Roomy and Stylish Felted Handbags that you'll use every day!

Bryony models one of my spotty big bags- notice the mauve colour that I used for the inside.

I have often seen bag making felting workshops advertised but when I have checked the dimensions of the bag I have realised that it is a very small bag; and even some felting kits that are available online are for tiny bags, the kind of bag that I call a ‘wedding handbag’. 

So I decided that if I was going to run hand felted bag making workshops it would be to make a practical and roomy handbag; the type of bag that I would like to use everyday. 

I made my first All SensesArt 'big bag’ back in Summer of 2011 and I have been using it everyday since. Over the months it seems to have softened and moulded to my body shape...a bit like an old Harris Tweed jacket, so it has actually improved with age!

I have run several day long AllSensesArt Felted Big Bag workshops since making my own so I thought it was time to share some of my creative process. 

This is how much it will shrink in size!

I used a favourite bag as a guide for the shape and proportions that I wanted my bag to be. From experience I know how much shrinkage to expect so I scaled my outline up and then cut a template from plastic. I like to use the builders' roofing plastic that is easily available (and very cheap) from builders merchants like Wickes and B&Q.

Laying out the wool takes time but is worth the effort.

To get a good finish and to help reduce the chances of the surface of the finished bag pilling I laid out twelve very thin layers of wool fibres (six layers on either side of the plastic). 

This is much better than laying out fewer thick layers.

I love Cate's choice of rich colours and flamboyant design. 

Even in a day long workshop there isn’t really lots of time to lay out a very complex  design. At the beginning of the session we make our own two sided pre-felt i.e. with two different colours of wool fibres so that it can be used either way up. I often keep my decoration simple by cutting circles, but simple flower shapes, leaf shapes and other geometric shapes are all possible.

Extra decoration can be added using whisps of other coloured wool tops or fluffy knitting yarns such as mohair. 

Cate. These projects can seem enormous at this point!

As we are working on a large scale I have kept the size of workshops quite small- with just four participants per workshop. This means that everyone can have a table to themselves and also that there is enough room when we need access to the kitchen sinks (the hall that I have used has two stainless steel sinks which is great). 

Cutting open to remove the template and further work the handle strap.

It is always an exciting moment when the fibres are felted together enough to cut the template out. But not the time to get too relaxed as there is still quite a bit of felting to be done to further shrink the bag! 

Getting smaller but not quite there yet.

Trish with her finished bag.  For her design she needs to sew on her orange and red felted handles.

Some people like to add a magnetic closure but I have opted to sew a gusset of heavy duty satin lining in with a zip closure. I really like this as it isn’t visible from outside, doesn’t spoil the way that the bag hangs and makes sure that everything is secure inside. 

Cate's completed bag; it is fantastic!

If you would like to make your own felted big bag with me then just get together a group of friends or work colleagues and I can run a full day workshop for you. I need just four people to be able to run these full day classes for only £69 per person. These classes are usually held at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane, Lichfield, Staffordshire. WS13 8AY but if you prefer I can come to a venue of your choice. 

Cost: £69 (this includes all wool fibres, use of equipment and tea coffee and biscuits).

Surrounded by Felted Flowers and Mixed Media Sculptures at the Erasmus Darwin House, Lichfield

How exciting; a chance for me to wear both of my artistic hats (Frillip Moolog and AllSensesArt) at once.
This summer I exhibited six of my Frillip Moolog sculptures in the beautiful and unique setting of the Erasmus Darwin House.

The show Inventions of the Mind was a wonderful opportunity for me to exhibit my sculptures here in my home town of Lichfield. It was also a fantastic opportunity to run lots of outreach
projects.

The project was organised by 52 Weeks of Art and was made possible thanks to funding from Tesco PLC. Inventions of the Mind ran from 31st Jul – 23rd Aug but the highpoint was the Celebration Day on Saturday 21st Aug.

Peter Walker from 52weeks of art organised Life the Universe and Darwin to show off all the work that had been made throughout several 52 Weeks of Art projects.

So here I am surrounded by felted flowers all made by participants in my AllSensesArt workshops at Erasmus Darwin House.

There are 60 flowers here and absolutely no two are the same.
During my sessions I worked with people of all ages and from all walks of life. This was so exciting!

No one had made felt before and many had never been to the Erasmus Darwin House either. So this was their chance to learn about this colourful character from the 18th century and also the magic of feltmaking.

Erasmus Darwin was interested in so many things and is often described as the 18th century’s most famous polymath. Amongst other things he was a doctor, an inventor, a scientist and a poet. He did ground breaking research on plants, recognising the importance of photosynthesis.

He also wrote a hugely long poem Loves of the Plants. It was very popular in its time and is said to have had a significant influence on the Romantic Poets: Shelley, Coleridge and Wordsworth. So it seemed perfect that I should run some felted flower workshops.

So one basic method and what different results.
Here we can see Sylvia and Avril’s flowers. These ladies from the beacon Park Retirement Village were so much fun.

Sylvia proudly shows off her freshly felted flower.

Avril plans to wear her felted flower on a special hat and Sylvia seemed a natural at felting. I wouldn’t be surprised if she isn’t teaching classes of her own soon!
It’s never too late to learn a new skill and felting is one that can be taught to all ages.
One of the ladies in that session piped up that she was the oldest in the class. She was ninety… and had just learnt how to felt!

I also worked with some young ladies from Lichfield Young Embroiders Group. As the sessions progressed (there were 10 people in each session) flowers styles also developed.

This one made by Jo, one of the school teachers who came for a fun afternoon of felting, proved to be quite inspirational.
She decided not to cut the petals, and instead left lovely organic wavy edges. You can see the halo effect of using pre-felt made from two colours here.

In her busy career she doesn’t have much time for relaxing craft sessions. This was a perfect school holiday de-stressor for her!

Jo's flower with halo effect, leaf and stamens.

Some of the flowers were made by some adults from the Nuffield Centre a centre which supports people with mental health difficulties and also physical disabilities. I was so proud of their flowers and yes, Christine and Kerry left the session with some wool fibres to make more at home. That’s a success!

Erasmus Darwin was a prolific inventor inventing, a steering axle for carriages, a horizontal windmill, a copying machine and a speaking machine amongst other things. Back in the 18th century there wasn’t the same division between natural sciences and engineering.

Anneka French’s essay about Inventions of the Mind talks about the similarities between Erasmus Darwin and me; like him I take inspiration from all aspects of life and enjoy using unusual combinations of materials when making my sculptures.

'Stan' in particular incorporates a downpipe from a bus station and also a bulbous nuno felted vessel “body”.

'Stan'. A conversation piece between these waxwork figures of Erasmus Darwin and Matthew Bolton.

I also ran some Children’s Sculpture Workshops. (Several parents made their own sculptures too!)
This workshop was in two parts: First learning how to make a magic felted ball (which we then cut it in half to reveal the swirly pattern inside).

Then I loaded up the table with a lovely array of materials. Some with interesting sculptural shapes like kitchen funnels, sieves and latex muffin cases and others with gorgeous tactile qualities like, sponges, pan scourers and feathers.

'Batty' made by Charlie (aged 6).

I told the children that I actually call my sculptures ‘beings’ rather than sculptures and that I sometimes make up stories about them. Suddenly we had even more creativity in the room!

'Samankah'
By Maddy Sadler

Origin: South America
Favourite Music: Blues and Reggae
Favourite Hobby: Dancing and carnivals
Plays: Bongos and Guitar
Dream Holiday: Amazon rainforest or the Himalayas (with her friend Kevin)
Likes: Cowboys, parrots, pandas, sequins, cream soda and candy floss
Dislikes: Ribbons, jellied eels, rotten coconuts and dentists
Profession: Philosopher (florist on the weekends)
Enjoys watching: wrestling and nature documentaries

Here's Maddy while making 'Samanka'. See what she wrote about him above.

The display on the celebration day on 21st Aug was really fantastic and it was so exciting for all the participants and their families to come and see their own creations exhibited in Life the Universe and Darwin. For me this was a perfect opportunity to show off my own sculptures, to talk about the Frillip Moolog beings (sculptures) and to encourage people not only to think more about art but to actually make some of their own.

It was a lovely combination to be able to exhibit my work, teach skills and empower creativity and to then also exhibit the outreach work in a way that emphasises that everyone’s creation was worthy.

We were winners all round!

Make your own Hand-Felted Bunny Glove Puppet & Easter Chick to have even more fun this Easter!

Easter is a lovely time to celebrate and definitely a time to let out your creativity.
This cute hand-felted chick was made by my son Dominic.
We really enjoy rolling our Easter Eggs. I grew up in Scotland and so this is a tradition that I have always done. Last year we were visiting my sister in Edinburgh and so went up Arthur’s Seat to roll our eggs.

My sister Sandra got really excited when she realised that we had a little helper with us. Here she is giving Bunny (one of my hand-felted bunny glove puppets) a chance to roll the eggs.

One of the cool things about felting is that you can make a seamless item like a felted handbag, a felted jacket or a glove puppet with absolutely no sewing! Here you can see me laying out the fluffy Merino wool fibres. To make seamless felt you use a resist. This stops the front of the puppet felting to the back of the puppet. I like to use this grey builders’ plastic which I buy from my local builders merchants in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Here’s Louise and her mum with the felted puppets that they made at one of my workshops at Bilston Craft Gallery last Easter.

There are so many colours of Merino wool fibres. I was pleased that the children didn’t feel that they had to stick to “bunny colours”.
This bright pink felted bunny will have fun hiding chocolate eggs this Easter!

You can see what cute faces the children at the workshop managed to give their hand-made puppets. All these details are made using the wet felting process. That means that by carefully laying out different wool coloured fibres you can "paint" the details; shading for nose and ears and other stripes and patterns.

You can make one of these puppets yourself.
I will be running an Easter Bunny Glove Puppet session

on Thursday 8th April 2010 10.30am-12.30pm
at Walsall Museum, Lichfield Street, Walsall, West Midlands, S1 1TR.
To book phone the museum on 01922 653116

Visit the What's On in Walsall website for more details.

If you can't make it over to Walsall on 8th April you could book your very own Children's Felting Craft Party. Invite some friends to your own house and could come and teach you how to make your own Hand-Felted Easter Bunny Glove Puppet.
£95 for a two hour session for 6 children aged 8 and up. Materials included.

For more information vsit my AllSensesArt Childrens Craft Parties page on my website.

Have fun this Easter. Make your own felted Bunny Glove puppet.
Even make a cute felted chick!