Making a felted-wool bag for OMSH
January 28th, 2009
Almost a year ago while we were in OMSHville visiting Heather and her lovely family, we got to talking about the felted bags I’d made in the past. Heather asked if I’d crochet and felt a bag for her. “Of course!” I said. “Let’s go pick out some wool!”
“No rush,” she told me. “You know, just so I have it sometime before Christmas.” We both laughed. After all, Christmas was ten months away at the time. Certainly I’d have the bag done before then.
Yeah…I didn’t have it done before Christmas. When we moved last summer a bin of my yarn went missing for a while there. After I’d looked everywhere and given the yarn up for lost and was ready to go buy more, Troy found it for me. Woohoo! So once the craziness of Christmas was done, I started crocheting Heather’s bag, determined to get it mailed to her before the end of January.
And of course once it’s crocheted, then comes the fun of felting! Whee!
When I plan on felting something I’ve crocheted, I use 100% wool yarn and make it about 1/3 larger than I want the finished felted product to be. Other bags I’ve crocheted and felted, I’ve made up the patterns on the fly and they’ve turned out okay. But this time I wanted to be sure the bag wasn’t the least bit wonky. I used a free pattern that I found online (the pattern I used is no longer available) using Crochet Pattern Central, which is a great resource for finding free crochet patterns online. Of course you can also knit a bag and felt it, but I’m not a knitter so you’re on your own there.
Once the bag and handles were done, it was time to felt. I set the washing machine on the hottest water setting and the smallest load size. I threw an old pair of jeans in the washer along with the bag for more balanced agitation and zipped the handles into a lingerie bag. I like to add a tablespoon or so of detergent when I felt, though that’s not a necessity.
After about five minutes, I checked the bag to see how it was coming along. The felting wasn’t quite complete, so I put the bag back in the washer.
After a few more minutes, I checked the bag and the handles too. Almost there, but not quite. Back into the washer.
Ah, there we go. The wool has felted up nicely! Time to take it out of the washer.
I didn’t want to leave the bag in the washer for the rinse and spin, because the spin cycle can warp the shape of the bag. I took the bag and handles into the kitchen and rinsed them out in the sink with cool water.
Once the bag and handles were rinsed, I gently squeezed out the excess water without twisting. Then I placed all the pieces on a towel and rolled everything up, pressing on the towel to get the wool as dry as I could. That wasn’t very dry, honestly. Wool can hold a LOT of water.
I stuffed the bag with crumpled-up paper (I happened to have packing paper, but newspaper works well too) to help it hold its shape. The paper also helps a little with pulling the water out of the wool. I set the bag on a large piece of paper, and laid the straps out flat next to it. You can put felted wool in the dryer to speed the drying process, but I generally am not in that big of a hurry. I think I let everything dry for two days before moving on to the next step.
The next step in this case was sewing the handles on. I am not much of a seamstress. I just almost typed, “I am not much of a sew-er.” That’s how much I am NOT a seamstress. I don’t even own a sewing machine. I can sew on buttons and repair ripped seams by hand, and if you really needed a pair of pants hemmed I could probably manage though I’d make no promises about neatness. Sewing these handles on was tricky, partly because the felted wool was quite thick and partly because I had no idea what I was doing. That said, I think I did an okay job. The stitching is a little uneven, sure, but it’ll hold the handles on! And it looks handmade, which it was, so that’s okay.
And the bag was done! Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the bag before and after felting. The card is there for scale.
It always amazes me how the wool just magically turns into felt.
Now that the bag was all done and I’d taken photos of it, the only steps left were to stick the bag in a box, decorate it with Annalie, and send it to Heather, with love.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
As if!!! That is the most awesome thing ever!! I was just reading up on how to recycle old sweaters and felt them and make stuff with them, it is on my list of things to do. Of course I will skip on the crocheting part since I am pretty lousy at that but the felting, oooooo!
Now to see it, a real walk through, whoooo-hooo!!!
So much better than reading an article in a magazine!
Omsh, she is one lucky gal!
Oh, and you are one amazing gal!
Ahhhhh!!!!!! You’re making me want to start another project!!! But it’s ok ’cause I don’t work with wool unless it’s pretty cold. It really makes my hands burn.
It’s beautiful!! Again, you’re one crafty gal.
My daughter is just learning to crochet – maybe I’ll have to nudge her in this direction! Really cool, Bethany!
I had to de-lurk to tell you how cute that bag is. I’m so impressed at your craftiness.
That is a cute bag. I’ve always wanted to learn to crochet. My grandmother tried to teach me once upon a time. I never really got past making a little chain.
Either way, great job and thanks for showing us the process on how to FELT wool. Neat-o.
I always wondered how felting was done. Thanks for the pictorial :-) The bag is adorable!!! So is the custom box that you shipped it in!
Wow… that is really cool how the wool changes. And the bag is so cute. Yet another reason to learn how to crochet!
Oh man. I am a “sew-er.” (grin!) That being said, I would really like to learn how to crochet or knit. I just have so many projects, and so much fabric sitting around, I can’t in good conscience take up another hobby. BUT THAT BAG IS STINKIN’ ADORABLE! And I’ve never heard of felting before, so cool! You’re weakening my firm resolve to not take up another project until I have less than 10 yds of fabric in my fabric drawers. Currently I am at 110 yards of various fabric, so I have a little bit of a problem. Such a cute bag.
Must. Not. Run. Off. To. Buy. Wool.
Must. Finish. Those. Seven. Million. UFOs. FIRST.
*sigh*
Hey! I stumbled on your blog a few days ago and started reading through. Read waayyyy back and realized you saw Heather of OMSH who guest blogs on Ree’s blog (www.thepioneerwoman.com) and I’ve been reading her posts there for a few months now. What a wonderful small world! I love reading about the arts & crafts projects that you do with Annalie, she is such an adorable & intelligent little girl. I read way back in your blog (like March 08) and its amazing how much she’s grown up. I couldn’t believe some of the pictures back then were her! It’s also great reading about Troy being in the Navy because the guy I’m involved with is also in the Navy and I’ve never been through any of this before. He’ll be leaving for a 5 month deployment at the end of Feb, so I’m bracing myself for that. Your dottery has really inspired me and my mom and I have scheduled a trip to a local pottery painting studio on Saturday. I’m very excited. Keep up the blogging, I love all your posts.
cool! that bag looked pretty neat even before felting… great photos and instructions, too. those are my kind of instructions, you gave all the little details that one might wonder or have questions about while doing the project… cheers!
Very cool. Thanks so much for your instructions! I love it. Great photos. Great details. :)
I LOVE it. You win the Most Creative award. Well, tied with Brenda :)
Awesome! I’ve always wanted to try this, now that I know someone who has done it successfully, I may just give it a try!
What a wonderful craft. It came out gorgeous. Wow. You’re so talented!
Ok, how does one go about commissioning a bag like that from the artist? I must have one. I’m a purse-a-holic and this is such a great size and style. Let me know, if I have to queue up I’m ok with that!
It’s beautiful! The felting makes all the difference. I love the colors too.
Thanks for all the details! I have always been a bit afraid of the felting process but I think I can give it a try!
Hi Bethany, my husband, music2myear (who says y’all are twitter friends), pointed me to your blog. I’m almost done with a wool scarf I’m making him and he is really interested in felting it.
I had never heard of the process before, and thought I’d ask you a few questions.
Does it make a big difference in felting with the stitch you used? I used a looser triple stitch for his scarf.
Also, how much does the product usually shrink?
Have you ever felted a scarf before?
I can’t believe I missed this post. It makes me want to learn how to crochet…again. No seriously, I want to be able to make these bags.
I LOVE MY BAG! I took it to Idaho to see Jess and she closed it up nice with a snap (thankfully since I don’t have a snap press).
I’m in love, love, love with it! And? It matches perfectly with my laptop bag, so lookie there – all is fab in the world.
THANK YOU BETHANY!
It was DEFINITELY worth the wait!
Oh, and it is my most complimented purse EVER!
Bethany – wow! Very impressive, both this post in its step-by-step clarity with great photos PLUS the felted wool bag itself! Very, very nice! You listed the steps for felting in such a clear way that it makes me want to get started doing this again.
I’m at my Aunt’s now – she’s downloading the pattern. She just might have to re-teach me (she did it when I was 7) how to crochet again.
I’m in love with my bag…still.
You might notice it crop up in photos here and there! :)
Fabulous. Just looking around for an answer and found you. So inspired I must Knit this NOW !!! Perhaps someone could answer my question and it is this…if I buy a blanket that says 100% wool but machine washable can I cut it up for felting purposes? I am very new to this procedure. If not what could I do to the blanket if anything? Thanks. Debbie
[...] had commissioned me to make her a felted bag like the one I made for OMSH, except in gray, red, and black. I finished crocheting it right before we left California. I [...]