By Mary Jane Wood Copyright August 1, 2005
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Is this neat or what?? Make a purse out of Wool (left hand picture), felt your purse and decorate the front with needle felting (see right hand picture) and you have a very sturdy purse. I took a class with Cookie on Needlefelting and it took me about 4 hours to decorate my purse. You can see Cookie's Funny Face purses by clicking HERE. for ideas on creating your own Funny Face Purse. The purse takes several days to dry so allow enough time if you're taking a needle felting class. (My purse took about 4 days to dry with the help of a heater and hairdryer). Note: Although in the picture, the purses look the same size, after felting, the purse shrunk to about 1/3 of the original size.
For Needlefelting tutorials try the following two sites:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_3033593,00.html
http://www.mielkesfarm.com/ladybug_dir.htm
RATING
Beginner. If you know how to work in the round on the other side of the chain, the purse will be easy. The strap may be a little more complex since careful counting is essential if you tend to miss stitches.
MATERIALS
GAUGE
After 4 rnds purse should measure 11 ¼ " x 1 ½ " . 30 sts = 6"
FINISHED SIZE
Before Felting: 11 ¼ x 9 ¾ "
After Felting: 9" x 7 ¾ "
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PURSE
Note: Purse worked in the round in a spiral. Feel free to make your purse a little larger by increasing nbr of chains by 3 or 4 –just make sure you have 2 skeins of wool.
Foundation Rnd: Ch 29, sl st in 2nd back bump ch from hk and in back bump of each ch. (29 sl sts)
Rnd 1: Turn slightly and make one sc in edge of work. Working on opposite side of ch, sc in each ch, sc in edge, working in sl sts on other side of ch, sc in each sl st. You don’t really need a marker to mark the first st but I put a little pin on the side of the purse to get an idea where I started. (58 sc)
Rnd2: Sc in each st around (58 scs)
Repeat rnd 2 until purse measures almost 10" or as high as you wish. Note
that if you make the purse taller, you may need more yarn
Handle:
Rnd 1: Leaving a long tale for sewing, ch 2, 5 sc in 2nd ch from hook.
Rnd 2: Always working with right side facing you, sl st in front loop
of each st (5 sl sts)
Repeat Rnd 2 until handle is 49" long or as long as desired.
Note: After about two rows, turn handle inside out if necessary so right side is facing you.
Sew both ends of handles to inside of purse before felting.
EASY HANDLE #2:
If the above handle is too difficult for you, you can make a flat back and
forth handle as follows:
Rnd 1: Leaving a long tale for sewing, ch 4, Sc in 2nd ch from hook
and in each ch. Ch 1, turn (3 sc).
Rnd 2: Sc in each st, ch 1, turn. (3 sc).
Repeat Rnd 2 until handle is 49" long or as long as desired. Sew both ends
of handles to inside of purse before felting.
Felting Tips courtesy of Andrea of Amazing Yarns and assorted articles
Put purse in a laundry bag. Throw some towels or sneakers or jeans in the washer with the purse. Put washer on smallest load and fill with HOT water. (Make sure you use a Top Load washer). Throw in a teeny bit of liquid soap like Ivory. Agitate with top open so you can check progress of felting OFTEN. Once felted too small, you're stuck and it's practically impossible to increase the size. Boil some water on the stove . Now and then , pour in some more hot water.(Note: I didn't have to do this as my water was very hot). When purse is done felting, you can change the washer to gentle and rinse out the purse with COLD water. Smooth purse out and pull/push into shape - let dry.
My Note: My purse felted in about 11 minutes. Once it starts felting, the process goes VERY FAST so be sure to check every minute after the purse starts felting. I just rinsed my purse out in cold water. (Be sure you use COLD water to "shock" the wool). I squeezed the extra water out and wraped it in a towel. Then I shaped my purse tugging out the wrinkles. If you run it through the gently cycle of the washer, the purse will probably dry faster.
