Embroidered wool handbag

This summer I created a little handbag for quick outings or fancy parties perhaps… I love sewing into wool, so that’s what I used as the fabric of the bag, just so I could do some wool embroidery on top of it as well as sewing it together.

It’s been a long time since I made a bag, or even crafted. Or rather, I felt like crafting has been far from my mind for a long time, so lately I’ve been trying to get back to it. Cast on for a knitting project, done some embroidery and also started a hand-sewing project for myself, just to make things again. I just to make things with a fever that burning hot inside me.

These days I’ve lost speed and urgency, and everything moves in slow-motion. That’s okay too, but since I missed crafting, I knew it was time to give myself space for some projects. Some with an end-goal, others for just the love of moving my hands and making stuff. But back to the bag project…

I took a piece of thick, black wool felt and started laying out applique pieces on top of the surface. I wanted to create something feminine but not too girly, so I opted for a big iHanna flower with on a stem with some lush green leafs. At the top I added a kind of garland border, or scalloped border might be the correct name for it.

I embroidered around each of the felt pieces to attach them, using a pearl cotton thread (my favorite kind). Lastly I also sewed on some shimmery sequins, just because.

I really enjoy sewing into this soft material and decorating it according to my own personal taste. I debated with myself weather or not to keep the backside blank or to add something to it, but then I couldn’t resist the urge to add words to this embroidery. I looked for artists and songs I know my friend likes, and found a phrase I wanted to use. It’s both poetic and uplifting, which is what a black little handbag needs I think.

The words are by the Swedish artist Thåström from a song called Beväpna dig med vingar: Beväpna dig med vingar, beväpna dig med sång, beväpna dig med allting som du längtat och drömde om en gång. In my translation that would mean something like:

Arm yourself with wings,
arm yourself with song,
arm yourself with everything you dreamt of and longed for once.

Nice, right?

When the embroidery part was finished, I made inner pockets and lined the bag with a black and white fabric, and added my label to the inside for a professional finish. You close the handbag with a zipper, and it fits a good soft bound book, your wallet and a cell phone perhaps. Just what you need for a fika in town, perhaps.

It’s been sent of as a birthday gift to my friend, who said she liked it, so that’s good.

Instead of a card I also added in a little junk journal type book, with most of the pages filled but some blank for notes.

Making this and sending it of felt very satisfying to me, and I do want to do another bag soon. What do you think?