A Different Sort of Project

About two years ago I took a needle felting by machine (embellisher) course and fired up with enthusiasm from the course I actually bought an embellisher. I played around with it the week I got it home and then packed it away in it's box. It's been sat there all that while saying you spent out good money on me why don't you actually use me, so last weekend I thought I'd see if I could make something and this handbag is the result. It's made using felt, wool tops and synthetic organza. It's not perfect because I think I overworked the fabric but now that I've made something I'm really keen to experiment and have another go. I've even lined it, though not as neatly as I would have liked. It was a bit experimental as I didn't have a pattern but I now know what I'll do differently next time. Here are a few closer photos.

I didn't totally abandon my paper crafting bits and bobs though, I used brads from the Hobby House to attach the flowers. For the flowers themselves I used my Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies to cut some cereal box templates. I then used the templates to cut the fabric with a soldering iron, finally shaping them by holding close to a candle. (Only got a couple of very minor burns in the process grin.) Here's a close up of the flowers.

Overall I'm reasonably pleased with the end result and hope to have another go this weekend so watch this space.