Metallic Silk Purse

When last I talked about my experiments with my new material, metallic silk, I was making wall hangings. Now I have made 4 purses. The felting process was the same as for the wall hangings except the purses should have a little bit more felt on them.

 Once the felting process was completed I chose a fabric that was complimentary in color to the wool fibers that I had used. This one shown was for my purple purse. I put the fabric on the wrong side of the purse and then turned it over and sewed many strips of colored yarn up and down both sides of the purse. I used the yarn to pull the felt in so that it wouldn't be so inclined to catch on things. The felting still has quite a bit of texture and can possibly catch on things, so the purse will not hold up to rough treatment. The piece of fabric that is used to hold the yarn is not the purses interior as it becomes quite messy with all that sewing. However, I wanted fabric with the metallic silk to support the yarn and the inside of the purse. (I hope that this all makes sense.)

The next step was to cut another layer of the fabric, sew the pockets into it, and sew it into the inside of the purse. You, of course, do this inside out and then flip the purse.

The most difficult step so far is figuring out what kind of a handle to use. I went to a fabric shop and got expensive handles and some metal rings to slip through the handles-I thought. I got home and couldn't get the rings apart with two of my husbands pliers using all my might, and I am pretty strong. Who would have thought? So now I have opened two of the packages thinking that maybe the less shiny ones were made of weaker metal. Where did that reasoning come from? Duh... I ended up attaching the handle you see here with some nuno felt that is quite strong and in the right colors. I could have saved myself a bit of change. Oh well, live and learn, right? I have had a great time with this so no complaints. Any questions, just ask.