Hundertwasser inspired bag #2

This is my second Hundertwasser inspired bag..  I love the coloures of this one - dark duck egg and bilberry. The white coming through makes ALL of the colours nice and heathery.

After finishing the first bag there were a couple of adjustments that I wanted to make next time:

1. Inner pockets thicker and firmer
2. Handle loops to be thicker/chunkie
3. Handle a little shorter

So this time I made the handle loops about twice as thick..

Handle loops with fluffy roots for attaching to bag body..
I wrap the fluffy ends in cling film to keep them dry while I felt the centre part

I decided to make the pockets prettier as well as thicker;  first I laid a couple of basic spirals where the 2 pockets would be, these spirals would be uppermost on the inside of the bag when its finished.  Then I laid a layer of Falkland, and 1 layer of the duck egg coloured merino (I did it this way so the colouring would be subtle and blend more with the rest of the inside of the bag), followed by 2 more layers of Falkland.  Wetted the fibre and positioned the resists, then went on with laying the fibre layers to enclose the main resist.

Same as with the first bag I used 6 fibre layers; 3 of white Falkland then 3 coloured merino.. and then the spirals.

The handle loops were added in to layers 3 and 4.  I did come across one unexpected hurdle with the thicker loops.. don;t know why it hadn't occured to me, but as they were so much thicker they were also stiffer and didnt want to stay bent.  I had laid the first side with no problems.. when I bent them over to do the second side though they wouldn't stay down.  I used a couple of clothes pegs to hold them bent while I finished the laying out and rubbing.  I paid a lot of attention to the areas where the roots were (which I do anyway) when I was sure they were well attatched I took the pegs off.  I had gotten so caught up in doing this that I forgot to take a photo of the peg positioning.. I've got one for the next bag though :)

Starting to build up a spiral..
it takes a suprising amount of time to make a big one with lots of colours!
I use thin strips of merino first and then the yarns, tucking the yarn ends under
the merino

I drew a big spiral to both front and back.

Here again I forgot to take photos of the stages as I cut the resists out!  And I really should take one of the bags on top of the resists to show the shrinkage involved too.. I want all of these bags to be very tough - felted as hard as I can get them.. so there is a LOT of rolling, throwing and thumping involved.. I like all of my bags to be HARD anyway, they have a tough job to do, so I always work, work, work them.  I think (and hope) the Falkland is making these hardier than just merino does, but I'm finding Falkland seems to take a lot more working than merino to full it to its max..  I like the slightly hairy character they have, its quite subtle 'cos its just coming through the merino, it makes them very tactile.

The handle was made in exactly the same way as last time.. just a few inches shorter.

I think this hangs at a better height..



Inner pockets with their spirals..
The photo doesnt show it too well but the duck egg fibres come through the white
just the same as it does on the rest of the bag



close-up

I am REALLY happy with this one :)  I absolutely love the duck egg and bilberry combo - must remember to order more bilberry!  Its one of my new favourite shades

Next time: Hundertwasser inspired bag #3 - different again

xx