Wet Felted Purse

Now finished......What started out to be a square bowl but is now a purse.

My square bowl project almost finished except for putting a magnetic closure on it. 

I made a rope strap by laying out a length of wool top a little longer then I needed. I tried something new by placing a length of cotton cording about 1/4 in thick on top of the wool. I lightly folded the wool over the cording and lightly tacked it with a needle felting needle. Then I wet it down with hot soapy water and lightly rolled it back and forth with the palms of my hands. Just very lightly at first then increase pressure a little at a time until it starts firming up. I left 3 or 4 inches of felted dry wool at each end. When the rope was very firm I finished the ends by wrapping some wool around the rope where the dry felt met the wet rope. Then wet that down and folded the dry felt in half meeting the bottom of the felt I just wrapped around. Now I wet that down and rubbed with finger to start felting. Then I used my sander to finish felting and flatten those ends to make a strong flat surface to stitch the handled onto the purse. Seams to make a nice strong handle attaching method. And using the cord in the rope uses less wool and is easier to roll without getting creases.

I forgot I also sewed a green lining and put that in before attaching the handle.