Sunday, November 25, 2012

Secret Stash Submission



I recently had a chance to participate in a secret stash challenge through Spin Artiste.

Here is my submission:

“When I first signed up for Secret Stash, I was super excited. Then, that excitement turned to slight feelings of pure terror! What in the world have I gotten myself into I thought?!
Needless to say, when I saw my stash package I was excited once again! Believe it or not, I had just been tossing about an idea of using neutrals for a project — what perfect timing for this challenge. I knew once I saw the locks, what I wanted to make. I decided to incorporate my two favorite fiber arts, wet felting and spinning, into this project.
I added the base wool for my bag to this project and used part of the fiber from the batts in the kit to add texture and color to the bag body. The locks were wet felted so that they would hang on the front flap once the bag was cut from the resist. I wanted the entire bag to be seamless, that included the bag handle, so when I removed the resist I actually cut an inside flap smaller (this became a pocket) than the outside flap, the extra felt from that flap became my handle and did not require me to sew one on after the fact.
Once the bag body was complete, I then had to decide how to incorporate hand spun that I made using the rest of the fiber batts and locks. I decided to couch down a rope of hand spun (using the yarn provided) along the top of the locks on the front of the bag. The extra hand spun was fashioned into a tassel that was added to the bag handle. On the smaller inside flap, I used more of the yarn to blanket stitch it to the body of the bag and then crocheted a simple chain stitch edge onto the blanket stitch. I cut a small area out of this section and it now is the perfect place to stash my cell phone. I had such a great time during this challenge, and loved the limited supplies. I think it forced me to think outside of the box and made me realize, sometimes less is much, much more! I hope this all made sense! I had a blast! Thanks for this fun opportunity!”

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Messenger Bag

I have been on a bag felting frenzy. I decided that since we have such a short cold weather window here in Florida that I should focus on making felted objects that can be used year round! I do have a bit more to add to this bag, but wanted to share anyway.

The entire bag was wet felted over a resist and is seamless, that even includes the handle. I love the textures that the locks add to the bag and will be adding handspun yarn to embellish the front.  This is my 2nd bag like this and I really find it holds tons. It is big enough to carry folders.  I have found you can never have too many bags!