Monday, March 16, 2009

Upcycled Felt Handbag


Regular thrifting started for me with the desire to try needle felting and make a purse from an old sweater that I would felt or fell. As I am a lady who wears cashmere, I had no sweaters that I was willing to sacrifice to the cause. A trip to the closest Salvation Army and a new thrifting habit was formed. I find the colour,textures and designs highly inspiring and the challenge of finding suitable candidates exciting. The first purse took a little while to be started as I loved the felt so much, I was reticent to cut into it. Ultimately I came up with a simple design that I hope suits the stripes and colours of the felt. The flower is made from the same felt and has a little needle felting in the centre. The stem is needle felted using the yarn from the unpicked seams of the original sweater.


The lining is from scraps left over from an unfinished dress. The dress did not work out as planned and I still need to redesign it but I love the fabric. The handle was given to me by my Mother who has made me some beautiful cloth bags and the buttons are natural shell. I finished it about a year and a half ago and have received positive comments whenever I carry the bag. I have gone on to make more including special orders and hope to have more for sale soon.

1 comment:

gardener-b said...

I want one of those purses- gardener-b