Monday, September 5, 2011

The Road Bag, finally

Ok, so about a month and a half ago, I blogged about Kelley Deal coming to Chicago and doing a workshop on her Road Bag at Sifu Design Studio & Fine Yarns. Finally, I have completely, totally, ultimately finished the bag!

me & Kelley

The workshop was awesome - Kelley is super nice and we had a lot of fun chatting and knitting and eating cupcakes. 

pre-felting

The bag is knit in Cascade Magnum, which is a super chunky wool. After you've knit this huge bag, you throw it in the washer and felt the HECK out of it. I think I washed it three times to get it really close-felted. 

the road bag

The finished product is so cute. It kinda looks like a cartoon bag! Soft and a bit fluffy. I chose to make a strap out of an old belt I found at the thrift store. I cut the ends to an appropriate length and then hand stitched it around the metal rings, which you put in before felting. I added a huge snap to close the front flap.

love the back pocket

The pocket on the back may be my favorite design feature. I must have pockets in my purse, so I'm glad Kelley and I were on the same page. 

the bag, all finished

Here's the finished bag - somewhat - modeled for perspective. Can you tell I was experimenting with the self-timer? You can practically see up my nose and for that, I apologize. Next time it'll be better. 

4 comments :

  1. Using a belt for a strap is genius! The bag looks nice and handy.

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  2. That is so cool! I never realised how much stuff shrinks when you felt it. I have never felted anything before but would love to give it a go.

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  3. It's gorgeous! :) I love the strap, too!

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  4. I just love this bag!!! You are so clever. I've always wanted to make a felted bag but my toploader washing machine died and I bought a front-loader that doesn't felt up the goods the same way. You most certainly have the knack!

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