Another Felted Purse...........

How does a mediocre knitter make a felted purse that looks fabulous?  Well just take a walk with me and I'll show you!

This is the knitted piece.  It is just a rectangle, and I used my dishrag pattern to knit it.  I forgot to measure it for you!

Here it is with the bottom folded up part way, to form the pocket for the purse.   You will need a yarn needle to stitch the sides closed.  In this picture I have it folded up the wrong way.  You want to fold it so that it's inside out, just like sewing a garment right sides together.

Now I've stitched the sides closed and folded the top down for the flap.

In the picture below you see the handle that I knitted for it, and the flap is open again.

Now I've sewed the handle on and I have the flap closed so you can see what the purse looks like before felting.  To sew the handle on, you just hold it in the position you want it to be and sew it on with yarn and your yarn needle.  Then go sew the other side on.

This is during the felting process.  It's been in the washer for 5 minutes.  The water wasn't nearly hot enough so I boiled several kettles of water on the stove and added it in.  That makes the felting process work!

Now we're getting there............ 

And we're there!  It took quite awhile.  Probably at least 40 minutes, but I didn't really time it.

And here is the purse after felting!  It is still wet right now and I've stuffed it with newspaper to give it the proper shape.

And here it is being modeled by my lovely girl!

I've got to figure out a closure for it, but I think it's pretty cute.  Sorry about the differences in the colors.  The picture with The Youngun is a good representative of the actual color. 

And there you have it.  The secrets of a mediocre knitter!  And don't forget to go visit The Youngun Draws!  

God Bless...........