Susie Johns - The Felted Bag Book: 21 Simple Projects for Every Occasion

The popular craft of felting uses wool, water and soap to create a thick, strong and durable material perfect for making a long-lasting bag.

The Felted Bag Book shows ways you can try this exciting craft for yourself. Combining a number of different felting techniques wet felting, knitted felting, crocheted felting and recycling it offers 21 fun projects to experiment with wool and make truly stunning bags. Learn how to manipulate layers of wool tops for extra thickness, to knit and crochet fantastic designs and ways to embellish your bags with eye-catching motifs and trimmings.

Whether you're looking for a sturdy shopping bag or a delicate evening clutch, there is a bag for every taste and for every occasion. And, with simple step-by-step instructions and inspiring photographs, it has never been easier to create one (or several) for yourself.

Susie Johns is an experienced and talented crafter, specializing in textiles, knitting, crochet and embroidery. She contributes regularly to a number of craft magazines, teaches craft workshops and is the author of a range of books on practical subjects, such as Frame Your Memories and Street Chic Jewellery, also published by New Holland.

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Street Chic Jewellery

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New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

Garfield House

86-88 Edgware Road

London W2 2EA

www.newhollandpublishers.com

THE

FELTED BAG

BOOK

First published in 2009 by

New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

London Cape Town Sydney Auckland

Garfield House, 8688 Edgware Road,

London W2 2EA, United Kingdom

www.newhollandpublishers.com

80 McKenzie Street, Cape Town 8001, South Africa

Unit 1, 66 Gibbes Street, Chatswood,

NSW 2067, Australia

218 Lake Road, Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand

Text copyright 2009 Susie Johns

Photographs copyright 2009 New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

Illustrations copyright 2009 New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

Copyright 2009 New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

Susie Johns has asserted her moral right to be

identified as the author of this work.

ISBN 978 1 84773 456 3

Senior Editor: Louise Coe

Photography: Paul Bricknell

Production: Marion Storz

Design: Lucy Parissi

Editorial Direction: Rosemary Wilkinson

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Reproduction by Pica Digital Pte Ltd, Singapore

Printed and bound by Craft Print International Ltd, Singapore

A handbag is not only a necessity, it is the finishing touch to your outfit. A good-looking bag is a great way to express your individuality and sense of style, not just a receptacle for all those necessary items such as money, keys, make-up and heaven knows what else.

Forget designer bags for the moment. Forget leather bags and bags made from canvas or plastic or snakeskin. Here is a selection of entirely different bags: those made from felt. Felt is a great fabric. Its thick and strong perfect for making beautiful, practical and hard-wearing bags. You can make felt in a number of ways: either by wet felting or needle felting with wool fibres, or by boiling woollen items.

This book introduces these various techniques to those unfamiliar with the felting genre, while also offering a number of new ideas and patterns for those who are already felting fans. The book is broken down into chapters on wet felting, knitting, crochet and recycling, offering fun and diverse projects to follow for each. It also encourages you to be imaginative and creative, with suggested variations on the main theme and plenty of scope for adaptation, using different colours and finishes. Each bag can be customised to express your individual sense of style. And once you have mastered the basic techniques, you can come up with your own ideas and create your own unique pieces.

Felt has a long history, probably dating back to the first time a pilgrim placed some sheeps wool inside his shoes to prevent blisters on a long journey, only to find that the heat, moisture and friction from his feet had compressed it into a piece of felt fabric.

Felt-making has been and still is practised all over the world. In Scandinavia and Russia, the process is used to make boots and mittens; in Asia, large felt panels are used in the construction of yurts (a tent-like shelter used by nomads) and for capes worn by shepherds; in Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries you will find felt carpets and rugs; and in South America, the United States, the UK and numerous other countries it is it is used to make hats and also in the manufacture of pianos and cars, among other practical applications. Felt-making is currently enjoying a big revival, with many artists, designers and craftsmen using the process in very creative ways to make clothing and household accessories.

Anyone who enjoys working with their hands, with fabrics and yarns in particular, can easily produce a simple felted bag. Start with combed wool fibres or with spun woollen yarn, if you prefer, and in no time at all, following the step-by-step projects in this book, you will be the proud owner of a delightful felt bag. So now is your chance to discover this craft for yourself and make a bag or two or more that is beautiful as well as practical and hard-wearing.

It is fascinating to witness the process of soft woollen fibres being transformed into thick felted fabric, and particularly satisfying, in the case of the knitted and crocheted bags, which are felted in a domestic washing machine, to know that you intended to shrink them to a fraction of their original size, and did not do it by accident, as many of us have done at some time with a beloved sweater or scarf.

I have enjoyed making the bags in this book and hope that you will be inspired to try some of the projects for yourself.

SUSIE JOHNS