The urge to felt is upon me.....

...cried the Lady of Shalott.....

Anyway, Tennyson aside, best place for him, really, the red vest you saw in the heap of felted sweaters in the last post is now this nifty red bag.



Two front pockets, fancy running and seed stitches adorning pockets and opening, handle made from the ribbing from neck and sleeves knotted together. The top is the ribbing from the waist, and the pockets were cut from leftover bits around the neck and shoulder area. The fancy stitching is from handspun and dyed yarn, part of a wonderful present of a fiber share, from Heather C. Your gift is showing up all over my life, Heather. But it was just right for this -- variegated gentle movement of color, just enough to spark up but not overdo it.




I learned that this type of wool, felted twice (once accidentally by the original owner, the second time on purpose by me) is soft and lovely to handle, but very tough to push a needle through. This is not felt for wimps!

All in all, not a bad beginning. Since felt doesn't fray, you can avoid having to finish off edges. And you can pull the stitching in tight, as I did when I applied the pockets, to make them vanish into the fabric.

I didn't use a pattern, just went by what the item was already asking me to do, really. If I like it enough, I'll give it back to the original owner, since she probably loved this color or she wouldn't have bought a vest in it... so maybe this will find a new home. But as usual, everything I give has to be good enough to give.