Catching up...

I really have been a bad blogger lately!  I've felt a bit like I'm running through mud over the last few months.  This year hasn't been an easy one.. my moms dementia got a lot worse at the start of the year and since then I've been doing what I can to help look after her.  Watching mom, whats happening.. and coping with my dad coming to terms with this - not easy.  Trying to do this, whilst looking after my own family as much as I want to and working..  well I got a bit depressed there for a while.  I have to say my lovely husband has kept me sane through all this, I am so lucky to have him!  I've spent a couple of months hiding out in books whenever I could (losing myself in a book stopped me thinking about things).  But I do feel like I'm getting a grip now, I'm hoping so anyway.  

Things must be improving because I've actually been feeling creative again.. feeling inspired to felt and sew.  Since it's been ages since I blogged about anything but our beech tree :)  I'm going to save my latest stuff - the stuff I felt really 'inspired' to do - for a future post.  

I'm starting with what I did in August..  there were masses of gorgeous summer flowers everywhere I looked, so decided to make a couple of bags with a floral theme..  Both sides of both bags have flowers.

Silk fibre, curly locks and prefelt for the floral design

This was to be  a deep tote

a wide bottom :)  

The width at the bottom makes it roomier 
and allows it to stand unsupported.

This one was white Falkland inside and dyed merino outside, see how the white has crept through

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I lined the handle area with a pretty Kaffe Fasset print cotton fabric
adding a piping edge to the pockets in the same.

Finished with a magnetic popper closure (the stitch on sort)

The second bag is a base of natural brown British wools (mostly from fleeces I've cleaned and carded).

Black Shetland lamb, Black Welsh and the darkest brown parts of a Jacobs
again with silk fibre, curly locks and prefelt for the design

This one has tabs at the top for attaching the handle

The handle is a strong felted cord - with a metal ring felted into either end.
The metal rings were then threaded onto the tabs which are turned over and
stitched securely down.  

This style lends itself to sewing a zip across the top :)

Close-up showing texture.
All the different fibre used - different shrinkage rates etc. have
given a really lovely deeply pebbled texture.

This bag has a very vintage shabby chic character I think (it actually reminds me of a Victorian table covering in the Housekeepers room of the Victorian House I used to work in)

AND they both made it onto my Etsy shop too :)  can't be bad.