
Project Bags and Tea Cozies
This last little while I have been making some project bags. I made a flat rectangular style using prefelt. I wrapped some prefelt around the resist. You can see I split the edges of the prefelt and cut one layer away so that the overlap would not be thicker than the rest of the bag.
Everything is prefelt except the stripes. They are an unknown wool roving I bought because I liked the colours. I put a stripe inside too so the bag will be reversible. The finished pictures shows how you can use migration to your advantage. When I was about half way through fulling I cut a slit in each side for the handle. I healed the cut edges with some soap and finger rubbing. I stretched the hole upward to get the shape I wanted. I am pleased with how it turned out.
This side used dark green and white prefelt
This side used all black prefelt.
I also made 2 nice round bags with a built in strap. This pictues shows the bag with a balloon blown up inside it and the panty part of some panty hose stretch over it to hold it well while it is fulled to about the half way point. At that point it is nice and round and just needed to be shrunk more.
Once I was finished fulling it I rinsed it out and then blew another balloon up inside it to make sure it dried nice and round. I did a smaller blue one as well. Both were covered in one layer of silk hankie. The green one also had a silk hanky flower on it.
They need their closures. I haven’t decided what yet.
The other thing I made was a couple tea cozies. sorry for the picture quality but I couldn’t get it to show better despite trying several things on the camera and computer.
The cat needs some whiskers. The flower is a made with a silk hankie.
26 thoughts on “Project Bags and Tea Cozies”
This is a very interesting use of prefelt! Thank you for sharing your beautiful examples. I’m a little puzzled by the wrapping process. Certainly, with wool roving, I would not cut the roving. With prefelt, can you cut it, and then felt the cut edges? In other words, when you wrapped it, did you then cut it? Or did you have to tear the prefelt? Could you cut a shape for the top and a shape for the bottom, and then heal the edges? Thank you!
Yes you can cut it and heal it. For the bag I cut rectangles to wrap around resist. I cut patterns out of it as well. You can cut roving/top if you want a sharp edge in a pattern. I also know the is one felt “painter” that cuts her roving/top to make smaller designs.
beautiful, i love making felt bags. never used prefelt for a whole base, only for sharp looking shapes, what a fab idea!
Thank you, give it a try its easy.
Thank you for your response and additional details! The information is very helpful!
Your welcome. I am glad to help.
These are great projects, Ann, and they all turned out well. Using pre-felt for the first bag makes for a quicker lay-out process, which is nice if you are short on time. Did you consider using a zipper for that first bag? Someone gifted me a bag like that–which I love–but when it’s flat on a table, the items slide out of the bag. Is there an alternative to using a zipper which you could recommend?
Thanks Loveswool. I am thinking of a little flap with a button on the inside and outside of the opposite side so it will work if you turn it inside out. The other to my just get a button and button hole.
I really like the project bag, Ann, especially since it’s reversible. I still haven’t used a balloon to shape things. I’ve used prefelt as a layer in bags but not the whole thing. It certainly looks sturdy.
Thanks Marilyn. The balloon in nice because you can create even pressure all round. The bag is quite sturdy. I made one form my mom a year ago and see loves it for her knitting.
I love the bags, especially the round one, such a great idea. I have been attempting a wet felted picture for the first time today!
Thanks Sharon. I hope you share your felt picture with us over on the forum. We love to see what everyone is doing.
Yes, I hope to add some stitching detail first but hopefully I shall put a post up sometime next week 🙂
You have been busy 🙂 The bags and tea cozies are wonderful!
Thanks Ruth. It felt like it took me for ever to get them done. and Now I have to think about finishing. 🙂
Ann, you’ve sure made a lot of items lately! Well done 🙂 My favourite has to be the cat cozy, although I confess I was ruminating over a way to turn it into a nice hat…
A question: is prefelt something you commercially buy, or do you make it yourself?
Thanks Leonor. I really like the cat tea cozy too. I did show it to a friend and she put it on her head. I do make some prefelt myself but this is commercial prefelt. it is needle punched. when I make it, it is wet felted. I get it at Dreamspin Fibres, she is one of our forum sponsors.
Your bags are glorious – I really like the simplicity of design and reversibility of the first bag and the round bags are fun.
I like the shape of the cat tea-cosy and the flower on the other one is beautifully coloured.
Thanks Lyn. You are nice and easy to please, just the sort of friend I like. 🙂
The bags are beautiful. I like the shape of them. The cat cozy is really cute. 🙂
Thank you Angie
They turned out really nicely, Ann 🙂 I like the texture on the green tea cosy.
Thanks Zed. I will have to get a better picture of it. I took several pictures of both and no of tem where good. It really doesn’t have a lot of texture. but it has a lot of colour variation. it was a batt I made myself with multiple greens in it.
Hello Ann, Wow what fantastic bags.. Love them… I have never used pre felt to make a purse.. I reckon I should give a go.. Smile. May I ask how big was your resist and did it shrink a lot. I was wondering where I could buy prefelt.. Thanks for sharing that information.. Much appreciated.. Judy
Thanks Judy. The bag shrank about 1/4 in height and 1/3 in width. Prefelt does shrink more along its length then its width. you need to keep that in mind when laying out. I will post a picture of it on the resist on the facebook page and in the forum. I get my prefelt at Dreamspin Fibers http://www.dreamspinfibres.ca/prefelt.htm