my first hand dyed pod

[carole aka craftywoman]

I have finally finished embellishing this 12" tall pod, all the fibres are hand dyed

Now it's complete I am thinking it would make a great handbag, but I'm not sure how to make a strong felt handle, any ideas? I woke up this morning thinking that maybe I could plait long merino fibres then felt them?

[zed]

Very nice

How thick? I've plaited and felted loosely spun/twisted merino, I've only made thin cords, but I know many people have made really thick ones.

Maybe you could try some samples with the colours and fibres you used.

[lyn]

It's beautiful (puts me in mind of a tropical aquarium) and it's such a happy pod. I would be delighted to have that on display in my house.

I've made several felt handbags but it was in the early days when I didn't appreciate the importance of photographic records!
The handles were the most fun part - there's just so much variety - I've used wool, wood, leather, felt, other fabrics, plastic, metal, aquarium piping stuffed with fancy yarns....many handles were other things in their first lives but then lent themselves to re-purposing.
I got to the point where I decided that the handles were so important to the look of the bag that I would design/find them first then make the bag around them!

The easiest way to attach a handle after a bag has been made, is to stitch it on the outside. If you use a long handle and fix it from the top and partway down the sides of the bag, it will be very strong. This can be a design feature if you stitch it on with decorative top stitching or a row of buttons/beads etc.

If you fancy a plait, bear in mind that the colours in a felted plait can look a bit 'muddy' by the time it's fulled.

You could make a simple, unfelted plait from yarns in complementary colours?

Or you could knit a very chunky I-CORD using three yarns at the same time.

To prevent the plait or i-cord from being stretchy, use a thick crochet/knitting cotton alongside one of the yarns.

[halay]

I-cord I think is a good solution. When I started reading this post I got an idea: perhaps using a pipe cleaner which has these brushes all around which will catch wool could serve the purpose as well. The pipe cleaner has a wire in the middle which will make the handle even stronger and will not stretch. The wire is pliable enough and keeps the shape.
Otherwise I love your pods - very joyous.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Carole, really beautiful pod! I can see it as a vase, maybe not so much as a handbag…just my personal taste.

[Pandagirl]

The pod is gorgeous. I love the bright colors and underwater theme. If you decide to use it as a handbag, it will be a great conversation starter and advertisement. :-)

[carole aka craftywoman]

It did start life as a pod/vase, that was my intention, but it is calling to me and saying 'bag'.

Thank you for all the great ideas for straps/ handles, I will study them and give it some thought, one that jumps out is the plastic tubing, I bought narrow gauge but fairly thick a couple of years ago, I could fill it up with beads - one for the pot and a big stir, love the idea of cord and pipe cleaners - I will report back when I've tried out a few ideas.

[MTRuth]

It's a beautiful pod. I look forward to seeing it turned into a bag and the solution you use for handles.

[zed]

I forgot that was you with the bag handle 'obsession', Lyn
I never pass a charity shop without looking at bags to see what their handles (and now closures) are like and if they can be re-used !

[lyn]

Yup - that was me Zed - I just couldn't stop.

While you're looking in the charity shops, don't forget that fashion belts, scarves and jewellery can make good handles too!

There's just so much possibility when you start looking, and altering stuff is satisfying. I had a boring pair of circular bamboo handles that I transformed by covering them with double crochet using a boucle yarn; I wound embroidery floss around a thick cord (only took about 2 days to do that!!) and for a Christmas bag I pulled bright gold tinsel through some clear, aquatic pipe - it looked great!

p.s. to thread stuff through a plastic tube, attach a long length of strong sewing thread (longer than the tube) to one end of whatever you're using, tie the thread to the needle, then use gravity to drop the needle and thread through the tube. Gently pull on the thread until the pipe is filled.

[carole aka craftywoman]

yes that would work, today is testing and trying day, then Wednesday I'm off to rummage through the 2nd hand shops, over here we get loads of stuff from Germany and Scandinavia - some lovely designer stuff finds it's way onto the shelves too, I'm looking for a wedding dress with loads of bling - for white pods :-)

[Shepherdess]

A very nice underwater pod. I can't believe no one mentioned felt snakes. I just made one to go with a little bag I made. You have to wait for my blog post on Friday to see it.