Purse Handles, Knit, Felt, I-Cord, Crochet, Macrame - a variety of Strap Options

I've pulled together a collection of some my purse straps in pictures.

Pottery embellishment on this drawstring i-cord closure.

 The i-cord is the most common strap I knit for purses and bags.  I also have used my loom to weave straps and closures.

For small embellishments I use crochet or Macrame to finish a purse.

Handwoven (on loom) strap.  Sewn to the rings on a sewing machine.

 Another interesting concept is to add the strap to the bag while knitting.  It isn't difficult, but it takes planning.

I've embellished my purses with stones, pottery, polymer clay, buttons, and jewelry pieces.

Embellished with needle felt.

One of my first knit felt purses. I-Cord handle

Strap sewn to bag after completion, knit/purl rows with an added knit and tucked trim.

Strap knit as a part of the purse before felting.

another i-cord bag.

Over time, I've found the purse strap to be the biggest challenge when planning and knitting a felted bag.  The strap should be the first step, because you want enough matching yarn put back, or the strap created first, in order to match the bag

One of my knit felted purses, custom ordered. Almost finished with needle felting the Rose.

Purse 1 - knit felt, with needle felted rose. This is made in a heather pink with burgandy stripes knit into the fabrick.

I sold this purse last week, and got 4 purse orders by leaving the sold purse on my display table.

The purse below is my newer version of Purse 1.

The order was for a lighter pink with texture (and of course another needle felted Rose).

The Rose needs a little touch up and the grommets need to be added for the strap and walla, a duplicate, in lighter pink. I discovered a new method with this purse. I knit together wool, alpaca and acrylic yarns throughout! The acrylic yarn didn't felt, and that is what makes the nubbies all over the purse. Here's a close-jup pic of the knit piece before felting.

The Light Pink is Alpaca
The darker Pink is wool, and the white with pastels is Acrylic - I'm always amazed at how felting blends to colors ... love experimenting with this, out of over 40 items I've made I've only had one flop (I didn't know I wasn't using wool yarn for a large part of the item, bummer)

Knit Felt Purse - with lining. Why is this a big deal?

I said I'd never do this, because,

I don't like all the detail it takes to finish off a project, I like pieces very basic. But this one demanded a lining. The lining turned out amazing ... hmmm.

It also has two sweet pockets inside.

I up-cycled two identical Goodwill purchased belts for the strap attachments. So, fun.

I really struggle with finishing my pieces. I love making them and felting them, but the details in the end always suffer a big delay. I said I wouldn't start lining them, but here's one I decided to go against my stubborn plans and dive in.

The real reason is I don't like digging out the sewing machine, making a huge mess, and putting everything away before the project is finished. If I could make myself leave the mess till the project is done, I'd be better off, but I'm a clean up before bed person - certainly stunts my creativity (my stubbornness and my vow to clean up before bed!)

This one is sold by the way.

I have a beautiful piece on my floor loom currently.

The "Loomin-area," my weaving room has been dormant all winter.  I had nothing to do with the weather, we weren't home.  Yes it is a portable loom, but even if I had it with me there wouldn't have been time to weave.  So, I set it up with some stash yarn before we left, and came home to a fresh project that is becoming a beautiful colorful piece.