Last year I enrolled on Ruth’s class for Paper Fabric Lamination.

I really enjoyed this class, and once the initial mystique of the technique had dissolved, this method of making decorative felt was wonderful to discover.

This is one of the pieces that I made for the class. I chose the bright pink merino, because that was the largest quantity of wool I had at the time, and that I could use during the class.

The ‘net curtain’ fabric was nuno felted to the pink merino after it had been laminated. The areas of darker pink are from the pattern of roses that is on the curtain fabric. The lamination gives a lovely crinkled effect, caused by the acrylic medium that prevented the wool working it’s way through the curtain fabric

When I was thinking about what to make for my post to the forum for February, I looked at this piece again, and thought that it would make a lovely little clutch bag. I drew a rough pattern, adjusting it so that I could use as much of the felt as possible for the bag.

My pattern:

The clutch bag would have a slight curved top, with a zip closure, and a wristlet for security – to use, or not, if desired.

I was not sure whether I could use iron on interfacing on the felt, so I decided to use a small piece of quilt wadding, and cotton fabric in a contrasting colour for the lining.

I had a piece of cotton fabric that I found in a charity shop, to line the bag, for the zip tabs, and the wrist strap.

I secured the wadding to the felt with a few decorative machine stitches, and then attached the zip. It was quite difficult to attach the zip, because of the thickness of the fabric and zip, and my sewing machine groaned a little during the effort, but eventually success was achieved. I had the same battle attaching the lining at the zip edge.

I decided to make a tab with a D ring, so that I could attach a wrist strap for security.

I used a little of the lining fabric for this, and a swivel clip. I wanted a pink zip too, but I could not find one locally, and made do with a beige coloured one that was in my box of ‘bits’.

I stitched up the sides, ‘boxed’ the corners and left a gap at the bottom edge of the lining for turning through. Once I turned the pouch the the right way out, I stitched up the turning through gap.

I think the bag looks very pretty, and it will hold a mobile, small purse, tissues, keys, lipstick or other small essentials for a night out wearing a posh frock!

Photos of both sides.

I enjoyed making this little pouch. It perhaps would have been easier to stitch if I had used an iron on interfacing, but the wadding  does give the pouch a lovely ‘squishy’ feel too. Just a shame about the lack of a pink zip! I am very pleased to find a good use for the piece of work that I made in Ruth’s class.