Don’t tread on me details

My Don’t Tread on Me purse/bag went from this…

..to this in a few steps.

After the first cycle through the washer.

That blob of stuff in the upper left is what I pulled out of the washer and was attached to the bag as it felted.

Second cycle…and more fuzziness.

The raised lines are felting into the bag.

I needed a third hot/cold wash cycle to get the final felting I wanted.  This is a close-up of the strap.  See all that fuzz?!?!

I started defuzzing the strap.  See the difference between the left side and the right side?

The main bag portion getting sheared.

These duckbill scissors worked great and I didn’t worry (too much) about accidentally cutting into the felted fabric.

A piece of foam cut to size serves as a stabilizer under the lining.  A flexible glue holds it in place.

Voila!

Don’t tread on me?

Finally finished last week!  And I L.O.V.E. it!030-me-w-purse

The zigzags remind me of tire treads so I decided to name my purse “Don’t Tread on Me.”030-felted-front-001

The treads felted flat into the knitted body but are slightly visible in the lower section in certain lighting.  Perhaps less felting would have retained the raised texture.032-felted-front-closeup-002

The ombre effect turned out well.031-felted-back-001

Love the swivel hook and triangle ring.033-felted-hook-001

Fully lined.034-inside-empty-001

All the stuff I carry…036-labeled-stuff

…has a place.035-inside-full-002

Project details later.

I cheated

Yes, I must confess that I cheated on my yarn diet.

I wanted to make a new felted purse and use up some gifted yarn at the same time.

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I even swatched!

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5 inches by 5 inches on the left.  4 inches by 4 inches on the right after hand felting.

Only I don’t have enough yarn to complete the project.  I’m making up the pattern as I go and I thought I just might have enough yarn when I began.

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Two balls of yarn knit and one to go.  It’s not going to be large enough for my liking.

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The back is plain.

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007-bottom-001The bottom is 5 x 15 inches.

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The bag is 7 inches tall…so far.  the purse/bag will shrink at least 20% according to my swatch.  The swatch was felted by hand and I will probably do this in my washing machine so it will shrink faster.  Not as much control but results in a denser fabric.  And did I mention that it’s faster?

Well, I found that Lopi yarn is still made just not distributed by Reynold’s. No guarantees that the color (light ash heather 0054) would match exactly as they would be different dye lots.  So I bought two balls each of ash heather (color 0056), heather grey (0057), and dark grey heather (0058).

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My plan is to gradually start working in the next darker ball of yarn then add each color going from light to dark.  I will keep the zigzag in the lightest color for contrast and continuity.

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My other option is to rip it all apart and begin over with the darkest color on the bottom and transition to the lightest color at the top.

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Which would look better?  Go from light at the bottom to dark at the top?  Or have the dark on the bottom and to light at the top?

Or am I over thinking this project and just go with what I’ve done?