Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Needs refinement

The bag, I mean - I'm as refined as I'm ever going to be! Probably a hopeless case in the refinement department.

I'm pleased with it as a first attempt, though I will keep this one as my machine kept hiccuping on the stitching from time to time, so the inside stitching is a little untidy.

The front flap, which I've embellished with some of my hand painted wool, is a former sleeve. I cut strips off the front and back pieces which form the sides and handle of the bag.

Because the felt was so thick, I couldn't sew 2 layers together in the normal way. I found a stitch on my Janome 65ooP that successfully sewed the 2 pieces together if I butted them up to one another. I figured that if all the stitching was going to show then I may as well make a feature of it, so I used s multicoloured thread.

With some of the thinner felts that I've porduced, I will probably line the bags. They won't all be this design - this just seemed the easiest to begin with.

Comments are appreciated.

9 comments:

Rach said...

I really like this little bag, especially the decoration on the front flap. I also agree with you about the stitching, it makes a great feature!

Joyce said...

The decoration on the front flap is gorgeous. The side seams could be done on the serger (overlocker) using a flatlock stitch. Oh Oh. I feel a felting urge coming on!

Joyce said...

I forgot to ask. Someone on a blog said felting had plugged up her washer. Any problems like that?

Lorraine said...

I, too, love the front panel embellishment. Have you considered some of your hand-dyed fabric as a liner, instead of more felt?

Digitalgran said...

How lovely and a good suggestion by Lorraine.

Shirley Goodwin said...

I've thought about that, but bags usually have "lining" fabric (ie shiny silky stuff) rather than cotton. Perhaps I'll try one and see how it looks.

Sophie said...

Your bag looks great - really love the embellishment on the flap. To overcome the hiccups with your machine and the thick felt, you could try prefelting the jumpers enough so that you can cut them without unravelling, assembling the bag and then finishing the felting.

Sheila said...

I love the front flap. Nice movement in the design. I think your hand-dyed fabrics would make a nice lining. No rules in fiber arts! I love interesting linings in hand made items.

Dianne said...

It's a lovely little bag and I think the stitching as a decoration looks great!!