Book purses and more

Was in D.C. recently and saw the coolest thing at Eastern Market: purses made from hardcover books. Now, I know bibliophiles may be appalled, and I love books for reading too, but these were quite cool.

I have a couple of boxes of books that have sat around for YEARS waiting to be carted to the used book store ... well, one of them will be a test case. And in this case, the pages will not all go to waste: I cut out some illustrations and plan to decoupage them on the otherwise plain cover.

The toughest part appears to be designing the side gusset, so that the purse will open a bit. Otherwise I'd be limited to a slim billfold and a lipstick.

Also on my agenda: embroidery. I learned how to do this when I was maybe 7 years old, and every so often I pick it up again. It seems to be having a resurgence, what with books like Sublime Stitches or the Chronicle Books kit. I ordered some plain dish towels — talk about retro! And I plan to embroider the felted wool too — I have something in mind for the apple-green purse I plan to make.

Felting

I've discovered felting. It all started with some Manos del Uruguay knitted slippers that were designed to be felted. (Unfortunately they're still too big; must thread in some elastic.) Moved on to wool sweaters from Goodwill, which — if I ever find the time — will be deconstructed into purses and embellished with embroidery. Anyone know of a source for transfer paper other than the chalk tracing stuff from the fabric store?