Thursday, December 9, 2010

Felted No Sew Zipper Bags

Following the 3rd installment of TECHKnitter's A little felted purse KAL (part 1, part 2) I attempted to hand felt the bags. Now I can't figure out if that was yesterday or the day before - it was the day before, or rather the night before. They were drying all day today (well technically it's been tomorrow for almost 2 hours already, but since I haven't slept it's still "today.")

I've never been keen on rubber dishwashing gloves, but the ones I could borrow were about a size too big. I don't know if this added any potential extra friction, I did notice it especially annoyed me around my thumb. Or maybe it's just the shape of the gloves. They fit better with your thumb bent across the palm, as if grasping a plate. Since I was using them with flat hands that made them feel gappy and weird.  Oh, well!

I think in places I overfelted and other places underfelted. I tried to draw as much extra water out of the bags by rolling them in towels. I'd left the bags on their side for several hours earlier today under a ceiling fan so the bottoms could get dry more quickly. There is still dampness under the little pockets that were made by folding and tacking the bottom.






Isn't the little bag cute?

It's about 4" wide at the base and about 5" wide in the middle and at the top trim.  This bag is 3.5" high and 2.75" deep across short direction of the base.






Bottoms up! I wasn't sure just how the shaping on the bottom was supposed to go, but this seemed reasonable to me. I probably should have felted the bottom a little more so the seam would disappear.



This is the big one, of course. At first I'd stuffed it with plastic bags and left the sides straight. Early this morning I decided one of the really appealing things about the bag pattern model was the rounded sides. So I stuffed in a few more bags and readjusted everything. Too bad my hands are concealing that detail. I would have liked for it to have the same curve as the small bag. But this is my compromise for now.


At least the shape is easier to see in this photo. Perhaps the pattern in cognac heather and plum heather, too (the upper stranded pattern). I used the chart from Latvian Fingerless Mitts by Veronik Avery in Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion's Archives. Except I started the top intarsia band at the bottom of its portion which makes it upside down since the bag was knit from the top down. The lower, more eye-catching band is the same right side up and upside down.


I really feel like if I'd been planning rather than making it up as I went along I would have positioned the dramatic colored band higher, or near the top. And I probably would have chosen less similar colors for the subdued pattern band to make it stand out more. I don't know why I still have such a weakness for pairing cognac heather with plum heather. The order makes more sense if I'd worked all of the body of the bag in reverse, starting with the jade that's on the bottom and ending with cognac heather, the solid band near the top. Just noticed how terribly difficult it is to see the top trim. I think the color is called dark teal heather. It's a nice dark green. Bag measures 5.5" across the long side of the base, 4.75" in the shorter direction and 6" across where it zips closed. Width is about 6.5" and it's about 6" high including the top edge of the green trim.


Sure looks like it's just about to roll off and never be found!










This was supposed to be attached to a zipper pull for the smaller bag, but some time after taking the second pic it must have fallen out of my hand and I haven't found it yet.


No comments:

Post a Comment