The Swelle Life

Swelle Bags: Fall Fabric Preview

I was on Queen St. West in Toronto the other day - where you'll find the city's fabric district - and couldn't pass up checking out some new fabrics for my fall line of bags which I will begin (rather late) upon returning to the UK in two weeks. After completing my first line last year and selling from my online shop SwelleByDenise.com, I've let things lag a bit, not by choice but rather by necessity of life.

I surround myself with inspiring fashion, art and people both by nature and by finding content for this blog, and as a result I've been absolutely itching to get my hands making bags once again. It's been far too long and I miss it sorely. My style thus far has been to create my own merino wool or cashmere/angora/mohair blend fabric through the very physical and time consuming process of wet felting, in the form of a seamless bag. I have a collection of fabrics and trims that I love to play around with and manipulate for detail on the bags, and one day while experimenting with a simple bag I had felted, took strips of various fabrics and began wrapping, using the bag as the underlying structure and the fabric as the detail. Probably hard to envision, but that's the general idea and I hope to show a sample here by late August.

Back to the fabric shopping - I was looking for some muted shades like plum (so beautiful for fall) and charcoal and found a gorgeously rich and incredibly soft floral wool of various plums by Roberto Cavalli (left). This one is my favourite and I can't wait to start playing around. There was also an interesting textural wool of woven earthy shades of browns, oranges and creams with some metallic silver threads from Valentino (above, far left). To be honest, it reminded me of a placemat my grandmother had in the 70s, and while I usually don't go for those earthy tones, I saw it as one of those not-so-comfortable choices I'd later be glad I made. Sometimes it's good to work beyond your comfort zone to challenge yourself, and there's nothing more rewarding than taking something that's not 'you' and making it work. A little like Project Runway!

To round out the selection there is a gorgeous, large floral print in earthy, almost sepia tones covered with clear sequins (love the clear sequins). That one will be fun. And some charcoals in a luxe wool cashmere that will look brilliant with bright pink or lilac detail. I'll only be able to create one bag with each fabric (everything I do is a one-off), and they're going to be clutches which I've really come to love (easier to carry than previously thought, and you can always add a chain), so if you have a liking for a particular fabric, contact me to claim it now!

Felting over a Felted Form

I've been working on a custom bag that took me out of my comfort zone and it was a great learning experience. I had originally planned to felt a bag to fit into a clutch frame but I wasn't happy with the result, there was something that just wasn't right and I can't go on unless I feel it is. It was a thick and sturdy piece of felt, though, and I hate to waste time, effort and wool so I kept it around until I figured out what to do with it. I rediscovered some super soft and gauzy merino pre-felt in a dark amethyst colour I had sitting in one of my many bins. I cut it into strips and wrapped it around the felted form, I've always loved that look and plan soon to do many more bags this way using the some fabulous fabrics in fresh spring colours that I've been collecting.

I had originally done a mock up of this bag for my website as a look for a made-to-order clutch option. In this version I used a Swarovski crystal square ring for detail, it acted like a buckle that I looped a length of felt around on either side.

A friend was interested in having the bag made for her but with a chain strap added and sans the ring. That probably worked out best due to the heavy weight of it. But there was a challenge staring me in the face - how do I keep the nice gauziness of the felt while making it durable enough to stand up to use? It looked so lovely as it was but I kept envisioning my friend's keys or belt loop getting caught on the delicate felt and ripping a gaping hole (nightmare).

So I ventured to try something after thinking about it for a few days. I find sometimes it's best not to rush if it I have the luxury to let it sit at the back of my brain (thanks, Liza!), something always makes its way to the front and spills out. I rewrapped the form with the gauze and felted it further, meaning I wet it down, soaped it up and rubbed it with my hands for a bit. Since it was already half felted and I wanted to keep it looking somewhat gauzy, I didn't rub it for too long and I didn't roll it even though it was stretching from being wet. I was experimenting but I went with my gut, no rolling (it thickens felt and I didn't want to overdo it). I crossed my fingers and rinsed it with hot water to get out the soap and create shrinkage, hoping it would all hold together. It did. A solid outer bag was created, and the layers remained nicely overlapped to maintain the effect but it was bigger than the form underneath, it didn't fit. I put it in the dryer for a few minutes to shrink it, knowing I might be sacrificing the lovely soft texture (handfelted wool can get nubby when quickly heat dried). It was still damp but survived quite well, yet still too big.  Luckily my flu came back so I left it for a few more days and to my delight I found that it had shrunk just enough to fit the form like a glove! I tried it on a whim and was so happy I did.

Next, the detail. I cut a wide length of the pre-felt gauze, dampened it and ironed it (to tighten/shrink the fibres ever so slightly). I doubled it and began my favourite part, playing around to get the look that would make the bag. Sometimes it happens right away and sometimes it takes many tries, this time was the latter. You just know when it's right, so if it's not I keep trying and eventually it falls into place. I sewed it in place in place and am awaiting the okay to put in the lining. Here's how it will look with the chain which can be removed so you have the clutch option: