Playing With Wool (Again)

Remember the little monsters that I made a while back. Well, I decided I needed more wool colors, so I went on a shopping trip to the Salvation Army. I did get more wool in the colors I wanted, but I also came home with this.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but after felting it, I decided to channel my inner Birdlady, and make a handbag. First I measured the sweater to see how much I had to work with, and then drew up a pattern.

The spatter shield was just the right size to get the curve I wanted on the flap. It wasn't real easy to cut the pieces to size, as the wool kept slithering around, and even after felting it still had some stretch that made for interesting edges on my cuts!

Sewing was tricky, also. I almost always use my walking foot, and it took longer than it should have to dawn on me that this was the source of most of my problems.The wool was so thick, it rendered the walking foot unusable! Switching to a regular sewing machine foot made it much easier.

Then, I cut up the waistband of the sweater to use it for for the strap.

I added a lining with a few pockets. This was stitched in by hand.

With the addition of a nice, BIG button, the new purse was good to go. Even the daughter who doesn't like pink liked it. Although, she did say that she wouldn't carry it!

This next picture has nothing to do with wool; it's a house in the neighborhood that was looking very beautiful in Tuesday's snowstorm. Shell, this picture is for you. I know how much you love a cute cottage!

One final note. Karen, over at A Creative Kick In The Pants passed on an award to me. This award is for small blogs with fewer than 300 followers. She said some very nice things about my little blog, and I am very grateful to her. I'm not sure where I will pass it on, because I never pay attention to numbers. I'll have to do a little research. Anyway, click that link to pop on over to Karen's blog, and check out the other blogs that she nominated, they are very cool. And don't forget to roam around Karen's blog while you are at it. She is wonderfully creative, and there is a LOT to see. Thank you, Karen, for your kind words.