I need your advice, please. That up there is a bag I’m knitting with Debbie Bliss Maya on Denise #13s. The lone ball you see next to it is all I have left of the wool. So I need to be working a closure for the bag as well as thinking of handles. I’m just winging it here, no particular pattern.
Having never made a bag for felting before, I don’t have the faintest idea what sort of closure I should make (i.e. flap, loop, zipper, whatever). Also what kind of handles should I do? I have some tacky plastic one and some tackier steel ones, but would obviously prefer something classier looking.
Please, please, please help me! If there are any lurkers in the woodwork, this is your chance to come out 😉
swakrta.com 
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September 7, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Deneen
If you chose to do plastic or metal, full it first and stitch the handle on (so you’ll need to make some gussets (or whatever they are called) that will wrap around the handle after it’s fulled. You can make a tube thing as a shoulder strap and sew it on or crochet it on and then full it.
Did this make sense?
September 7, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Debbie
I’ve made this tote:
http://www.helloyarn.com/lopitote.htm
Seems to me you could make the same kind of knitted-in handles by working the directions backwards (the pattern starts with the handles). Adjust the number of stitches on the sides before you cast off for the ‘hole,’ to suit the requirements of your bag. Another bag on the site describes an i-cord option (felted knitting tote).
As for closure, it would depend on what you’re using the bag for, and how important it is that it stay shut. I’ve never sewn a zipper onto something felted, so can’t say anything about that. Another option that looks well and generally looks nice is a large button. The buttonhole can be cut after felting (if you need to, you can reinforce the buttonhole with handsewing).
Good luck!