This post contains affiliate links. Read my Disclosure Policy for more information. Thanks for your support!

Crocheted Flowers on Felted Bags

Yes, I am still felting and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  I finally got the little flowers that I crocheted felted.  They turned out very nicely.  I’m not sure if I’m going to actually add them to the bags, but this is how they look one of the bags.

I also finally felted the blue and black bag and added grommets to this one to hold the straps onto the bag.

I think it turned out nicely.  The flower gives it a nice touch, but it isn’t sewn directly onto the bag.  I think I’ll give myself the option to put it on or off as the mood strikes me.

Ultra Simple One-Night Bag

Here’s another bag that I recently felted – the pre- and post-felted versions.

The Manos del Uruguay yarn creates a sturdy felted fabric

I used two strands of Manos del Uruguay yarn which knits up very nicely.  It almost feels like silk.  Acutally, this is recycled yarn that I had used a while back to crochet a shrug.  I didn’t like the way it turned out so I took it apart to reuse the yarn.  The felted fabric is very sturdy and has a lot more texture than the felted fabric made from Cascade 220.  I need to get a really nice button for this one.

The pattern came from Not Your Mama’s Felting by Amy Swenson.  It’s the “Ultra-Simple One Night Bag.”  And yes, it is ultra simple, just one long piece of stockinette knitting fold into three sections, with a few rows of garter stitch on either edge.

The edges are also a couple of stitches less wide than the body of the bag to prevent the ends from stretching when felting.  My cure for this problem is to place whatever I’m felting into a sweater or lingerie bag that doesn’t give the bag any room to stretch or move around.  Sometimes I have to place more than one piece to felt to accomplish this.  But I have to be careful to put together pieces that have a similar color scheme so the colors don’t bleed into each other.  I used 3 strands to do the I-cord strap because I didn’t think 2 strands would make a strong enough strap.  I used 2 strands to make the button hole loop

Simplified Version of Jane Davis’ Crocheted Purse

And yes, I have been crocheting pieces for felting.   I whipped up two bags over the weekend, based on  the pattern from Jane Davis’ Felted Crochet.  I’d already done the bag according to the pattern but didn’t really like the tapered end.  And forget about trying to embroider those flowers onto the finished piece.

So I started the bag where the increases stop to create a square body.  And instead of crocheting two separate pieces and then sewing them together, I crocheted one half of the bag along with the flap, and then started the other side of the bag by crocheting directly onto the bottom edge of the first piece.  To make this work, I started the first side by crocheting into that little “bump” on the back of the chain.  This gave me a bottom edge that looks like the top edge of a crocheted row.  Hmmm … I guess photos would help here, but I didn’t think to take any.  If you have questions, let me know and I’ll take some and add them to the post.

Finally, the strap is a 4-stitch I-cord I knitted with one strand of thread and #9 needles.  Remember, this is the pattern that omits instructions for the strap.  I used Cascade 220 yarn; it’s a great wool yarn, reasonably priced, that comes in a zillion colors.  I can’t wait to see how these bags felt up.

Use a Single Strand of Yarn When Felting Crocheted Pieces

I’m finding that crocheting using a double strand creates a very bulky fabric, so these bags were done with a single strand of thread.  As soon as I get them felted, I’ll take photos and do another post.   I’ve also started experimenting with a freeform crocheted piece that I intend to felt.  More on that soon.