Crochet / Felted / Beaded Bag

This was a project I did that included many of my favorite crafts!
Crocheting
Wet felting
Pin felting
Beading
Sewing

Crochet Bag

The first step is to crochet a bag using 100% yarn. Wool yarn is the most important part of the process because you are only able to felt natural fibers and wool works the best.

I crocheted a simple bag using a DS. It had an oval bottom and turned up sides. I made the pattern up as I went along. If you need an actual pattern you can find many options on Raverly or Pintrest. Additionally I added 2 straps from the side that tie on the shoulder. This way I was sure that the length was right for my body.

Wet Felting

Wet felting is a process used to make wool and other animal fibers into the dense fabric known as felt. The process involves the application of warm, soapy water, which causes layers of fleece/yarn to hook together into a single piece of fabric by agitating the fibers on a rough surface.

To wet felt a crochet piece you are suppose to be able to put it in a zipper pillow case, wash in the washer on a quick cycle (hot/cold) with a little detergent and include something to agitate (tennis balls). This only works well on top loading washing machines.

Unfortunately I have a front loader which doesn’t agitate enough. So I had to come up with plan B!

Plan B

For plan B, I used the kitchen counter with a beach towel to absorb excess water then I stuffed the inside of the purse with netting then wrapped it in the netting around the bag. The netting will be used to help in the adgitation or blending of the wool fibers.

Add a Little Water

In the next step, I then made a solution of hot water and a small amount of castile soap and wet the purse.

Now a Little Adgitation

My solution for agitation....I used a palm sander without any sand paper on it. The vibration of the sander moves the yarn against the netting causing the fibers to bind and achieve the desired fabric.

You must continually agitate with the sander while rotating and flipping the bag. Make sure you have worked all the sides of the bag.

Pin Felting

Needle or pin felting is the process of binding wool roving to a wool/felted fabric resulting in a design applied to the fabric. To do this you need to use a specific felting needle that has a barbed end causing the roving to bind with the felt.

I used foam blocking to protect the needle from breaking and cookie cutter to aid in design.

Now Some Beading

I could not stop at just pin felting so I added beads/ribbon just to see how it would work!

Adding a Lining

At some point I traced the dried bag onto trace paper to form a pattern for the lining. My lining inculded a small pocket in side to keep things organized!

End Results

This is what I ended up with!