout...

 

...with merino roving in two bright colors.

 

Adding a spiral...



...and all the while, taking care to keep the pocket and 'sleeves'...

...from felting into the body of the purse.

 

Mid-way through felting...

...the pocket side...

 

...and the design side.

 

Cutting the soft felt in order to remove the resist.



Final felting and fulling.

 

As you may know...

...I'm nearly always thinking about new designs for my favorite felted objects...

...purses!!! :)

This one came to me, as they often do...

...in a dream.

For now, I will let you wonder (a little bit) about the sleeves...

...but, never fear, 'all will be revealed' in Part 3.

Giggle.

"Electric Bass" Purse- Part 2 of 2

The finished bag before blocking.

Sewing a leather strap.

Stitching seam lines for each pocket section.

The finished bag front...

...and back.

Adding a snap closure to keep the front section secure...

...and in close up.

A detail of one of the silk/wool blend spirals.

For those of you who couldn't quite see what I was 'up to' in my last post...

...I hope that these photographs will make things a bit clearer.

I used a large sew-on snap to help keep the front pocket secure...

...and also to keep it from 'flopping open' while one is rummaging around in the back one. :)

I fashioned a narrow grey strap from a piece of leather...

...and attached it in a way that helps to maintain the bag's integrity...

...by anchoring the bag front to the bag back at each side.

I used the last bit of one of my very favorite roving blends (thanks, Ellen!) to make spirals...

...symbols that 'speak' to my old hippie body-worker best friend. :)

"Electric Bass" Purse- Part 1 of 2

Laying out a complex resist...

...and marking the stitch line.

Covering the resist with variegated brown roving...

...and flipping it (like pages in a book) in order to cover each section evenly.

The first of several layers of roving.

The finished layout with one merino/silk blend spiral...

...and another for good measure!

I wanted to make a special purse for my dear friend, V for Christmas...

...so I decided to fashion a new kind of resist.

I devised a pattern for a multiple-resist bag...

...that would have two separate compartments in it for storing things.

My design inspiration came from an image I had in my head of an electric bass...

...you know, the kind that has an upside-down "V" cutout at the bottom! :)

To start: I sketched patterns on a large sheet of paper...

...then transferred them to pieces of foam floor underlayment.

I machine-stitched the two parts of the resist together...

...and began laying out my roving.

Felting with multiple resists is not as straightforward as with a standard resist...

...so I had to tread carefully and really take my time.

Next time: the finished bag.