Why didn't I start with a purse...?

I thought we were going to have rain all weekend, so I prepared myself for a bit of baking and craft. Then mid-morning Saturday, the sun came out and plans were changed!
So instead I shall tell you about the craft activities of last weekend.

I bought this book last summer...

and ever since I have been desperate to make a handbag. Gillian Harris is the owner of GillianGladRag and has some inspiring ideas and kits. Her tutorials are clear in the book but a few more step-bystep photos would be useful.
I wanted to build up my skills in wet felting before I embarked on such a big project. I can't bear the thought of wasting beautiful materials on experimenting, are you like this? I have some lovely craft materials but don't want to ruin them, so they often sit in a drawer or suchlike for a long time until I eventually get up the confidence to simply go for it!
That's what happened last weekend, I was ready to go for the handbag!
I decided to copy the original bag for my first attempt. So I laid out my tools and materials and started.

First layer laid out on template ready to prefelt.

Prefelting first layer.

Template turned over, edges folded in ready for first layer on other side.

Second layer, opposite direction, ready to prefelt.

This was the stage where I was thinking 'Why didn't I start with something smaller like a purse?' !

As before, I turned over, folded in edges, laid out second layer on that side and prefelted. All this repeated for third layer first side, but second side had a little extra - the flowers...

Ready to felt on final layer.

Silk fibre was added to my roses to give them extra shine.

First stage of of felting - soap, water and lots of rubbing.

Next stage, lots of rolling, 100 times then rotate felt 90 degrees. I rolled 600 times in total!

Rinsing and shocking with hot and cold water.

Snipping the top open to remove the template and reveal the amazing pink lining (getting very excited at this point!)

Yes, loving those colours!

After a little rubbing and rinsing of the snipped edges, the felt is left to dry.

I love, love, LOVE how it has progressed so far! The other side is plain green and I want to make a large felt flower brooch to pin to it.

I'm thinking of changing the style of the bag a little. I fancy sewing a panel of fabric above the felt but I need to find the right fabric to complement it. I found this bag while google searching and love the shape. 

I think it could work really well with my felt as the main part. There is a free pattern for this bag here and flickr has a group of pictures of bags made from this pattern which is called 'the wasp bag'! 

Hope you too have been having some making fun like me!

Becky x