Warning: This email is quite long! if it gets cut off in your email, view the whole thing at libbieslab.com!
Hey hey hey!
Hope all three of you are well!! I am resurrecting this newsletter because I have so many crafting ideas lately. I am fully aware that ~realistically~ I will not be able to do every project that I want to do but someone should benefit from my heavily researched ideas!
Today I want to share a very specific fixation I’m having — felted bags! My daily driver Baggu is starting to look a little dingy and it’s time to give her a break! Over the years, I’ve made quite a few bags but I have only made one felted bag and it didn’t turn out as expected. Therefore, I’d like to remedy that by making a new every day bag!
My process began as it often does, with a Ravelry deep dive. If you do an advanced search and select category>accessories>bag and then construction>felted/fulled, you’ll get 3,694 knitting and crochet patterns. I went through a lot of them — I tapped out after page 35 of 77. So there’s a chance that I missed some good ones, so I encourage you to look! But below are my favorites and there are a lot of them!
Maybe in the next newsletter, I’ll share how my project is going but here is my rough plan: I am going to make a bag that looks like the Pink Lady bag pattern (pictured below). But I’m going to use Laerke Bagger’s Fancy Bag (from her second book) because I already have it and I think it will be close enough! I want a simple over the shoulder bag that I can cover in pins or brooches. I am going to make it in this delicious chocolate brown yarn I thrifted that is way too scratchy for clothing.
If felting isn’t your thing, may I tempt you to purchase one from an independent artist like Haricot Vert or Carboot? Or you can scroll through eBay for an affordable one-of-kind option. This one is excellent!
Without further ado, here are 30+ purse patterns for you to felt! Many of them are wacky because if I have the energy to make a second felted bag, it’s definitely going to be a fun one. I also found some awesome bags whose patterns have been retired. I included them at the bottom for inspiration’s sake! Enjoy!
{If you have never felted anything before, all these patterns were knitted/crocheted and then felted in the washer or drier. I usually prefer the drier method for a faster and more precise felt but either works!}
Let’s pour one out for Ravelry’s fallen soldiers (aka retired patterns)
I know that Ravelry photos (especially from the early 2000’s) leave a lot to be desired but I hope you see the potential in some of these ideas! Some of them just need different color schemes or a cute outfit to make them feel modern. If you’ve made any of these patterns, comment and let us know how it went!
Smell ya later!
Libbie