Help me "fix" my purse!

[Amyjk]

I crocheted what I thought was a beautiful entrelac bag from wool because I was planning to felt it. Well, I felted it and it turned out not so great. Actually, it's my own fault. I used these rattan handles. In the wash, they broke in two. I tried glueing them back together, but it didn't work. Sooooooooo, I was frustrated so I just took them out, and now I have a handleless bag! LOL Here is a pic of the before...........

 

I'm too embarassed to show the after............

But isn't the before pretty? LOL

Any ideas of what I could do for handles?

[Amyjk]

O.k. I decided to post the ugly afterpic.......

 

 

 

 

oh yeah, sans handles at this point.......

[Tomeygirl]

You could use leather straps that you could weave in. I think it looks nice.Its fixable.

[angieInCA]

You could just make a wool tube, felt it and then string it through the area where the handle was. Actually that would look wonderful.

 

FYI...in the future you really shouldn't try felting your purses with handles in place unless they are wool and need to be felted too.

 

I always sew or attach handles through grommets after the felting process.

[JCB]

I also think it's pretty. You may want to re-wet it and stretch it over some sort of box. Put a plastic bag over the box first, and make sure it's a very snug fit. That will smooth the look of the bag. You could add any handles you like.

 

What does the inside of the purse look like, now that it's felted? Could you turn it inside out, and cut off the edges of the entrelac. If that doesn't work you could block each of the points by steaming them until they are flat.

 

The bag is really pretty and definitely fixable.

 

Joan

[dubbee]

Hang in there, girl! All the previous advice sounds great!

Breathe in....breathe out.

[SassyCMA06]

I think both are quite pretty, despite the lack of handles...

 

Could you just crochet a simple chain and use them as handles?