Renew, Refresh & Repurpose.

Sometimes I find the desire to repurpose something I have made in the past.  I often undo knitted things so I can use the yarn, especially when searching for just the right colours. So there's nothing wrong with doing the same to something I have made.

These bags began life many years ago, before my life underwent chronic fatigue. 

It was an ambitious project right from the start, let me just say. 

A four way wet felted vest, which could be worn inside out and upside down.  I'd seen photos online.... lol .....  I had a rough guide to how large it needed to be prior to wet felting. 2.5m X 1.25m ! 

After laying it out, I found myself to be just too tired to work on it. Too tired to even feel creative. At the time, I didn't realise what was wrong, and didn't for many years.  I kept finding possible explanations, for the causes.

After surgery a few years later, (which did nothing to alleviate my fatigue),  I was convalescing with my new multi-needle NeedleFelting tool, making a 'landscape painting' on a shawl, when I realised a way to continue working on 'the vest', which had been languishing in a back burner for way too long.

I NeedleFelted it, to a 'pre-felt' stage, where I could pick it up, and put it in a washing machine, as I was so tired of seeing it unfinished. I maybe should have set a gentle wash, but my brain was slightly foggy, not thinking clearly at all, and it became 'over felted' (d'uh).

So next began a process of repairing .... Cutting back and adding on.  Many hours of NeedleFelting. More landscape painting, as the original designs were kinda lost with the pale fleece used. 

Finished at last it again sat around, hanging on a coat hanger, looking decorative on my wall.

It had finally made it to the intended recipient, but she returned it, saying sell it if you can, we'll go halves.

That was the plan, but the postage costs deterred me from even advertising it online. 

Then one day, this person left my good friend and her daughter, stranded in a remote town out west, and it was up to me to help them navigate home, via a bus trip south to Adelaide and flights home. I paid for their flights another friend their accommodation and bus fares.

So it was then, that the idea to cut 'the vest' up, and make smaller sellable pieces from it, to recoup the airfares.

I am still saving my dollars to once again become mobile with a travelling vehicle of some kind or other.

There are three more bags, slightly larger,  2 still being worked on. The third one, can be worn over the shoulder with a laptop bag type strap or carried under the arm, for a stylish mobile slimline laptop briefcase/business bag.