A Felted Bag for my Birthday

I decided that this simple bag would be one of the bags to replace the old faded and frayed tote bag that I always took with me when shopping. 

So during the deluge over the last 2 days I designed a template for a resist  roughly the same size as my old tote and another roughly 50% larger for a fun tote.

I didn't use measurements ......I just drew a shape I liked on a piece of paper, fold it in half and then cut out from best looking side for a nice even shape.   The design was based on one I saw Judit Pocs use in her DVD... where the bag and handle were  made in one piece.  I decided to test out my pattern on the smaller resist first and get an idea of how much wool I would need to make the big tote.  The big tote resist is HUGE!

I started with 125gms grey Merino Cross, but ran out very quickly and needed to supplement with graduated grey X merino and black merino in the last layer.  The handle was felted first then a piece of bubble wrap was placed over the  handle before felting the body of the bag. The flap was embellished with flowers cut from a piece of nylon and then nuno felted.  I haven't decided if I will put a clip on the flap yet. Quite happy with it the way it is for now.

It is my birthday today ...so  this one is for me.  Before it was even dry ...my purse, camera, sunglasses, lippy, keys and list were all stuffed in ........selfishly taking ownership before someone else expressed an interest. 

This was really quick and easy to make.   I can't wait to try the BIG bag!!