How to felt purse handles?

#1

I did a modified pattern of the lion brand clutch. Basically I doubled it all and ended up with a great purse sized bag.
The handles for the LB one was to cut into the felt and create handles.
What I’d really like is to knit up straps for it. But I’m afraid that if I do an I-cord it’ll felt down to a string!!!

SO…what do I do?? I would like a strap that’s substantial…but how do I go about doing that???

#2

I generally hate i-cord so i will knit a stockinette handle and then seam it up. if i am felting it, it doesn’t matter because the seam goes away and it is one time that the curling stockinette works perfect. as far as how big to make it, it depends on how substantial you want it to be i suppose. i think i usually do about 5 stitches and it seems to work well. :shrug:

#3

I did an I-cord handle for one of my first purses and it really didn’t shrink all that much. I can’t remember the length I made, but it didn’t turn out that much shorter after felting. I used size 10US needles and it was a 7 stitch I-cord (yeah, like what was I thinking with that?). I kind of flattened it out while drying - it’s about 5/8" wide.

There was a Knitty Gritty episode where the guest made a handle like brendajos described, then ran piping through it for extra strength right after felting. Details [color=blue]here[/color].

#4

Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Thank you both for responding!!!

I for whatever reason thought you could only ever I-cord in 3 stitches…but to know I can do it with more than that, Oh that helps!!!

I figure I’ll make it my height of 5’ 7", possibly longer…we’ll see.