Hand in Hand

I've been rather taken with handprints lately.. I really enjoyed using them on the Tambourine bag a little while back and have quite a few ideas for other items featuring them :)

So far I have made myself a coin purse.. this is to go with the tambourine bag. I was asked in comments on the tambourine bag post how I thought the bag would hold it's shape if used as a purse.. well there's only one way to find out.  SO when it's not being used for a tambourine :) this bag will double up as my 'posh' bag.. so of course I needed a coin purse to go with it!

Lots of handprint templates..
I used the shrink/enlarge facility on a copier to get different sized prints

Covering with layers of white merino

And the design layer.. with a 25% of actual size handprint

Part way through felting

Finished felting.. left to dry 

Hand sewn into a metal purse frame
Front

Back

and open :)  plenty of wiggle room for my fingers in there

I took these out for the first time last Friday night celebrating my babies 16th birthday :)

 As well as a handprint purse for myself, I felted a big tote for my shop.. quite a complex one.  This bag had 6 resists in total!  

Lovely Wensleydale locks :)

Side view

Instead of sewing reinforcing into the handle area I made
the felt extra thick. And the flap for sewing the zip in was a
perfect place for more tiny handprints :)

I love these strong metal YKK zips!  (sewn in by hand of course).

And I've still got lots more ideas for handprint pieces too..   so I'm sure there will be more to follow :)