Felted Wool Knot Bag

 Hello Readers. It is February and for me that means red and pink refashions all month in honor of Valentine's Day. Today's post is a felted wool bag made from a red jacket.

 

Before and after. 

 

 

This little red and black coat was cute but there was a lot of applique details on it and it felt like a little too much. 

 

I had an idea when I saw this jacket. I didn't want a jacket.  I wanted to make something else out of the wool material. To do that I first needed to wash it in hot water. I know what you are thinking. "You can't put wool in the washer! It will shrink!" Well, it will shrink but that was what I wanted.

The weave of the wool was thicker and tighter after I washed it. That was perfect. I wanted to cut it up. When you shrink wool like this it doesn't fray anymore. It is great to work with. It is like felt. They call it "felted" wool.

 

I cut the lining away and got just the wool.

I wanted to make a little red bag and this wool would be perfect. This style bag is commonly referred to online as a "Japanese Knot Bag". I could not find a lot of information about it's origins. There are a lot of free patterns online if you want to make your own.

I also cut the pockets off the coat. I was going to use those too. 

I put all my pieces together and sewed them all together. 

My new red bag was finished. It turned out so cute. Felted wool is really easy to work with. I like this bag because it does not need any hardware, The long handle slips into the short handle and that keeps it closed.

 

It goes with all the red refashions I have done this month. 

 

 I have made a bag from a felted wool sweater before. It is one of my favorite winter bags. The soft wool makes very comfortable shoulder straps. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I liked this bag a lot. It isn't big enough for all the stuff I carry every day but I love it for when I only carry the basics.