felting/fulling question

[Lucy78green]

I am making a bag with a flap over the top. I am going to felt it in the machine, and I am wondering about closures. I am thinking about maybe putting button holes into the flap. Is it better to knit in button holes before felting (about 4st wide), or will they distort the flap or close over. I could just cut them in after, but I am not sure I would be as accurate in placing them this way.

[LizzieK8]

Cut after you've sewn on the buttons, or use magnetic closures....

[Lucy78green]

thanks, I would have to order magnetic closures from US I think as I don't know where I could get them here. Might take a wee look in the craft shop in town though.
Edit: found some on ebay, they called them clasps so I couldn't find them searching for closure

[Irishmam]

I am making the Cyberseams Felted tote bag and it recommends magnetic buttons too. I have struggled to find them as well - let me know if you find any local suppliers

irishmam

[Lucy78green]

I ordered them off e-bay, these were the cheapest including postage to N. Ireland, the seller is based in Wales. Not sure what the price would be including postage to Republic of Ireland as it tends to be a wee bit dearer. I did the search on ebay.ie (it seems less user friendly to me) and I got these results

[momwolf]

What I do to make a hole in my felted bags is just push through a knitting needle.Use the biggest one you have.Place the flap on the bag where you want it and push the needle through both layers. If you do a button hole I'm afraid it will felt together when you felt it. Hope this helps

[Lucy78green]

It's in the machine now, I put in 2 colour catcher sheets with it as it's stripey and some of the colours were quite strong. I am hoping I don't end up with a mess - there was a loose thread of blue yarn left over in the bottom of the plastic bag that I forgot about and now I can't find it - I think I must've put it in the machine too - hoping it doesn't stick to it...

[Lucy78green]

I felted it last night (used lots of colour catchers which went purple). The inside is still a bit damp - the flap had warped a bit and I tried to stretch it but I think I warped it a different way! The magnetic closures I bought have prongs on that I push through the fabric and then bend over - that means the prongs will be visible from the outside. I am trying to decide what to cover them with. I was going to sew buttons over them, my mum thinks I should knit some flowers or something and use them - I think with the stripes it's already a bit fussy - the flowers would have to be a good colour match too. I was like a kid in a sweet shop when I bought the yarn for this, there were so many different sorts I bought 2 balls of each so it's a bit random...
Buttons or flowers? hmm....

[Mirl56]

I've done it both ways.

There are lots of flower patterns at lionbrand.com if you want to use a flower.

Or a couple of inches of i-cord coiled in a circluar sprial and sewn together would be nice, too.

[Lucy78green]

I found giant buttons in my local craft shop (was looking for that stuff for making slipper soles but couldn't find it). Finished!