My Process | My Site 1

How Karen’s Handknit Felted Bags Are Made

1. I start by choosing my color palette of wool yarn (sometimes incorporating some non-wool novelty yarn for pizzazz!). Using large knitting needles, I knit an oversized bag. For a large tote bag, the knitting time is @15 hours.

2. Then I felt the bag in my washing machine using boiling water and regular detergent which heats and agitates the wool fibers, causing them to interlock and bond together. This creates the dense and durable felted material.

Knitted Bag Before Felting

Knitted Bag After Felting

3. After the bag has been felted, I put the finishing touches on it by sewing on magnetic snaps, up-cycled handles from thrift-store purses, and sometimes additional buttons etc. for decoration.

(quarter shown for scale)

Start-to-finish, it takes approximately 18-20 hours to make a handknit felted tote bag. Felted wool fabric is highly durable, making it a long-lasting investment. Its dense and compacted fibers ensure that your felted wool items will stand the test of time.

Wool fibers have a unique surface structure consisting of overlapping scales. The exposed hook-like scales create a jagged edge that is conducive to the felting process.