Bags

As said earlier on this site, Blue has made many bags in sprang. On this page you can find some pictures of these bags along with a short discription of how they are made. Some of the bags are for sale. You will find a links in the text leading you to a Dutch site.

The first bags were quite small in size. This picture was taken at the Ironage farmhouse near Orvelte, Blue attached two string to the beams that make up the dooropening of the farmhouse. On these strings she then attached the pairs of treads that she needed to make the bag.

This picture was taken from inside the farmhouse while Blue is braiding. You can clearly see the coloured stripes.
Since Blue got her loom she doesn't need to work on strings like this but it is still a very simple and practical way of making a sprang where ever you are.

By folding the patch and sowing the sides together, you form a little pouch. A cord thats pulled through the top of the pouch and a bead to help keep it closed complete the pouch.

Another way to attache your work without using a loom is by attaching the treads to rods or sticks. Bigger bags made of heavier wool make it more difficult to attache your sprang to strings because of the extra weight so sticks are a good solution to this problem. In my backyard I put these 2 sticks in the ground and braided a pink/ white bag of thick Swedish wool this way.

The weight of this wool still makes it droop but not somuch as when it had been attached to strings. By moving the stick closer together or further apart I can adjust the tention on the treads when neccesary. And if it starts to rain you simply pull the sticks out of the ground and take it inside. Do make sure that the sticks are long anough coase you don't want to to your braiding standing bent over. It will kill your back.

When finished this was also folded and the sides sown together to form the bag. A strong cord closes the bag at the top. Later I used the same wool to braid a band that I then attached to the bag, making it a shoulderbag.

As I learned new paterns I applied these to the bag aswell.

This is one of the largest bag Blue ever made. All the wool was handspon and dyed with plant materials such as unionpeels (yellow) and madder (red).

The first 4 centimeter of the braiding was pretty straight forward but then Blue started with the diagonal patern. Here a picture that shows the patern in detail.

Some more photo's of bags Blue has made in the past..

Small bag dyed with madder

Detail madder bag
This bag is for sale

Big bag in thick coarse undyed wool
This bag is for sale

Big bag in a diagonal patern

Little green bag.
This bag is for sale

Small pouch made of 100% wool
This bag is for sale

'hotwaterbottlewarmer'

Small pouch made of 100% wool
This bag is for sale