Felt clutch bags
I have always loved making felt – it continues to be a magical process for me. It is a supple yet robust fabric to work with, ideally suited to bags and scarves.
I often create the surface decoration pattern first, letting it dictate the shape of the bag, then I will make up a toile. Elizabethan textiles are a source of fascination and a good deal of my work in the past has been based on Elizabethan costume. Surface decoration was often rich and complicated but the designs can be pared down to strong, simple shapes as in this repeating pea pod pattern. Needle felting adds extra texture and it is possible to produce quite intricate patterns using this technique. The second design is based on the shadow of a bicycle wheel – here I’ve used travelling and transport as a starting point.
