Wool, Soap, and Friction

I taught a felt purse class last Saturday. Eight women who had never felted before got down to it and each one made a fabulous piece. Above is the sample I used to show the elements that we used. The bag is made with the wet felting process, using a resist in the middle so the two sides don't felt together. The handle is rolled into a 'rope', similar to how we rolled Play Doh as kids. The balls are needle felted, then lightly wet felted into a tight ball. Seed beads are then sewn around them.


They picked out their colors from my massive amount of dyed wool and mohair roving, wool locks and bits of silk. We used cookie sheets so the water wouldn't drip everywhere.



We finished the wet felting, put them on the radiator to dry, had lunch and got right back to work, embellishing with more wool bits, beads, baubles and buttons.


After just a few hours work, they finished their masterpieces.


Even though they all started out similar, they all ended up very different, with their own flair and bling. They're all ready to be packed with a wallet and lipstick and taken shopping!