March 2017 - Dayschool - Making A Felted Bag with Lesley King

When Lesley King undertook a City & Guilds Course in Embroidery, she was asked to create a background piece and decided to make felt and stitch into it.  After that moment she was hooked on felting.  In particular she enjoys felting accessories such as scarves, bags and hats.  Later on, Lesley joined as a member, going on to become the North West Co-ordinator for the International Felt Makers Association which was founded Mary Burkett.

We had all been really looking forward to this course, as our once a month meeting gives us all time to relax and enjoy some me time away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, where we can chat and have a catch up with one another, and produce some lovely work at the end of the day!

​Lesley began by showing us some of her work and explaining that we were going to create a bag with a two colour layout, one colour for the inside and one for the outside.  We were shown an ‘upside down bag’ that became a hat, an art deco hat that she had made for an exhibition, and a stripy bag. Lesley explained that for those who were beginners, using the two colours would help to define which layer of felt we were working on.  The more experienced felt makers could feel free to use whatever colours they wanted to use.

The bag would need a handle which we would start on first, which could be integrated or attached after the bag was made.  We were also shown that we could have two flaps on one side, closing the bag, or curl both sides over leaving the bag open, and we could decide towards the end, which type of opening/closure we required.  ​

The bag would be 54 cm tall and will shrink down to around 45cm after drying.  Lesley went on to demonstrate how we would make our handles, and how to layer the wool for our inside layer.

We also could decorate the bags as we went along, or stitch into the bags once they were finished and dried off, and Lesley showed us some samples of her work.​

We began by layering some bamboo with a layer of bubble wrap on top, that was all set on a towel.  We started with a length of Merino wool about 1 metre in length and began to roll it out by hand for a time (leaving the ends loose if we were making the integrated handle bag).  We wet the wool and added a little olive oil soap to help bind the fibres together and continued rolling for some time, until the wool was tight enough that it could be put to one side for later.
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​We then set out a template on top of the bubble wrap and slowly grabbed and pulled the wool away from the skein and lay delicate pieces of it down in a vertical fashion (making sure we had gone over the edges) overlapping the last piece by a third, and a second layer laid horizontally.

We then lay a net on top and sprinkled water on top and rubbed with olive oil soap, then began to rub the wool in a circular motion until it was all done.  We then turned the piece over, rolled the overlapping edges in and repeated the layering, watering and rubbing. 

​Once we had completed the inside layer, we were then ready to start the whole process again for the front layer.  Those who were using an integrated handle, split the ends of the handle, laying one half on the top of the lining and one half underneath.  We then Layered two layers of wool and rubbing it in with water and the olive oil soap, turning, folding in the edges and layering two layers of wool again etc.  We could also decorate with various colours to make a pattern before finishing the piece.  Once completed, we could cut the top half of the bag to open it up and remove the template that was still inside.
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At lunch time our Chairman Dee gave a short recount of the success of our recent Exhibition at Barton Grange Garden Centre, and about the lovely comments we had received.  A new member was introduced to the group and two visitors who had come to see what we do as group, were also introduced.   
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Dee announced that at the exhibition, members of the public were able to vote on their favourite piece, and the winners were as follows:

1st place was Ann – 'Along The Cami' – based on 'The Way of the Horse' in Menorca which is known as 'The Cami de Cavalls'.
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2nd  place was Frances  – Winter Dawn (sheep with attitude).

3rd place was Pamela – Cottage on a Hill.
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We were then ready to roll the bags up in the bamboo and using a towel at the same time, rolled the bag 100 times and moved its position to roll it again, we did this, four times in total.  It was at this point we could see that the bag was shrinking at each rolling.  Until at the end it was the correct size, and looked really smooth.
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Here are some photographs of one of the bags being unrolled at the end. 

​The completed bag was rinsed in very hot water to set the felt, followed by four rinses in cold water to remove all the soap.  We then twisted the bag whilst wrapped in a towel to squeeze as much water as possible out, and the bag was then ready to be dried at home.

Lesley showed us that by ‘stuffing the bag’ and pressing it into the stuffing, gave it shape before it was dried overnight.

We all had such a wonderful time and were amazed at the results – we had managed to make a ‘seamless’ felted bag!
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Here are the end results!

C.P.