Handmade Felted Bag

I have been making this felted bag for my mother in law, Simone, for Christmas - a lot of sweat and tears went into this piece - it is nuno felted - using a thin layer of silk overlaid with merino wool which was embellished with silk, wools, sparkly angelina and vintage bits of lace and ribbon - I made the main body (took ages!) followed by the rope for the handle.   

Once I'd wet felted the body of the bag and shaped and allowed it to dry, I needlefelted it with swirls and circles before wet felting and setting into shape again, then put small holes in the side and pulled the cord through on each side before knotting.   
I then made a small felted wool loop for the clasp and used a vintage button as the closure - these were both stitched in before I ironed on thick interfacing over the top of the felted clasp loops to ensure it stayed where it was supposed ti.

The bag has three internal pockets, all made of silk and embellished with beads.  Once the felting was finished and the bag was to all intents and purposes completed I embroidered it using metallic and silk threads.  A labour of love.