Felted pouch, lined: Project catch up

Felted pouch, lined: Project catch up

Sometimes there are project that languish around the house for years before they speak to you. This wet felted pouch is one of those. I had made my layers too thin, so it wasn’t going to be strong enough for a belt pouch. Last month it came out of the box and I reexamined it. I decided to add a wool fabric lining in a color that was complimented by the wool tablet woven trim I had sitting around.

Ultimately, I think it turned out pretty well, and I plan to give it as a gift now.

If you’re looking to get into wet felting, I recommend using Lady Virag’s blog as a starting point:
http://ladyvirag.wordpress.com/felting-a-bag-or-a-hat/

This project wasn’t a challenge for me at this point. The work was all completed, I just needed to assemble the bits. Therefore I decided not to number it among my A&S50 count.

A&S 50: Material Culture three: Felted pouch, compass star

Julia May, aka Samia al-Kaslaania
February 2009

The first pouch I made several years ago while teaching a felting class. The wool is Harrisville, the tablet woven trim is pearl cotton (made by my honey and usurped from a different project), and the embroidery is a silk/ivory worked in chain stitch. The tabletweaving serves as a shoulder strap. The motifs are felted into the body fabric.

I had no intentions other than "something cool" when I made it, and I expected that it was not suitably period. However, Eithni assures me that it is in keeping with traditional Celtic motifs.

The second pouch is an A&S50 project. It's a wool roving [that I have to look up when I go down to move the laundry around again], purchased at the State Fair. The embroidery is silk/ivory worked in chain stitch, the tablet weaving is pearl cotton. The yellow body of the star is felted in, but looking closely you can see that it's fairly lopsided. The stitching is what really keeps the shape there. I didn't like working with this wool. It has a spongy texture when felted which is surprisingly transparent--and was difficult to full into shape.

The red one weighs probably three times as much as the plain one (despite being about the same size), indicating the break I took in felting. :) The red is one of the first things I made after a break of several years. The goal to "cover all the gaps" when laying out the roving was excessive. The plain one is probably thinner than it should be, but it's functional and will comfortably hold a camera or a wallet.