My first felting adventure

As I referenced in my last post, I was mid-project with my very first attempt at felting. I followed the "Chocolate Felted Tote" pattern from Mary Jane Hall's Positively Crochet. The bag stitched up quickly, using a double strand of worsted wool and a large hook.

the bag - before felting

Then came the adventure -- actually felting it, without ruining the work I'd done! I threw it ina pillowcase and tossed that in the washer with my dryer balls and set the washer to warm...and then let it go. I checked on it about every 20 minutes to make sure it wasn't sticking to itself where I didn't want it to. I have a front loader, so progress was relatively slow. Even still, each time I checked I could see it shrinking down and getting more solid. By the end of 3 full wash cycles, it was perfect! I draped it over a cereal box to dry, and then it and the straps sat abandoned for another week before I finally put them together.

bag after felting

Completely finished!

The straps stitched on pretty easily, and I think the project turned out really well! The pattern includes instructions for adding a fabric lining, which I may do eventually. But for now, I love it and am so excited to use my bright purple bag (color is most true in the second picture), so I'll see if I feel the need to add a lining later.

Little Miss has been in the hospital this week, so I've not had a chance to sew anything, but I've made some big progress on my top secret gift (which is a Christmas present, so I still have 6 months to tease you all :) ), and a couple of other crochet projects. Looking forward to get back home so I can sew!