first felted bag

[marnie413]

Well here it is, and did it ever felt, way too small for me, but it was my first felting. so now i know that my machine really really felts good.I didnt leave it in very long at all not even the whole cycle You can't see the inside cause its still drying, but it has 3 pockets inside, really small tiny ity-bity pockets LOL ! It didnt shrink in length as much as it shrunk in width. Before i felted it my son wanted me to leave it alone and put a lining in it, he liked the looks of it that way. Maybe I should have listened to him. Oh well live and learn he gave me the money to go out and buy more wool to try again so what do you think? The pics are clickable.

 

 

[scc51055]

i like it! yours felted better than my first try! i posted pics too, you can still see stitches...so i think i didnt get it quite right

[SHERYL]

I think it turned out great, love the color too.

[JCB]

Just curious which yarn you used? Some yarns just felt really quickly and shrink more than others. I try to stick to the same brand yarn, then I can predict better what it will do. But, sometimes a certain color in a different yarn just calls to me.

 

I usually figure a piece will shrink about 1/3 width wise, less in height.

 

Joan

[cherrypicker]

thats a nice bag! its difficult to know just how much it will shrink isnt it! but thats what I love about felting! I made a monster bag recently, huge ugly thing it was and then felted it and its sooo lovely now! mine shrunk in length rather than width....I might post a thread with it in later if I get time! I used some very rough wool that I brought from a charity shop....I cant afford to buy brand new 100 % wool as its expensive! I suggest having a rumage in the local garage sales for wool jumpers to recycle!

[stitchgirl]

I see why you're disappointed, it really did felt alot, but it's very, very pretty. I think I read somewhere that crochet when felted shrinks more width-wise and less in length or height and knitting when felted shrinks more in height than width. If I judge from the four or five things that I've felted, it seems to hold true. Anyway, your bag is lovely!!

[marnie413]

Just curious which yarn you used? Some yarns just felt really quickly and shrink more than others. I try to stick to the same brand yarn, then I can predict better what it will do. But, sometimes a certain color in a different yarn just calls to me.

 

I usually figure a piece will shrink about 1/3 width wise, less in height.

 

Joan

 

Joan I used Patons Classic Wool what do you usually use?

[JCB]

Joan I used Patons Classic Wool what do you usually use?

 

That's exactly what I use most of the time. I find if I set my machine for 12 mins. it felts nicely, with no stitch definition left. I use a bit of Ivory Snow and throw in an old pair of jeans and a tennis ball. I keep my hot water heater pretty hot.

 

Sometimes, if I'm not sure how a yarn will felt, I make a small object, like a glass case, and felt that. Making small swatches is not as useful, because small things shrink more than larger things. I learned that the hard way by making a bunch of flowers.

 

Joan

[marnie413]

The werid thing is i checked it frequently and it looked like it wasn't going to felt at all then the last check i did it was like really felted so i am going to keep trying till i get it right but i think i will try a different shape purse something wider then tall and see how that works.

[Bonita]

You almost have to check the purse during the process to see how it's felting, but I guess you know that now. I really like the look of the purse, though as well as the colours that you used.

[grasshopper]

That is a beautiful bag--it's too bad it's smaller than you'd like. I'm really impressed that that is your first attempt--so much better than my first.

[morehotcoffee]

I recently knitted a small cosmetic case for my daughter. I tried felting it in hot water in the sink. It did felt but not as much as I would have liked. I figured I had nothing to loose so I put it in with my normal wash, forgot it was in there, put it in the drier and it came out perfect. She loves it. Ooops, I think I was just lucky.

[scc51055]

i just felted my first thing too. but it still has definition after 2 washes...i think mine doesnt sit in the water at all in this new washer. i am going to try put it in the soak cycle for a while the next time before washing.

[sherryzzz]

I usually use Patons Classic Wool and hdc stitches. I find that, using an L hook, I need to make my bags between 30 and 50 chain stitches wide (30 ch wide for a simple flat bag, 50 ch wide if I want a decent sized bag).

[MaryPat]

....

Sometimes, if I'm not sure how a yarn will felt, I make a small object, like a glass case, and felt that. Making small swatches is not as useful, because small things shrink more than larger things. ...

 

Thank you for posting this tip. I have some wool that I make a test swatch and felted it so I could get a sense of how small it will go to.

[misssmaggie]

That is so cute !!! Thanks for sharing!

[hooked2]

I like both versions of your bag!

 

And if the felted one is smaller than you really wanted it to be, would it work for an evening-ish sort of bag - to hold just a few things? Or, perhaps a gift for someone?